A Class with Drucker - Headway | Work on yourself

A MODEL ORGANIZATION ■ 187
The Stuff of Heroes: The Eight Universal Laws of Leadership (Longstreet
Press, 1998). It was on The Los Angeles Times best-seller list for two
weeks. The book is now out of print, though I hope eventually to bring
it up to date and have it published again.
The Eight Universal Laws of Leadership
To get some idea of <strong>Drucker</strong>’s feelings about leadership, I would like to
share his responses to each “law” at the time that I showed them to him.
1. Integrity First. “You are entirely right and absolutely correct in
listing this as your first law. A leader can be well-liked and popular
and even competent, and that’s all well and good, but if he
lacks integrity of character he is not fit to be a leader.”
2. Know Your Stuff. “This seems obvious, but some managers do try
to cut corners rather than mastering the knowledge that they must
have and that is essential to the quality of their performance.”
3. Declare Your Expectations. “I’m uncertain what you mean by this.
If you mean that a leader should declare his objectives and his
mission—by all means, yes.”
4. Show Uncommon Commitment. “The failure of many is because
they show no commitment, or commitment to the wrong goals.
This gets back to your third law. Commitment comes from a worthy
mission and then strong commitment.”
5. Expect Positive Results. “There is a cautionary tale here: one must
not be a ‘Pollyanna’. Still, the central thought is correct: one cannot
be negative and succeed in anything.”
6. Take Care of Your People. “Many managers are failing to do this,
and it will catch up <strong>with</strong> them.”
7. Put Duty Before Self. “This should be the basis of all leadership.
The leader cannot act in his own interests. It must be in the interests
of the customer and the worker. This is the great weakness of
American management today.”
8. Get Out in Front. “Very true. As junior leader or CEO, the leader
must be where the work is the most challenging. During World