Booker T. Washington: my newest add to hero list

I finished reading Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington and was so inspired by him. So as I was browsing the shelves at the library, I found another book from the Leaders In Action series. It is Then Fled Darkness: The Liberating Wisdom of Booker T. Washington by Stephen Mansfield. It is so well written!

On pages 269 - 270, the author lists 22 items in "The Lessons of Leadership." Here they are:

1.  To impart a sense of destiny, a leader must first impart a sense of heritage.
2.  Providence and compassion are the antidotes to the poison of bitterness.
3.  In self-examination, a leader finds the wisdom to help a people be their best.
4.  Individual purpose finds its fulfillment in corporate destiny.
5.  Wise leaders sustain themselves through disciplines of personal renewal.
6.  Hard work summons the inner strengths that make a people their best.
7.  Humor lets a leader win small battles in order to make larger ones unnecessary.
8.  A people's destiny is fulfilled by investing in the destines of others.
9.  The true leader must embody the message he proclaims.
10.  Good leaders understand that character is destiny.
11.  Hatred refashions a man into the image of the thing he hates.
12.  Great leaders build through the gifts and talents of others.
13.  Humility clears the clouds of selfishness that can dim a leader's vision.
14.  Good leaders realize vision through the power of a plan.
15.  People are most easily led into change by the power of example.
16.  To offer a people hope is to acquire a position of leadership in their lives.
17.  One must serve a people in order to lead them.
18.  Excellence is the byproduct of giving oneself fully to the call.
19.  Leaders must understand that a people without a heritage are easily persuaded.
20.  Cleanliness is a sign of an ordered inner world.
21.  To draw from the best in one's personal heritage is to draw from the best in oneself.
22.  Leadership is the ability to inspire a people toward a vision of the future.

Booker T. Washington was a genius in leadership (among other things). He read the classics of his times and learned.  He held no grudges or felt animosity toward those who persecuted him. He was compassionate yet required excellence from those around him.  His wisdom continues to be with us today.

And at his death, people revered him.  More than 8,000 attended his funeral.