Leaders are focused, unoffended

True leaders are often not popular.

They are so focused on the job at hand that they must make the hard clear decisions others shrink from.

Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are (were) jackasses. Generals Patton, Sherman and many more didn't pause when faced with difficult decisions. Champion athletes and business owners and their ilk are successful BECAUSE they do not care if they are liked by anyone. They also hire or choose people who buy into their vision.

I bet a women like Carly Fiorina don't let any pre-concieved ideas about femininity or male dominance slow them down. They don't bitch about hateful men and jealous women, they don't sue, they don't pass laws. They kick some ass and move on. They don't have time to get bogged down in the morass of social politics.

The problem with America and Americans is that we are being trained by schools to get along and work with the team and kiss everyone's ass and avoid confrontation and everything you do is OK no matter how much it sucks.

Bull-snot!

When I coach or hire people, I want the ones who care about it as much as I do. I want a team captain that holds their teammates to a certain standard. I even want them to argue with me when they have an idea worth defending.

Leadership is about giving and taking constructive criticism no matter how blunt. It's about learning and being taught. It's about developing a team, like a family, that has its differences and friction but, in the end, comes together to succeed.

I fear with all our political correctness, fear of confrontation and inability to be offended or offend that the very things that make our country great are fading away.

It is the natural course of democratic republics and the exact thing the forefathers tried to protect us against.

So, especially you young folks, the next time someone gets in your face and says, "Hey, this just isn't good enough," argue your position, stand your ground BUT LEARN about how to be better.