Chapter
ONE
What Is Leadership?
Good leadership consists of doing less and being more.
Lao Tzu1
To those who really understand leadership, Lao Tzu’s assertion is no surprise. The classic Tao Te Ching, from which we took the above and other quotations in this book, was written by Lao Tzu more than two thousand years ago. The Tao is the source of many common sayings, such as “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
One reason the Tao was written was to help enlighten the warlords who then ruled various parts of China. One of Lao Tzu’s main aims was to show these rulers how to be better leaders. The essence of his eighty-one lessons can be found in Chapter 17 of the Tao. Our version goes like this:
Some leaders accomplish a great ...
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