Senior Sage Leaders Reflect on Their Own Leadership

By Gary Quehl and William Bergquist

I learned through my experiences in the corporate world that the people I admired and respected most were those who knew their values and lived them. Senior Sage Leader

The strengths that most senior sages attribute to themselves are a combination of Jim Collins’ Level 4 and Level 5 Leadership and Robert Greenleaf’s Servant Leadership. These include a focus on vision, action, and skills aimed at empowering others and fostering their personal, professional, and spiritual growth. A few senior sages point to their leadership styles as strengths, but they tend to say less than emerging sages about their passions and personas—suggesting the possibility that with aging comes an internalization of these qualities rather than an awareness of them at the conscious level.

Senior Leadership Strengths

Vision. Some senior sages see themselves as transformational leaders who are able to inspire others with a vision:

I like people and like to help them. And I am willing to persevere and work hard. I think I have the ability to look at things from the 10,000 foot level, as well as from differing perspectives.

I’ve been very visionary at several points in my life. I feel I started the yuppie SUV craze, and my wine bar being the first in New York City is another example. I’ve always enjoyed being on the cutting edge. The Center for the Arts is that for me. I am tenacious.

My staff used to say I was a visionary. Developing patience and listening skills, building relationships, and being a visionary seem to be my main leadership strengths.