Creative Leadership from Queen Elizabeth I

Thanks to the Pikes Peak Library District, I started listening to a great book on tape titled “Elizabeth I CEO: Strategic lessons from the leader who built an empire” by Alan Axelrod.

The book discusses the life and leadership of Queen Elizabeth and it is interesting from both an historical and leadership perspective.

I’m not through the book yet, but one of the points I found interesting was this quote:

Your Sources: The closer the better…first hand. Queen Elizabeth I was notorious for being impatient with long winded sermons. She said she would rather talk with God devoutly by prayer than hear others speak eloquently of God. Creative leaders want to get as close to the source of knowledge, inspiration and power as possible.

I think this rings true on so many levels. Here are 4 of them.

1. I hate long winded speakers (pastors or otherwise)
2. Hearing information second hand is never as valuable as getting it first hand. So much is lost in translation.
3. Those who relay the message have the opportunity to insert their personal opinions
4. Creative Leaders aren’t just satisfied with email or voice mail, they want to get as close as possible. Face to face, sit down, and especially free lunches are indicative of how creative leaders interface with sources.