Leadership Quote - Charles Maurice de Talleyrand

Created by Erin Morey

A spin on the quote from Alexander the Great, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand was the chief diplomat for Napoleon, whose main job was to secure French gains through peace after the battles. In the end, some would argue that he was a traitor as he gave up a lot of the French conquests at the Congress of Vienna, although the settlement was favorable for France.

Most often when I see this quote it is associated with a full-maned male lion who is roaring out his defiance, but prides are matriarchal, typically led by a female, while the male is almost there solely for breeding and protection. The lioness hunts, protects the cubs, and in general looks after the well-being of the pride, while the lion will fight other lions and laze about, occasionally roaring to let everyone know he is still dominant and around. So which leader would you rather be? As much as it may hurt my male ego, I would rather behave like a lioness

I am often amazed what a weak team can do with a strong leader, and dismayed at what a strong team cannot do when they don't have a leader. Many times a change in leadership often brings different results. Most of my life I've been the second or third leader on a team, taking over units/teams that were not meeting their goals. I've found superstars in those teams, but they were held back by the lack of leadership.

Now it is hard to make a sheep into a lion, but often you can find lions in the ranks and grow them. As John Maxwell often says, the true job of a leader is to make more leaders, not followers. Take a moment for a not so small thing (last week's quote). Are you lion or sheep? And if you are a lion, are you making sure to find and grow other lions?