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| About the Book |
| About the Author |
| Introduction |
| Contributing Thought Leaders |
| Book Reviews |
| Speaking |
What do you stand for ? What is the foundation of your leadership approach ? And what's really important to you ?
Many leaders know the answers to these questions at an intellectual level, but interestingly, they don't talk about them very often, and most have never expressed themselves in writing on these important leadership underpinnings.
The Keys to Leading provides leaders the opportunity to take their thinking to a deeper level. Organized around ten time-honored principles essential to effective, ethical leadership, this journal introduces these keys in a week-to-week format. By quoting respected exemplars and posing important questions each day, leaders are asked to express their thoughts on integrity, commitment, purpose and other fundamental leadership principles. The exercise of writing one's deepest thoughts can be clarifying, therapeutic and often eye-opening. In this sense, the Keys to Leading is interactive and engaging. This book is about both what other great leaders have said, and more importantly, it's about what you have to say !
How you respond to this journal can be a transformative experience.
John Horan-Kates has over 35 years of leadership experience in business and community organizations. He received an undergraduate degree in business from Wayne State University in Detroit in 1967 and subsequently became a Distinguished Naval Graduate of the U.S. Navy's Officer Candidate School. Following this training, he served aboard the USS Jennings County in Vietnam, supporting river patrol operations.
After departing the Navy in 1972, he served as Controller for the Kirkwood Resort in the California High Sierra. Several years later he came to Vail, Colorado and served as Vice-President of Marketing for Vail Resorts, founded the Vail Valley Foundation, and helped build the Vilar Center for the Arts. Then in 1997, he helped launch the Vail Leadership Institute where he continues to serve as President. In 1998, he received a Master Coaching Certificate from the Hudson Institute of Santa Barbara. He is the author of several leadership essays and has published two leadership guidebooks.
He is a past Chairman of the Vail Resort Association and has served on the boards of Colorado Ski Country USA, the Travel and Tourism Research Association, the Vail-St. Moritz Sister City Commission and the Business-Education Partnership. He is a past national trustee of the American Leadership Forum and now serves as a Founding Fellow of the National Endowment of the Public Trust. He was the founding Board Chairman of Vail Christian High School and remains an active supporter. In 1994, John was named Vail Valley Citizen of the Year. He has lived in the Vail Valley with his wife Pam since 1974. They have two children living and working in Boulder, Colorado.
The purpose of this journal is to help leaders of all stripes link time-honored principles from respected exemplars together with our great wisdom and faith traditions to their leadership approach. This work continues to evolve from my own journey of "becoming" a leader.
Like most of us, my growth as a person and as a leader began at home. For me, that was in Detroit working various jobs to support my way through high school. It evolved through college and then grew quickly as a naval officer in Vietnam. Following military service, I settled into a career in the ski industry in Vail, Colorado and began what became an annual commitment to personal development seminars and workshops. These annual events evolved into a lifelong exploration, learning and growing as a leader while sharpening my own purpose as a builder of a spiritually-oriented community. And marriage and building a home and a family were woven in over the next twenty-five years.
Along the way, my wife Pam brought us back to our spiritual roots primarily to ensure our children had that foundation. It was during this period that several colleagues and I decided to launch an entity focused on personal leadership. That organization is now known as the Vail Leadership Institute and espouses a philosophy known as inside-first." This approach focus on key principles to leading organized around three realms – character, skills and relationships. While there are many more principles, virtues, traits, etc. that can be drawn upon in affecting leadership, I have chosen here to limit the focus to ten principles that are essential to effective, ethical leadership. This whole concept is built around the notion that empowering leadership starts with one's character and that largely resides in the heart and emanates out from there.
But as this perspective was evolving, people kept asking me: "Why put so much emphasis on the heart when businesses say this is too soft. And why is character-driven leadership so important anyway?" Enron, Tyco and the other notable examples of corporate malfeasance addressed the first question by clearly showing something was amiss. These types of abuses are sprinkled throughout our history and will probably continue to occur because we haven't learned the lessons very well, and because we're often driven by flimsy values.
In terms of how good leadership is developed, for me, a spiritual perspective provided the best response to selfish and ego-centric behavior. Scripture had become an unyielding foundation upon which to build a leadership approach. It became solid rock such that I might be less likely to be tempted by current cultural influences.
The approach that is laid out in these pages has been distilled over a lifetime from lessons learned – both my own – and those of other successful and significant leaders and thinkers. But it's not just about what they have to say. It also involves what you have to say about these leadership concepts. Prompted by thought provoking questions, you will be asked to express what you think about a particular topic or issue. Writing out your thoughts and ideas is a very important leadership discipline. Being succinct and clear about a whole range of issues will help you develop and clarify your worldview. And this worldview then becomes part of your character. It will help you sharpen the most important leadership skill, and that is, to "know thyself."
Why should all of this be important to you ? The answer lies in your potential. Leaders, particularly those emerging and developing in organizations, are the people who will make things better. Leadership may sound like some lofty concept for the really smart people, but the truth is, we're all leaders in one way or another. You are the leader of your life. And while your leadership will evolve, you're on the journey now. Take responsibility and make good choices.
My hope is that working through this little book, particularly the journaling weeks, will touch your life in a similar way that the writing of it has touched mine.
John Horan-Kates
Vail, Colorado
December 2007
Many people have contributed to this work. Here are a few who stand out;
Bob Vanourek's review of "The Keys to Leading"
Quote: "Filled with rich quotes and personal stories that illustrate his thoughts, "The Keys to Leading" is very readable. I recommend it. It will connect your head and your heart. It will touch your soul if you let it."