Dwight Eisenhower has long been a favorite of mine when thinking of effective, principled leaders in history. Few people would associate radical,innoative change with this unassuming man from Abilene, Kansas who became the Supreme Commander of all allied forces in WWII and later an innovative President of the US.
Some of the most effective leaders in history display the opposite of the sterotypical image of a successful leader: humble versus arrogant; listening and learning versus pontificating; leading courageously by example.
An article in Monday's Wall Street Journal offers compelling insights into the man as plans are made for a memorial in Washington, DC in his honor. "What is truly remarkable is that Ike was able to become an innovator without abandoning the basic values he had acquired in small-town America."
As healthcare faces seemingly intractable challenges, its leaders can learn much from Ike!