Contrary to what you might think, writing an interesting blog is hard work, and, as with any work, it’s really difficult to do if you’re not fully engaged and feeling passionate—which I was when I took over Leadership Turn three weeks ago.

But it’s hard to stay that engaged when you start getting the feeling that too much of your subject is just being recycled, in slightly different guise, all around the Net. There are scores of great blogs available that describe what/who is a leader, traits of leadership, how to build leadership skills, etc.

In the time that I’ve been writing Leadership Turn, I found that the posts that created the best dialog have been the ones that were a bit off the beaten path, such as Leaders are recognized by their results and Are ethical values set or fluid? They were also the most interesting and fun to write and the interaction with my readers was the frosting on the cake.

Based on this admittedly small sampling, I want to take Leadership Turn in a new direction. I’m still feeling my way, so I decided to lay out my thoughts and ideas and ask you, my readers, to weigh in with yours, since, in the end, I want Leadership Turn to be a place for you to mull new ideas and voice your opinions on their worth; a place that, hopefully, engenders debate and stirs your passions.

Here are some topical ideas I have

• What makes a great follower? Is there value and power in following?
• What constitutes leadership in a team environment? Is it worth doing with no specific reward?
• Does everybody need to aspire to leading? Are you worth less if in your heart of hearts you don’t want/like to lead?
• Are good managers always leaders? Do they need to be?
• Are leaders good managers?
• Is initiative the same as leadership.
• What’s the difference between leaders and leadership.
• Great managers make decisions first for the sake of the company, second for the sake of their group and third for the sake of themselves, are you willing to do that?
• How do you stay true to yourself and still succeed in today’s business world?
• Corporate culture is defined by the standard nouns of ethics, but the definitions change. How do you identify a culture that is, at the least, synergistic with your own definitions?

I want to add more guest posters from all levels of the operating world, as opposed to academia, consulting and coaching.

I believe that every topic is like a jewel with many facets and that it would be fun to explore some of the more unusual facets together.

What I really want is reader input on whether you like this new direction or you see a better one. What other topics, from mundane to outré, would you like to explore?

I’d prefer passionate debate and outright argument to the tacit agreement of silence.

It’s your choice.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 7th, 2007 at 12:42 pm and is filed under Announcements, Change. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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