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Leadership Myth #3 - Great Leaders have a College Education

Guest post by: Robert Whipple

Article Overview: To be a great leader, does one need a college education? No, that is not a prerequisite for leadership, but the weight of evidence is that better educated people do make better leaders. This article explains the apparent paradox.

Leadership Myth #3 - Great Leaders have a College Education

There are some indications that better-educated people rise to higher positions. This is particularly true in the areas of reading and vocabulary. Steven B. Sample in his book, The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership, makes a case that in leadership, "you are what you read." That is an over-generalization, and taken out of context, actually sounds ludicrous. Sample makes a good case that reading the so-called "super texts," such as Machiavelli's The Prince, allows leaders to see themselves in the context of historical knowledge, which is an incredible benefit for any leader. Sample posits that spending time reading books that have stood the test of time over hundreds of years is better than spending time reading today's news, regardless of the source. Reading good literature helps leaders understand the benefits of practicing the Table Stakes and using the Enabling Actions to the fullest extent. This is particularly true in biographies that document how the great leaders of history learned their lessons. Sample remarks, "In reading, as in so many other areas, maintaining one's intellectual independence is an essential prerequisite for effective leadership."

Vocabulary also shows a solid correlation with the level to which one rises. Earl Nightingale in his tape series Lead the Field observes that the number of words in a person's vocabulary is a remarkably accurate predictor of one's station in life. He illustrated this with a 20 year study of college graduates who took a vocabulary test. He plotted their success over time and correlated their word power with their earning power. The link Nightingale found was so significant that he said, "Without a single exception, in every case those who had scored highest on the vocabulary test given in college were in the top income group, while those who had scored the lowest were in the bottom income group."

With the above trends, why is it a myth that the best leaders have a college education? It is because there are so many examples of outstanding leaders who had little or no formal education. What they lacked in formal or conventional education, they made up for with a different form of education of equal or greater value.

Napoleon Hill makes a good case in point. He had a weak education going through school and only attended a two year secretarial college, yet he went on to become one of the greatest thinkers of our time. This was due to an amazing offer given to him by Andrew Carnegie. When Hill was a cub reporter in Washington, he tried to get into see Mr. Carnegie, who was at that time the richest and most powerful man in the world. It took several tries for Hill even to get an interview.

What originally started out as a brief discussion on what made Mr. Carnegie tick as a leader, led to a lifetime of discovery for Napoleon Hill. Mr. Carnegie gave Napoleon Hill an offer to work for him at no salary on an assignment that would take about 20 years. He was to interview all of the great minds of the time and read all the historical literature about leadership in order to distill a body of knowledge that could be passed on to future generations. Hill took up the offer and spent the rest of his life studying successful leaders, thereby becoming one himself. His theories are chronicled in several books, the most famous of which is Think and Grow Rich. He also distilled similar information in a tape series entitled, The Science of Personal Achievement. So, starting with a meager education by most standards, Napoleon Hill became one of the most educated people on the planet in terms of understanding the nature of leadership and personal achievement.

It is interesting to note that Andrew Carnegie himself had no formal education beyond grade school. His thirst for knowledge through reading books and understanding people gave him the edge to become a famous and wealthy leader.

According to Dr. Edwin Weaver of Unique Leaders Professional Development Consultants, "The business world does not need highly educated people guiding it. The business world needs leaders with heart. Leaders who know the hearts of those around them and can inspire them to do great things. For decades I have studied the greatest leaders; military, governing and business. The majority of these great leaders had very little education, but they knew the hearts of those around them. They knew what was needed."

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Article Tags: education, ego, intelligence, Leadership, myths, politics, trust



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