Thoughts on Leadership: Views from the Capital

Vision and Power: If you have not visited the Holocaust museum in DC, you must. I was actually dreading it for many obvious reasons. What I found was one of amazing enlightenment and a desire to speak truth to the masses. This is one attempt.

The Holocaust was actually the end result of vision being cast to a society hungry to be reestablished and important on the world stage. The deplorable and evil acts of the leader (Hitler) and his troops are unfathomable to the civil masses.

As I stood there experiencing pain, suffering, fear and anger I started asking a few questions…

1. How could the masses follow such a cold and ruthless mission to eradicate jews, communists, gypsies, handicapped people and others?
2. What happens inside a person when he or she plays a part of execution on such a grand scale (Auschwitz executed 10,000 people per day for several weeks!)
3. How does a society end up following a frustrated, bitter army corporal (Hitler) down a road of blackness and horror?

The reality is that there are always societies following leaders down the same roads - Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Somalia, Venzuela, etc. All true leaders have vision. The question is where that vision leads.

Play this game - Name the motives of the vision of these leaders:

• Napoleon:
• Eisenhower:
• Stalin:
• Truman:
• Hitler:
• Chavez:
• Abinijab:
• Mugabe:
• Mao:
• Washington:

Share your thoughts if you like. I will give you my thoughts soon.

Posted on July 15, 2008 in Historical Leaders