Some rambling thoughts on leadership I presented to a group studying higher apprenticeships
Leadership Talk – Higher Apprentices I'm spending some time talking about leadership with you and I’m going to do this in the context of what makes me tick, my observations on leadership and how I’d like to see this work at Somerset County Council. You are absolutely free to agree or disagree with anything that I say… I’m going to start with the conclusion. I don’t believe you can be an effective leader in life until you’ve found something that matches your values. To be what we might call an ‘authentic’ leader, you have to be true to yourself. You will be found out at some point if you fake things. This might be in a meeting, in your dealings with residents or politicians or staff, it may even happen years after you started in a job; you will be found out if you try and fake leadership. When you get a new job, someone might tell you, “You’ve got big shoes to fill”. You haven’t. Good leaders wear their own shoes. I recognise that I’m in a privileged position. I’m in an...