This article was first published in The Clarity Journal, our WyeWorks newsletter on leadership, uncertainty, and the craft of self-management. If you’d like to receive new editions as they come out, you can subscribe below.
What makes a true leader?
David Foster Wallace had the ability to describe an ordinary, even boring situation with such eloquence that it became impossible to stop reading. The American writer developed the muscle of attention to its highest expression, able to perceive details and nuances of everyday life that are invisible to most people — yet instantly obvious once seen through his words.
Defining leadership in a clear, no-nonsense way is difficult. Academic language, theories, styles, and spirituality all add noise to a signal that should be quick and easy to tune into. With his prodigious simplicity of language, Wallace offers us a conception of leadership through a channel that is clean and transparent.
Excerpt from “David Foster Wallace on John McCain”:
“The weird thing is that the word “leader” itself is cliché and boring, but when you come across somebody who actually is a real leader, that person isn’t cliché or boring at all; in fact he’s sort of the opposite of cliché and boring.
Obviously, a real leader isn’t just somebody who has ideas you agree with, nor is it just somebody you happen to believe is a good guy. Think about it. A real leader is somebody who, because of his own particular power and charisma and example, is able to inspire people, with “inspire” being used here in a serious and non-cliché way. A real leader can somehow get us to do certain things that deep down we think are good and want to be able to do but usually can’t get ourselves to do on our own. It’s a mysterious quality, hard to define, but we always know it when we see it, even as kids. You can probably remember seeing it in certain really great coaches, or teachers, or some extremely cool older kid you “looked up to” and wanted to be just like. Some of us remember seeing the quality as kids in a minister or rabbi, or a scoutmaster, or a parent, or a friend’s parent, or a supervisor in a summer job. And yes, all these are “authority figures,” but it’s a special kind of authority. If you’ve ever spent time in the military, you know how incredibly easy it is to tell which of your superiors are real leaders and which aren’t, and how little rank has to do with it. A leader’s real “authority” is a power you voluntarily give him, and you grant him this authority not with resentment or resignation but happily; it feels right. Deep down, you almost always like how a real leader makes you feel, the way you find yourself working harder and pushing yourself and thinking in ways you couldn’t ever get to on your own.
In other words, a real leader is somebody who can help us overcome the limitations of our own individual laziness and selfishness and weakness and fear and get us to do better things than we can get ourselves to do on our own.”
— David Foster Wallace
Who is a true leader to you?
If this question resonates, you might enjoy Awaken the Leader Within — a reflection on the kind of influence we can grow into ourselves.
— Rodrigo
Clarity & Leadership at WyeWorks.
