| Conventional Leadership View | Leadership Distinction |
| Success as a leader is largely a function of having the right strategic plan and the necessary resources. | “Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline” |
| A leadership position grants one authority and status. | “Leadership is not rank, privileges, title or money. It is responsibility” |
| Large?scale change efforts generally fail because of a lack of implementation. | “If there is no transformation inside each of us, all the structural change in the world will have no impact on our institutions” |
| The story of any leader’s life resides in his or her successes and failures. | “The story of any one life, might be told in terms of commitments” |
| Great leaders are defined by their special abilities. | “It is not our abilities which make us who we are∙∙∙ It’s our choices” |
| I’ve become a leader through my own hard work. | “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants” |
| My goal as a leader is to be very successful. | “Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value” |
| Becoming a leader is about taking charge. | “Becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself. It is that simple. It is that difficult” |
| As a leader I want people to like me and say nice things about me. | “Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off” (Powell, quoted in |
| My plan is so clear, understandable and attractive, people will automatically change. | “What people resist is not change per se, but loss. When change involves real or potential loss, people hold on to what they have and resist the change” |
| My central issue as a leader is to be clear about our strategic vision. | “The central issue is never strategy, structure, culture, or systems. The core of the matter is always about changing the behavior of people” |