Row Boat vs. Aircraft Carrier
One of the best books on leadership that I have read in the past few years is called The View From The Top by D. Michael Lindsay and M.G. Hager. I highly recommend it. At end of chapter 4 he pulls a quote from John Ashcroft that is gold. Here it is.
"It may be more difficult to turn a big ship than it is to turn a rowboat, but I think you have to decide where you want to go. And if you're going to go with the flow, neither is hard to turn. If you're going to go against the flow or you're going to change the direction, they're going to be hard to turn. If you're in the rowboat, you probably can turn it by yourself, and that's a solo activity, and that's not leadership. It may be noble, but it's solo. If you're in a larger craft, you're going to have to have help to do it, so people are going to have to be convinced by the nobility of your objective and the intensity of your activity."
What kind of organization do you want to work for?
How far do you want to go?
You can't dare mighty things in a row boat.
You can't lead in a row boat.
You can't do much but go on a joy ride in a row boat.
You can fight and win wars with an aircraft carrier.
You can lead with an aircraft carrier.
You can raise up leaders and send people from an aircraft carrier.