Leader "The Light and Shadow of Leaders" -- Editor's Note for Iolite Special Issue

"Charisma is not the key. Leadership is not about attracting people. Leadership is about elevating people's vision, raising the standard of performance, and elevating character."

The "father of management," Peter F. Drucker, became known to many people, not just those in business, due to the popularity of the TV drama "Moshidora." This is a passage from his book "Management."

When we think about leaders again, at first we imagine a saintly figure, but are leaders generally perfect? ​​In reality, it seems that they cannot be interpreted so one-sidedly. In his book, Drucker argues that the first requirement for being a leader is to see leadership as a job, and the second requirement is to see leadership as a responsibility, not a position or privilege, and that the essence of leadership lies in the "mission," not the "individual." Let's make the outline of a leader a little clearer.

"The boss says 'I', the leader, 'we'.

The boss fixes the blame for the breakdown; the leader fixes the breakdown.

The boss knows how it is done; the leader shows how.

The boss inspires fear; the leader inspires enthusiasm.

The boss turns work into drudgery, the leader turns work into a game.

The boss says 'Go'; the leader says 'Let's go!'"

These words were spoken by the founder of a high-end department store chain in the UK, and were also quoted by Toyota's representative Akio Toyoda at the Toyota Labor-Management Council in 2020 as a self-reflection. It is difficult to fully understand what intentions they had in leaving these words, but I certainly feel that leadership can emerge from a mission with high resolution.