Lessons on Leadership from a GREAT lady!

Image via Wikipedia

Margaret Thatcher was elected Prime Minister of Great Britain 30 years ago this week.

I just read a commentary on Lady Thatcher that included a GREAT statement:

She called on the British people to remember their history and to embrace it. She was not indulging in nostalgia so much as she was taking from a living past in order to build a better future.This is the key to leadership. Leadership doesn’t lie in poll numbers, though all politicians take polls to measure the public temperature. Leadership is about convictions with ample references to past successes and the principles behind them. If one doesn’t bake a cake without first reading the directions, how can a damaged nation be repaired without discerning what works and what doesn’t? If a people forget their history—as too many in Britain and America have done—they are then susceptible to being snookered by politicians who propose something “new.”

Margaret Thatcher believed in wisely applying the lessons learned from our past. More importantly, she believed in doing the right thing, regardless of popularity poll results. Here at LeadersHeart, I call this the "gospel according to Nike" -- you know what's right, JUST DO IT!

Most intellectually honest people aren't looking for leaders who tell them what they want to hear. People are hungry for (and willing to follow) leaders who lead from principle, who lead from THEIR HEART.

Margaret Thatcher was just such a leader -- we honor her legacy by encouraging our readers to hop on Google or stop by the library. There's a wealth of information available (especially due to her 30th anniversary) on Mrs. Thatcher that any student of leadership would do well to study.