Leadership in Action: Issues and Observations - Finding True value in Leadership

Issues & Observations: Finding True Value in Leadership

Adel Safty

As head of a U.N. Mission in Amman, Jordan, in the late 1990s, I had the opportunity to organize and preside over the first U.N. leadership conferences. Senior leaders from the public and private sectors around the world attended.

One of the issues that were debated most often was the definition of leadership. The need to find a common definition was a recurring theme. But such a definition proved elusive, and I think rightly so, because the dominant paradigm of leadership in the West was often challenged by participants from the developing world who had different perceptions and sensibilities.

Many participants, however, pressed senior government and U.N. officials to explain ...