I've admired Good to Great author Jim Collins' equation for the personality of great leaders: Humility + Persistence. Giuliani also notes that people need to see someone who is stronger than they are, but human too.
Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani discusses what I'd call an equation for the actions of great leaders: Vision + Process.
Put another way, a dream remains just that, until we come up with a means to make it happen. Consider Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. The vision of Americans being judged by the content of their character, and not the color of their skin, was a fine idea. But only after he pursued it with a process, in this case non-violent protest, did it begin to become a fine reality.
From personal experience, pursuit of a dream is tiring and expires unless it's connected to our deeply rooted core beliefs. Many beautiful visions lose their color once they mix with the sweat required to make it real. Continuing that unpleasant analogy just a bit longer, I think it's righteous to build homes for the poor. I feel the same way about playing basketball for exercise. But during only one of those activities do I barely notice the sweat on my brow after several hours. You've read in recent posts that Competition is my primary driver. Our true beliefs guide our actions.
Giuliani points out that Abe Lincoln understood this too, and anyone who's read the former president's speeches would see the same. Lincoln used to say that the test of one's Americanism was not one's family tree, but how much one believes in America. Lincoln believed in the Constitution. Giuliani lists his core beliefs as the power of optimism, accountability, and standing up to bullies. Once we understand what we believe, and if we can devise a process, then we can bring our own visions to life.
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