Full Text: Open Debate

Bill George

Professor at Harvard Business School; former CEO, Medtronic Inc.; author of True North (Jossey-Bass, April)

Wendy Kopp

President, Teach for America; featured in George's True North

Resolved (from True North): The hardest person you will ever have to lead is yourself.

George: In my studies of leaders who have failed, these leaders fell prey to the pressures and seductions they faced. It wasn't that they lacked leadership skills, style or power, but that the extrinsic rewards of leadership (money, fame, glory and power) went to their heads. Their egos, their greed, their craving for public adulation, and their fear of loss of power overwhelmed their responsibility to build their institutions. In contrast, authentic leaders understand that leading is not about advancing themselves and their personal interests, but serving others and bringing them together around a common cause. In the end they create great organizations because people are inspired to step up and lead.

Kopp: It's probably never easy, but perhaps leaders are more likely to stay on course when they're pursuing their passions -- causes greater than themselves but that are extremely important to them, causes that lead them to set goals so ambitious that there's little time or temptation to focus on anything but ensuring that the goals are met and the cause is served.

George: I have seen many leaders who started out in humble circumstances and were very modest about their accomplishments. But as they achieved success and got more and more awards and kudos and media attention, it eventually went to their heads. Although they would not admit it, many of them started thinking, "I am the institution." Some even refused to develop successors because they believed no one could properly replace them. Wendy, as the founder of Teach For America, you have received a tremendous amount of recognition lately, including being named one of "America's Best Leaders." Given that, how do you keep it from going to your head, and feeling like "you are Teach For America"?

Kopp: Well, Teach For America really is about thousands of individual and collective acts of social entrepreneurship on the part of our teachers, our alumni, and our staff members. It is hard to take the public credit for what we do when I know it should really be so much more widely distributed given the nature of our work. And I'm so deeply immersed in the challenging, rewarding effort to grow Teach For America's impact -- that's really where I get my energy from and what I want to do most, so sometimes the public recognitions seem like a distraction. Hopefully this doesn't come off the wrong way -- they're certainly also greatly appreciated and they're wonderful ways to get out the message about our work.

At Teach For America we know that teaching successfully is an act of leadership, and I often hear our corps members and alumni describe the moment they broke through as a teacher as the moment they realized that this work is not about them, but rather about their students. And similarly, our best organizational leaders are relentlessly focused on achieving their goals, rather than on 'looking good.' As a result, they ask for more help and more feedback and in fact attain better results and become stronger leaders over time. I believe that the best leaders keep themselves focused on the outcomes they're trying to achieve, resisting the very human temptation to get distracted by issues of ego and insecurity.

George: : I am intrigued by your assertion that "teaching successfully is an act of leadership," especially since teachers have no direct reports to lead, but they certainly have challenging students to lead. What does Teach For America do to help your teachers prepare for leadership in the classroom? Or are they self-trained through their teaching experiences?

I also believe that all great leaders are also excellent teachers, although perhaps not in the Teach For America context. Would you agree with that statement? Would thinking of themselves as teachers help leaders become more effective in their leadership roles?

Your teachers must face constant pressures and disciplinary challenges in their jobs. What do they do to stay grounded and not get discouraged? What resources does Teach For America provide them to get through the difficult times? What can the rest of us learn about our own leadership from their experiences?