On November 18, 2008 I had an opportunity to sit down and talk with Tim Burke from Omaha Public Power District on the subject of leadership. Tim is Vice President of Employee and Customer Relations for Omaha Public Power District in Omaha, Nebraska. Listen to our conversation and hear Tim challenge your thinking on the subject of the sphere of leadership influence.  He definitely expanded my thinking.

Here are some quotes that are meaningful to Tim:

Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, “There are always two parties, the party of the past and the party of the future; establishment and the movement.”  A substantial truth lurks in this observation:  The future belongs not to those who possess a crystal ball, but to those willing to challenge the biases and prejudices of the “establishment.”  The future belongs more to the unorthodox than it does to prognosticators, more to the movement than to the starry-eyed.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Marianne Williamson

“Leadership:  It is not what your organization wants, it is what your organzation needs.  It is your ability to move the organiation where it needs to be.”

“What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing.”
Aristotle, Greek philosopher, 384-322 BC

Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive Through the Dangers of Leading
by Martin Linsky and Ronald A. Heifetz
Here is a presentation on the leadership concept

Leading Change
by John P. Kotter  (Tim expressed his interest in reading John Kotter’s material.  Here is one of John’s recent books.)

HR Competencies: Mastery at the Intersection of People and Business
by Dave Ulrich  (Tim expressed his interest in reading Dave Ulrich’s material.  Here is one of Dave’s recent books.)

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