Evil masters do not last long, leadership insights with John Adair

Interesting interview with prolific and long running author John Adair.

What is your own background briefly

First ,may I say what a pleasure it is to share these few moments with you . You will have gathered that I am the author of The Art of Judgment , which Irish Tech News has welcomed as a book that you may well find useful to you, both professionally and personally. I hope it will at least stimulate your own thoughts on this key subject.

Oddly enough, when you think of the importance of good judgment today– I mean the ability to make right decisions in the face of the kind of uncertainty that Corona virus has faced the world with -how strange it is that there has been no comparable book on this subject before mine .

As for my background, I am a lecturer and author of some 50 books, mostly upon the theme of ‘good leadership and leadership for good’ .Following the star of truth-as I advocate in my present book-my search has been for the universal truth about leadership and how to develop effective leaders.

I believe that I have had sufficient success in that quest to be able to design really effective leadership training at team level .

Does it seem like a logical background to what you do now?

Yes, because having mapped the core elements of the world’s body of knowledge concerning leadership and leadership development ,I am now able to teach it around the world . Partly through my books (now in 18 languages), and partly through such appointments as China’s Honorary Professor of Leadership and as the United Nations Professor of Leadership, based in Turin.

Leadership insights with John Adair

How was the last 40 years of writing – congrats? How much / has is it changed over this time?

There is a great continuity in my work on leadership – I have kept it simple, practical and relevant . But reading my books you will find some evolution over the years, yet still sticking within those hallmarks. For example, I have introduced the simple idea that leadership exists on three levels, and that the secret of organisational success is to have effective leaders at all levels, and not merely at the top., Needless to say, the Three Circles model applies to all three levels!

What would you have done differently in terms of your writing, if anything?

My early books were directed at trainers and HR people. Not until Effective Leadership(1983) did I talk directly to the end-user, the person about to become a team leader for the first time. To you, in fact. I should have done it years earlier.

We enjoyed your references, quotes, and insights from people from further back in time that most people currently refer to – a time to celebrate the shoulders of the giants we stand upon perhaps?

It is a modern heresy to believe that the study of leadership dates from the second half of the 20th century in America .There are three great world traditions of thought upon leadership deeply rooted in history: Western ,Eastern and Tribal. If you want to be an educated leader you should acquaint yourself with all three and my books offer you a useful introduction to them..

Whether intentionally or not, your use of examples from earlier periods illustrates a deficit of decency and previous minimum social norms of discourse and respect, is this a never ending race to the bottom, or you can see grounds for a more optimistic, caring, considerate future?

My job is to show you what excellence in leadership means . To do that I draw together bits and pieces from those leaders in the past- from all fields and all climes- who have shown some aspect of natural genius as leaders.

Of course it is a composite portrait -an ideal leader who never existed in the shape of just one individual.For as Shakespeare reminds us, in reality we are all ’mixed yarn’.

Yes, it does hold up a mirror to our age, marred as it by bullying and sexual harassment.,and much worse than that, All terrible symptoms of the lack of leadership. For what we do perceive when at last we see clearly the face of leadership in that mirror, is the unmistakeable look of goodness. As the Latvian proverb says,’Evil masters do not last long’.

How can people find out more about you personally & your work?

My website www.johnadair.co.uk gives some information about my background and publications, though its a bit dated now. See also www.adair-international.com for my continuing involvement in Action Centred Leadership.

In October, virus permitting , I am booked to visit Dublin to give a keynote speech at a HR conference . So I could be available for other speaking engagements if there is any interest.

Who and where do you get inspiration from?

I know that as a leader I am supposed to inspire others.What I have personally found, however, is that the traffic goes all the other way. For I am constantly being inspired by those around me, those I meet, those I read about or see on TV, and above all by those I have been privileged to work with.

So let me leave you as a parting gift what I believe to be the greatest thing ever said about leadership:

‘The task of leadership is not to put greatness into people but to elicit it ,for the greatness is there already’.

More about John Adair ->

John Adair is one of the world’s leading authorities on leadership and leadership development. Over a million managers worldwide have taken part in the Action-Centred Leadership programmes he pioneered.

John has had a colourful early career. He served as a platoon commander in the Scots Guards in Egypt, and then became the only national serviceman to serve in the Arab Legion, where he became adjutant of a Bedouin regiment. After national service he qualified as a deckhand in Hull and worked on an arctic trawler in Iceland waters. He then worked as a hospital orderly in the operating theatre of a hospital.

After being senior lecturer in military history and adviser in leadership training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and Associate Director of The Industrial Society, in 1979 John became the world’s first Professor of Leadership Studies at the University of Surrey.

Between 1981 and 1986 John worked with Sir John Harvey-Jones at ICI introducing a leadership development strategy that helped to change the loss-making, bureaucratic giant into the first British company to make a billion pounds profit.

John has written over 40 books, translated into many languages. Recent titles include ‘How to Grow Leaders’ and ‘Effective Leadership Development’. Apart from being an author he is also a teacher and consultant.

From St Paul’s School he won a scholarship to Cambridge University. John holds the higher degrees of Master of Letters from Oxford University and Doctor of Philosophy from King’s College London, and he is also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Recently the People’s Republic of China awarded him the title of Honorary Professor in recognition of his ‘outstanding research and contribution in the field of Leadership’.

In 2009, John was appointed Chair of Leadership Studies United Nations System Staff College in Turin.

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