I am working with the CEO of the Havard Virtuous Leader Institute – USA to bring Alexandre Havard to Denver in February 2015 to speak to the Attollo group and their guests about virtuous leadership. Mr. Havard is the author of Virtuous Leadership. Born in Paris, he is a barrister by profession having graduated from the René Descartes University, one of France’s leading law schools, and practiced law in several European countries. He is now living and working in Moscow where he offers seminars in Virtuous Leadership to senior business executives and university students. He has founded Virtuous Leadership Centers in Moscow, Washington, Shanghai, Paris, Helsinki and Nairobi.
Leadership is about achieving greatness by bringing out the greatness in others. Greatness is a result of the practice of the virtue of magnanimity. Service is a result of the practice of the virtue of humility. Magnanimity (striving to do great things) and humility (the ambition to serve others) are virtues of the heart.
The virtues of character are leadership powers. They give the leader the capacity to do what people expect of him:
- Prudence increases his ability to make right decisions.
- Courage permits him to stay the course and resist pressures of all kinds. It also increases the ability to run risks.
- Self-control subordinates his emotions and passions to his spirit and directs their vital energy to the fulfillment of his mission.
- Justice impels him to give everyone his due.
- Magnanimity impels him to strive for greatness, to challenge himself and others.
- Humility allows him to overcome selfishness and serve others habitually.
