Leadership Lessons from a Legend!

Ben Bradlee passed away at the age of 93 this week. He was the legendary Executive Editor of Washington Post for 26 years, the longest ever tenure for someone to lead a media property. Bradlee is most famous for leading the charge during the Nixon administrations Watergate scandal and exposing the misdeeds of his administration during the Watergate Era, forcing Richard Nixons resignation as the first US president to ever resign for his exploits and abuses.

It is rare that leadership accomplishments from the media and journalism spill over into the corporate world from which we draw inspiration and lessons. Ben Bradlee was a rare example from which any leadership endeavor would draw inspiration. I read All the Presidents Men and then saw that movie when it came out in 1976. After hearing the news of his death last week I watched that movie again the other day and was struck by his force of leadership that catapulted both the Post and the two reporters (Woodward and Bernstein) to fame. Interestingly, throughout the 2Hr-20Min. movie his character appears only for about 10Mins., yet it dominates the movie!

So, what are some of the lessons of leadership that can be universally applicable in any endeavor? Here is my list after watching that movie again and seeing Bradlee eulogized by the media since his passing:

1. A true leader does not provide answers to others problems; he asks the right questions.
2. A leader empowers his team to pursue the truth and points them in the direction of the truth by being true to their own convictions.
3. Never underestimate what your team can do when you empower them with a mission and strust its work.
4. An inspiring leader stands by his reports when they make a mistake (Woodward and Bernstein mistakenly reported that Nixons Chief of StaffBob Haldeman, who later went to prisonwas mentioned in the Grand Jury testimony, even though he was implicated by others). Upon learning the context Bradlee stood by his young reporters, even though he privately chewed them out for sloppy reporting.
5. Believing in a cause greater than yourself can inspire you to pursue things that will reveal your true self to those who work with you.
6. Nothing should stop you from pursuing the truth.
7. Do your best today and be ready to do even better tomorrow!
8. There is no force greater than the pursuit of truth (the US President and all his machinery could not stop the Post from reporting the truth they were uncovering).
9. When you are forced to decide during a crisis go with your gut and admit when you make a mistake
10. Take immediate responsibility when things go wrong (Bradlee returned the wrongly awarded Pulitzer Prize and offered to resign, despite the fact that he was not the immediate editor for that story).

When it comes to great leadership there is nothing mysterious of what great leaders do to deserve that mantle. By pursuing these simple principles we, too, can aspire to be great!

Good luck!

About Author

Dilip has distinguished himself as LinkedIn’s #1 career coach from among a global pool of over 1,000 peers ever since LinkedIn started ranking them professionally (LinkedIn selected 23 categories of professionals for this ranking and published this ranking from 2006 until 2012). Having worked with over 6,000 clients from all walks of professions and having worked with nearly the entire spectrum of age groups—from high-school graduates about to enter college to those in their 70s, not knowing what to do with their retirement—Dilip has developed a unique approach to bringing meaning to their professional and personal lives. Dilip’s professional success lies in his ability to codify what he has learned in his own varied life (he has changed careers four times and is currently in his fifth) and from those of his clients, and to apply the essence of that learning to each coaching situation. After getting his B.Tech. (Honors) from IIT-Bombay and Master’s in electrical engineering(MSEE) from Stanford University, Dilip worked at various organizations, starting as an individual contributor and then progressing to head an engineering organization of a division of a high-tech company, with $2B in sales, in California’s Silicon Valley. His current interest in coaching resulted from his career experiences spanning nearly four decades, at four very diverse organizations–and industries, including a major conglomerate in India, and from what it takes to re-invent oneself time and again, especially after a lay-off and with constraints that are beyond your control. During the 45-plus years since his graduation, Dilip has reinvented himself time and again to explore new career horizons. When he left the corporate world, as head of engineering of a technology company, he started his own technology consulting business, helping high-tech and biotech companies streamline their product development processes. Dilip’s third career was working as a marketing consultant helping Fortune-500 companies dramatically improve their sales, based on a novel concept. It is during this work that Dilip realized that the greatest challenge most corporations face is available leadership resources and effectiveness; too many followers looking up to rudderless leadership. Dilip then decided to work with corporations helping them understand the leadership process and how to increase leadership effectiveness at every level. Soon afterwards, when the job-market tanked in Silicon Valley in 2001, Dilip changed his career track yet again and decided to work initially with many high-tech refugees, who wanted expert guidance in their reinvention and reemployment. Quickly, Dilip expanded his practice to help professionals from all walks of life. Now in his fifth career, Dilip works with professionals in the Silicon Valley and around the world helping with reinvention to get their dream jobs or vocations. As a career counselor and life coach, Dilip’s focus has been career transitions for professionals at all levels and engaging them in a purposeful pursuit. Working with them, he has developed many groundbreaking approaches to career transition that are now published in five books, his weekly blogs, and hundreds of articles. He has worked with those looking for a change in their careers–re-invention–and jobs at levels ranging from CEOs to hospital orderlies. He has developed numerous seminars and workshops to complement his individual coaching for helping others with making career and life transitions. Dilip’s central theme in his practice is to help clients discover their latent genius and then build a value proposition around it to articulate a strong verbal brand. Throughout this journey, Dilip has come up with many groundbreaking practices such as an Inductive Résumé and the Genius Extraction Tool. Dilip owns two patents, has two publications in the Harvard Business Review and has led a CEO roundtable for Chief Executive on Customer Loyalty. Both Amazon and B&N list numerous reviews on his five books. Dilip is also listed in Who’s Who, has appeared several times on CNN Headline News/Comcast Local Edition, as well as in the San Francisco Chronicle in its career columns. Dilip is a contributing writer to several publications. Dilip is a sought-after speaker at public and private forums on jobs, careers, leadership challenges, and how to be an effective leader.

Disclaimer: Please use this channel at your own discretion. These articles are contributed by our users. We are not responsible or liable for any problems related to the utilization of information of these articles.