The Value of Dynamic Leadership

True leadership is not found in an individual, but the individuals developed.

So it is with leadership. Those who desire to become outstanding leaders must also help those around them develop leadership skills. The true measure of a leader is not just measured by success of their organization, but by the measure of leaders they influence and develop to follow in their footsteps.

One of the most profound leadership lessons of all time was found in Church one Sunday in the stories of a preacher. He described a farmer known far and wide for award-winning corn. Each year the farmer entered his corn in the state fair and, year after year, always won a blue ribbon. Finally a newspaper reporter discovered his much-coveted secret to success. The close-hold secret that routinely propelled the farmer to success above his peers was that he shared his prized seed corn.

The true measure of a leader is not just measured by success of their organization, but by the measure of leaders they influence and develop to follow in their footsteps.

“How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?” the reporter asked.

“Why sir,” said the farmer, “Didn’t you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn.”

The farmer knows the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbor’s corn also improves. His success is based on the improvement of those who surround him. I have searched long and hard for this farmer, for the origins of this fabled story to no avail. Rest easy profound farmer, not only is your corn award-winning but your theory of life is everlasting.

The leadership lesson for each of us is this: if we are to grow good corn, we must help our neighbors grow good corn.  So goes the theory of Dynamic Leadership. Dynamic Leaders are characterized by focused energy, effective action and benevolent compassion. Dynamic Leaders focus on developing an efficient arrangement of leaders such that success is not based on one individual, but the collective whole.