Michael S. Erwin

Solitude is a state of mind, a space where you can focus on your own thoughts without distraction, with a power to bring mind and soul together in clear-eyed conviction. Like a great wave that saturates everything in its path, however, handheld devices and other media now leave us awash with the thoughts of others. We are losing solitude without even realizing it.

The most inspiring leaders are the ones who find some transcendent meaning in the enterprise they lead... A transcendent meaning is one that by definition stands apart from the specific goals at hand. To find it, therefore, usually requires reflection. The leaders who do find it are the ones we honor most.

The point is that every leader has her emotional limits, and there is no shame in exceeding them. What distinguishes effective leaders from inferior ones, rather, is their ability to restore their emotional balance.

... the leader can again expect moral criticism... The very point of these criticisms is to enforce conformity, and thus to prevent the leader from making these decisions in the first place. Moral courage is what enables a leader to make them nonetheless. It requires not only clarity, but conviction. And to have conviction, and thus moral courage, the leader must get her soul involved.”