(BOOK REVIEW) The Source of Leadership

The Source of Leadership was written by David M. Traversi, a well known executive coach, entrepreneur, former corporate chief executive and investment banker. He uses his life experience, both successes and failures, as well as those of others he knows personally to illustrate how his Leadership Dashboard can be used to achieve results both organizationally and personally. Traversi explains existing leadership literature provides checklists of the traits that an effective leader should possess and the functions that a leader must perform, but they don’t explain how leaders and potential leaders can begin to embody the those traits and perform those functions. They describe the destination, but don’t address the means (the engine) to get them there.
The Source of Leadership written by Traversi has 9 chapters in total. Chapter 1 to 8 describes the Eight Drivers of The High-Impact Leader and chapter 9 is putting the entire driver together.

In chapter 1, the first driver is presence. Traversi used an automobile analogy to describe presence as getting the engine started. It is a solid foundation for the development of the other seven drivers of high-impact leadership. According to Traversi, when we live in presence moment, we understand that everything is connected. Everything matters, not only in our personal life but in our leadership roles as well. We absorb everything because we are highly focused, think more clearly and efficiently. We act more integrity and clarity. We are not burdened by unproductive thoughts of the past or future. We worry less and fear less. We will infinitely more creative.

Openness, the second driver in chapter 2, says most of us, have learned through difficult life experiences to resist "what is." If we once felt pain in response to something, we close ourselves to situations that might involve the same pain. In some cases, this may be a form of self-preservation or protection. However, we often close ourselves off from opportunities because of unrelated pain experienced long ago. Resisting "what is" actually causes more pain and drains our energy. Opening to "what is" becomes liberating and energizing. When we are open, we constantly seek to widen our mind for ideas, creativity and we will see possibilities is everywhere.

In chapter 3, Clarity means the clarity in thoughts, emotions, and behavior. Many people work hard to maintain a healthy, clear persona (the appearance they present to the world) and suppress the unhealthy characteristics of their shadow (the personality and behavior energies that have been repressed from consciousness, usually since childhood).
But they allow their shadow traits, such as rage and envy, to undermine their best intentions and drain them of energy. According to Traversi, when we choose clarity of thought, emotion, and behavior, we choose to honestly acknowledge our shadow traits and use the light of honesty and openness to manage them so they do not undermine our relationships and pursuit of happiness. When we are clear, we find it easy to define every element of who we are, both to ourselves and to others. We will be people oriented, open-hearted with a genuine love for people. We see the good and the potential in everyone, instead of a threat. We will have healthy, empowering relationships with others, ultimately, will be an effective leader.

Intention, the seed of possibility is the fourth driver in chapter 4 and it means employing intention to influence others’ opinions and behaviors, and to change the course of events and conditions. Intention involves a discipline of expressing our desired result in great detail, regularly visualizing it as a current reality, offering exchange for it, starting a "conspiracy" of people focused on helping us achieve our intention, and, ultimately, detaching from it, significantly helps us to achieve the results we want in our life.

In chapter 5, personal responsibility is the fifth driver which is complete ownership of "what is," as distinguished from openness, which is the unbounded willingness to consider every element of "what is." Once we learn to own "what is" on every front, and create the energy that results when you have the courage to say, "I am completely responsible for every positive and negative element that exists in my life," we will see a dramatic improvement in the integrity with which people view us, our courage, and our personal relationships. As a leader, it will significantly boost our credibility among those who follow us and every other constituent involve in our leadership role.

Intuition, the sixth driver in chapter 6 says, each of us have a powerful source of an intuition. But fear often causes us to abandon too quickly in favor of a "safer" route supported by "facts" or the opinions of others. In doing this, we abdicate the crucial role that active intuition plays in life. The skilled and liberal use of intuition such as be self-defined and be inspiring enables our ability to build confidence and thus make good decisions in all areas of our life, adapt to uncertainty and changing conditions, and interact with others in a highly empathic and supportive way.

Creativity, the seventh driver in chapter 7 is a key element of innovation, the commercialization of creativity, upon which the survival and ultimate success of organization depend. According to Traversi life is binary, because there is only creation and destruction, growth and decay, life and death. Stagnation, which is just a stage of decay and death, is not a viable option. The key then, is stoking our creativity in every
possible way so that we remain aligned, and not at odds, with life itself. Every person has the potential to be a powerful creative force. When we have that creativity, we become highly energetic, we see possibilities instead of barriers, we see a better life for ourselves and everyone around us and we will see the path of achieving it.

Connected communication is the eighth driver in chapter 8. In this chapter, interconnected and relationships are paramount and communication is essential for survival. Once past mere survival, the better we communicate, the better our relationships will be. The better our relationships, the better our life will be. Better communication is a function of increasing the connection in our communication. "Connected communication" is an intensely powerful energy or a driver deep within each of us. On a connected path, we are present, mindful, and completely honest. We are clear and concise, acutely empathic, and in complete alignment with "what is." Everyone around us senses the integrity, the wholeness, of who we are and how we communicate; others gather strength in our presence. The system of connected communication, from clear expression of a purposeful message by an empathic speaker to an empathic listener, fuels our ability to be supportive of and inspiring to others and has productive, empowering personal relationships.

Chapter 9 puts all eight drivers together. It outlines a step by step program of The Source of Leadership to embody the traits and perform the function of a high impact leader.

Conclusion, The Source of Leadership identifies and instructs how to develop eight personal drivers, energies deep within such as, presence, clarity (of thought, emotion, and behavior), openness, intention, personal responsibility, intuition, creativity, and connected communication. Each of them drives several of the traits and functions of the effective leader. The leader who develops these personal energies will achieve maximum effectiveness as a leader, as well as a deep sense of contentment and fulfillment as a person.