The renowned psychologist Abraham Maslow observed that many people lack a strong sense of self, writing, "they do not know what they want or what they are looking for in life." In contrast to the general population, Maslow observed that effective leaders are indisputably decisive. He stated that effective leaders are neither uncertain nor ambiguous. A behavioral consequence of these distinct observations suggests a conclusion that most people seek leadership from those who are strong and unshakable. Unfortunately, the sturdy and resolute have also produced leaders who cause ruination. This factor contributes to our reexamination of leadership development.

Even a casual of business news will remind us that organizations need leaders with strong virtues. Leaders, by nature, are motivated to achieve goals. Goal achievement creates satisfaction; when one goal is satisfied, actions are repeated to produce additional satisfaction. In a sense, satisfaction is a learned behavior. We want leaders of virtue because leaders are influential role models and teachers. We benefit and learn - personally and organizationally - from leaders of virtue.

Situations create the context for the exercise of leadership. When someone is gifted with accomplishing certain tasks or outcomes, everyone benefits from their responsible exercise of leadership. Those in formal leadership roles promote the exercise of honorable leadership by others because of the synergistic forces created through the combined exercise of formal and informal leadership that results in forward achievement.

The articulation of a personal mission will contribute to the development, exercise, and expansion of virtuous leadership. In developing personal missions, we outline goals and the means by which we hope to achieve those goals. We increase personal and organizational leadership capacity when we describe ambitions and goals. If you want to find out what's driving the exercise of leadership in your organization, review the personal mission statements of your senior leadership team. The absence or presence of those statements will contribute to your insight and agenda for leadership action and reform.

There is a direct relationship between customer retention and employee retention. However, this relationship often goes unrecognized because our inability to distinguish the differing paces of business conditions and retention. Ask nearly any executive to describe today's business environment, and he or she is likely to comment on the rapid speed of business. Among other items, they will identify accelerating demands for market responsiveness, increasing customer focus, and improved organizational performance. However, few executives will be able to speak as eloquently about the relationship between employee retention and the business context. In part, this failure is attributable to a view regarding the inherent value of others.

Organizations that seek to understand the relationship of retention to organizational performance need a rigorous approach. Rigor requires data-driven planning and decision-making. Rigor is enhanced with the acquisition of relevant skills in measurement and access to internal and external data. The combination of skill and access can support new outcomes in organizational culture and leadership.

Compressed business periods make the matter of organizational culture increasingly relevant. Speed, quality, and cost - as organizational factors - relate to cultural aspects of alignment, communication, and mindset. Culture, ultimately, creates a significant competitive advantage.

When the going gets tough, progressive organizations emphasize leadership development as part of their culture. The focus on leadership development will include a spotlight on both senior levels and the leadership bench in the organization. It is difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish organizational leadership and culture. At the level of customer building and customer retention, leaders support employee learning and change. Without learning and change, organizations lose the ability to maintain customer focus.

We work with organizations to strengthen the relationship of culture and retention to organizational goals. Everyday, around the globe, leaders awaken to the choices of engaging in good and profitable pursuits.

An intervention is a deliberate attempt to create change. Interventions extend beyond issues identification and theory to predict new behaviors. At a tactical level, a skilled intervener predicts the outcomes of his or her intended efforts. At a strategic level, a gifted intervener promotes desirable system outcomes. Essentially, the difference between a skilled intervener and a gifted intervener rests on competency. A skilled intervener knows the components or ingredients of a process; a gifted intervener creates a new order. In other words, the gifted intervener knows how to blend considerations and elements for desirable system outcomes.

Knowledge of the future will always be limited and uncertain. However, forecasts do make a difference. Today's choices, conceived with a focus toward a better organization, contain the possibilities for behavior-shaping alternatives that prepare us for the future. We can help others to transform their visions into realties. Transformational processes require more than wishful conversations about organizational futures; transformational processes require focused dialogue.

Vision will always be essential to long-term success. Success creates opportunities for leaders and for leadership. Research supports a conclusion that leaders who merely focus on the short-term behave in ways that are detrimental to bottom-line performance and to employee retention. Leaders, as well as other skilled interveners, use a variety of styles to create upbeat and achieving organizations.

Today, our knowledge supports a conclusion that there is not one right or wrong management style. Effectiveness in leadership and intervening varies based on task, situation, and people. As a result, truly effective leaders and interveners know their people. Additionally, they understand the performance capabilities of their organization while factoring in variables related to time, complexity, and resource-availability. There are few absolutes in the journey to change but there are repeatable opportunities to focus, to leverage, and to configure interventions that maximize success possibilities.

What is the relationship between organizational leadership development and civil society? Your response to that question provides insight into how you - and your organization - regard the relationship of business to society. Business leaders should have a strong self-interest in understanding this relationship for the obvious reasons of organizational longevity and sustainability.

The outcome of introspection can result in reasonable considerations for the future - both in terms of hope and expectation. The world is changing, and changing quickly, and organizations have a stake in shaping civil society. Long gone are the foolhardy days of considering organizations as entities isolated from social and political environments. Organizations can extend their knowledge practices to shape environmental behavior. These choices affect our future.

The relationship between organizational leadership and civil society requires fresh consideration of performance assessment and accountability. In turn, the measures of performance and accountability relate to the status of the organization in its environment. Visionary leaders reflect on the relationship of strategic organizational choices to social well-being. They use reflection to promote conscientious choice.

Additionally, leaders create practices and processes for others to make informed choices. The choices that promote civil society include consideration of long-term consequences, capacity building, and social reform. Measurement of these considerations relies on organizational democracy and participation. At the very least, organizations with long-term performance interests actively involve their developing leaders in the creation and sustenance of community and stakeholder participation. What are you doing to create leaders for the future?