Pastor Rick Warren and Saddleback Church did a good thing by holding a discourse with both Obama and McCain. The goal was civility, a value we can agree to be important regardless of our faith or lack of it. Each candidate was asked the same questions without hearing how the other answered. The tone was upbeat and the forum was informative. While I thought I knew each candidate’s beliefs and platform fairly well, I learned some new and important things.

Commentators said that McCain answered with anecdotes while Obama’s answers were more “complex.” I found many of Obama’s answers to be obtuse. He came across as thoughtful and sincere but seemed afraid of offending the evangelical audience with his answers.

Granted McCain’s platform is probably closer to the majority of those in attendance, he did an excellent job at clarity, brevity and illustration. Often he let his personal stories speak for themselves. His delivery, like Obama’s, came across as very sincere.

Both men projected a genuine humility and willingness to admit failings.

Regardless of your politics, a forum like many of us witnessed last night that focused on civil inquiry is good for America and good for our political process.

5 Ways to Learn Like a Leader

Mark was pleased to be a guest on The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch which aired Thursday, August 14th, on CNBC. In this exclusive web extra, Mark shares the Five Keys to Learn Like a Leader. Click here or the image to watch the video.

Mark also shared a brief Leadership IQ assessment with The Big Idea’s audience. You can find out your Leadership IQ by taking this brief, self-scored assessment on your leadership capability. And, you’ll get some great ideas on boosting your leadership IQ while your at it…

Finally, Mark shared his ideas with The Big Idea on How Leaders Communicate in this insightful article every leader should read.

Read the complete recap of Thursday’s The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch and, if you watched the show or enjoyed the material posted on its site, please be sure and leave Mark a comment with your own insights on leadership learning, communication and how to develop effective leaders.

I live in a subdivision that hasn’t hard a community party in years–at least not as far back as I can remember.

So it was especially nice that one family took it upon themselves to bring us all together last night. They got a band, put a waterslide in their backyard for the kids, set up a keg and arranged for everyone to bring drinks or appetizers. It was great fun.

Community doesn’t happen accidently. It is created. In tough times it is created by tragedy. More often than not it is created by those willing to make a little extra effort to bring folks together.

Creating community is something leaders do, and you don’t need a title to do it.

These are lessons I either learned early (thankfully) or I wish I had learned earlier (regrettably).

1. The responsibility and service of leadership always outweigh the recognition and status.

2. Responsibility is rewarding, but it isn’t about rewards

3. Anyone can lead but not everyone should lead. If you don’t have your heart in it, you’ll be mediocre at best.

4. Leadership doesn’t make a difference; leadership makes the difference, personally and organizationally.

5. Anything the leader does that benefits only him- or herself was done out of ambition; leadership done right benefits others as well.

6. Consensus building is harder but far more powerful than control.

7. Your impact will rarely be bigger than your vision.

8. People draw big conclusions for little gestures and interactions.

9. As John Maxwell says, “It shouldn’t be lonely at the top.” If it is, you’ve done something wrong getting to the top.

10. I learned from the autobiography of John Ashcroft that as a leader more people will befriend you than be your friend. Understanding the difference is critical.

11. The best way to gain cooperation is by asking, “How can I help you?”

12. Leaders make time for what’s important.

Good leaders make us mad.

Bad leaders make us mad, too.

What’s the difference?

A bad leader makes us made at him or her. We get mad about how they treat us, questionable ethics, bullheadedness, going the wrong direction and a plethora of other reasons. They make us mad because they aren’t good leaders.

Good leaders make us mad about the right things; about things we should be mad about.

Good leaders make us mad at problems–mad enough to solve them.

Good leaders make us mad at bad situations and circumstances that we can make better or change.

Good leaders make us made about inferior outcomes so that they won’t happen again.

Good leaders make us mad about injustice we’ve become comfortable with so that we’ll permit it no longer.

Good leaders make us mad at ourselves sometimes, because they show us by example that we could do better and be better people.

Who have you made mad lately?

You’ve heard that phrase many times. I think I first ran across it in a book by Bennis and Nanus (how’s that for two great names for co-authors?).

Not only does familiarity breed contempt; it can also breed neglect. Sometimes we discount the value of an idea because it is familiar.

Andrew Carnegie said, “Reading should be carefully planned as a diet for optimum mental growth.”  How many leaders plan their reading carefully? My experience and observation is that most of what leaders read is thrust upon them. They read more out of obligation than by choice.

William Godwin said, “He that loves reading has everything within his reach.” A leader can get a handle on almost any problem or opportunity if he or she knows who to read in that area. The biggest challenge today is finding wisdom in a sea of often dubious information.

Would you like a strategy for your reading? Here’s a suggestion that is as true today as it was when written 100 years ago: “There are three keys to reading profitably: intention, attention and retention.” The classic self-help author Orison Swett Marden said that.

Read by intention, rather than just obligation. Give your attention to items of importance and not just interest. Then highlight, outline and synthesize so that you can retain the nuggets of wisdom.

Tom Gray works with us on using technology strategically. We are often approached by individuals and companies that have a “new idea.” More often than not, they are using new technology in old ways. These new ideas turn out, at best, to be incremental improvements.

“If I was in high school or college right now, I’d be starting as many new internet companies as I could in search of the next Facebook,” commented Tom.

I agreed. The cost of entry is low, and younger entrepreneurs are more likely to use new technology in new ways. Because they have less experience, they also tend to have fewer boundaries and expectations about what can and can’t be done.

Of course you don’t have to be a young entrepreneur to think that way. I believe some of the best leadership is about attempting what hasn’t been done before. Managers can handle the incremental improvements; leaders are those who can take people to new places that they hadn’t even thought about going.

Is it possible too read too much? Yes, if reading prevents you from thinking.

Passive reading can be a substitute for the harder work of thinking and learning. We fool ourselves if we think a large input of ideas will necessarily benefit us. Until we digest those ideas and ultimately apply them, then reading is of little value.

Abraham Lincoln was a leader known for deep reflection. His law partner and biographer William Herndon said that “Lincoln read less and thought more than any man in his sphere in American.”

When Lincoln was President there was far less published than there is today; still, he could have chosen to be a voracious reader. His strength wasn’t in the limits of his reading but the depth of his thinking.

What can you eliminate in your schedule today that will enable you to do more thinking?

Thoureau said “Don’t read the Times; read the eternities.”

He knew the value of timeless truths. (And I recognize the phrase “timeless truths” is redundant–all truths are timeless, but we need to be remnded of that sometimes).  Circumstances change but truths endure. In an age of management philosophy du jour, make sure the underlying principles of your work as a leader are sound.

I had lunch with the mayor of a major city yesterday. He is a democrat. He is also innovative, charming and erudite.

He said he targeted getting big companies into his city because he believed they could be generous donors to worthwhile causes and charities.

“Mayor,” I said, “that sounds like a Republican sentiment.”

“That’s why my party calls me a bad Democrat,” he replied with a grin.

When it is good to be bad? This is an example. In the current two party political spectrum bad democrats and bad republicans often end up as centrists, or social liberals and fiscal conservatives or visa versa.

Frankly, I like these mold-breaking departures. I’m tired of both parties, and I belong to one of ‘em.

In leadership, it is easy to fall into a category that can trap you as well as define you. The Mayor is, in my opinion, an excellent leader because he refuses to let that happen. He is also a world-class consensus builder who has brought people of different views and beliefs together to do great things for the community.

Too bad he isn’t running for president.