I am currently reading Nelson Mandela’s autobiography.  He made the following statement about leadership that is well worth highlighting.

As a leader, I have always endeavoured to listen to what each and every person in a discussion had to say before venturing my own opinion. Oftentimes, my own opinion will simply represent a consensus of what I heard in the discusion. I always remember the regent’s (i.e. village chief) axiom: a leader, he said, is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go on ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind.