Washington, Eisenhower, and Marshall were all raised to the 5-star rank. They, their leadership style, and their achievements are well worthy of emulation.
Without a doubt, you can adopt a person as your model, but the drawback to that is no one person exhibits all attributes and practices needed of a leader.
Another idea is to adopt a model that has been thoroughly researched and vetted such as Kouzes and Posner’s “Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership,” Dr. Gary Yukl’s “Flexible Leadership,” Greenleaf’s “Servant Leadership,” or Hersey and Blanchard’s “Situational Leadership.”
A model provides a touchstone and a reference for you to refer to as you go about your leadership business. It keeps you from getting buffeted and bounced around the currents of fads and external pressures.
At The Leadership Crucible, we use Kouzes and Posner’s “Five Practices of Exemplary Leaders” of The Leadership Challenge as an introductory model and James Scouller’s “Three Levels of Leadership” as our foundation for advanced leadership development and coaching.
By Joe Scherrer | The Leadership Crucible