Golf magazine has an article about caddie Willie Lee. He first looped at Pinehurst 68 years ago. The article touches on some of the racism he faced over the years but he chose to rise above it. Last night I watched Remember the Titans. A wonderful movie about life, leadership, football and yes, race. One of the best comments was from a white player addressing his now best (and black) friend. “I was afraid of you…”

How true. How often do we lash out at what we fear? Just read some letters to the editor in Marine Corps Gazette about repealing of Dont Ask Dont Tell. The Marines have been the most vocal about being against the repeal and this theme continues from many of them. Perhaps they are afraid…

On the one hand we look back at the integration of blacks and women into the military and we say it all went fine..on the other hand bias still exists and we must work to eliminate it. I suspect the same will be true with gays. But I digress. This isnt about political issues it is about leadership, your leadership.

You must be true to yourself to remain an authentic leader but you must also look to the future and see how to make the change happen for the betterment of your organization.

Perhaps Willie Lee lived it best…”In 68 years he has seen every kind of golf shot, and every kind of golfer, though what sticks with him is the person, not the player…he then comments a bit on the likes of Hogan, Trevino, and Palmer and he doesn’t talk about them as golfers he talks about them as people and how they treated people. Solid lesson there.

Do you lead like Willie or like those who fight change? Do you see people as individuals who can make a contribution if you lead them correctly or do you see them as mere pawns in your leadership game? Do you live, and lead, from confidence or fear?

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 28th, 2011 at 6:46 pm and is filed under Change, Leadership. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.