Blog about Leadership

Weekly Series:  Creating a Foundation for Developing Leadership Potential

Last week I wrote about the foundation for leadership that the Founding Fathers of the United States created with the unique inclusion of Article 1, Section 9 of the US Constitution.  Today, I want to start a new weekly series about creating a foundation for leadership; every Monday for the next few weeks, I am going to write a new article for this series to expound on this topic.

Interesting quote from Donald Rumsfeld:
“There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.”

I think one of the most memorable quotes from the former Secretary of Defense is the one above.  I remember it mostly for the amount of comments it received on late night comedy shows, but while the quote is funny it is also presents an important nugget of knowledge for creating a foundation for developing leadership potential.

There are thing you know you do not know

We can each create an extensive list of the number of things we don’t know.  While we may have a lot of knowledge and have access to a great deal of information, too much information seems to be the one of the most common problems that we encounter.

When it comes to leadership, you need to codify, that is define and write down, what you know that you do not know.  You may not know how to deal with confrontation or how to motivate a person who is deep in despair, but if you know that you do not know, than you can create a foundation for learning that.  With experience (which is what I have to continually remind myself about), you will develop.  It takes time.

There are things that you don’t know that you don’t know

This is the most difficult foundation piece to create to developing leadership potential.  You need to discover what you do not know.  This can only be done through a lifetime of continuous learning and continuous improvement.

Next week Monday, I will continue to build on this series of creating a foundation for developing leadership potential.

 See also, How to Create a Foundation for Developing Leadership Potential Part 2, How to Create a Foundation for Developing Leadership Potential Part 3.

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See also: How to Create the Foundation for Developing Leadership Potential Part 2