The Kallion Sketchbook Library - Kallion Leadership, Inc.

Introduction

The following sketches were created either in reading groups focused on leadership study and development or by individual members of the Kallion community. These sketches are not reviewed for historical accuracy and the views expressed in them are not necessarily the views of Kallion Leadership, Inc. They are offered here as reflection points on leadership development and as examples of ways of sketching leadership.

On Leadership in a Crisis

PROMPT: In 100+ words sketch someone that you have personally observed leading (or trying to lead) during a crisis. After you describe the crisis (briefly), you may describe the person however you like, e.g., their actions, their demeanor/emotions, their words, their psychological state (such as you could discern it), or their reliance on traditional knowledge vs. innovation to work through the crisis. Did this person rise to the occasion or not? This prompt was developed as part of a discussion during the COVID-19 epidemic of the opening scene of Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus.

Leadership during COVID-19–John Esposito

Leadership During a Crisis–Lanah Koelle

Leadership in a Crisis, Ed Zakreski–Norman Sandridge

On Being a Friend to Humanity

PROMPT: For your sketch, please take thirty minutes to write about a person, particularly in a leadership role or engaged in leadership activity, whom you consider to be a consistent “friend to humanity”. This could be a person you know, a person from history, a contemporary figure, or a character in literature, film, or other art form. As you sketch, consider the following:

What behaviors does your subject engage in that suggest they are a friend to humanity? does this person seem happy/fulfilled in their friendship to humanity?
What do you imagine informs your subject’s friendliness to humanity? does it come from a sense of duty? an adherence to a certain religion or philosophy? or does it seem like a spontaneous/natural impulse?
Would you describe this person as a philanthropist, a word, originally from ancient Greek, that literally means a “friend to humans”?

Stephen Colbert–Mallory Monaco Caterine

Person P, founder & CEO of a company I’ve worked at–John Esposito

Jazz Thornton–Julia Hark

Issa Rae–Malliron Hodge

Greg Nagy–Norman Sandridge

Using the Techniques of Plutarch’s Alexander

PROMPT: Study the sketching techniques that Plutarch uses to depict Alexander of Macedon and apply them to your sketch of a leader of your choice.

A coach who got you to take virtue seriously–Norman Sandridge

A sketch of a father–Russell Smith

On Leadership That Is Too Generous

PROMPT: Sketch an example of someone in a leadership role who was too generous. This may be someone you have personally observed (feel free to keep them anonymous if you like) or studied. How did this excess generosity compromise the leader’s ability to meet the needs of everyone in the group? Where do you fall on the spectrum of not-generous enough/just the right amount of generosity/too generous? What is a process you can imagine where someone could learn to show generosity in just the right amount–or are we all limited in
how much we may change our behavior w.r.t. generosity? This prompt is tied to a reading of Plutarch’s Life of Mark Antony, a figure that Plutarch sees as having excessive generosity (eleutheria).

Conspicuous generosity and its private consequences–Norman Sandridge

An overly generous CEO–Russell Smith

On Putting Personal Interests ahead of the Group

PROMPT: Sketch a situation that you have faced as a leader, or about which you’ve become aware in the behavior of others. You might choose to write about a deliberate disregard of the group’s needs, or you might decide to describe an unconscious process in which a leader is driven by an impulse of which he or she is not aware. This prompt is tied to a reading of Plutarch’s Life of Mark Antony, a figure that Plutarch sees as having at times put his personal interest ahead of his army or of Rome.

On the deliberate disregard for the needs of the group and an impulse at variance with them–Norman Sandridge

A leader who put self over service–Russell Smith

On Inconsistent Leadership

PROMPT: Sketch a leader who seems inconsistent, and who seems to alternate between clear-eyed focus and competence at some times, and distraction or dissolution at other times. Such a leader may pull out wins unexpectedly, or drive people crazy until suddenly – and often briefly – becoming super-competent. Does calculation or acting play a role here, or does the leader truly change personalities with circumstances? Do the same characteristics that make the leader hyper-focused and competent at certain times lead at other times to dissolution? For example, Grant was a reputed drinker when bored, but extremely cold and determined in battle. Another angle is the leader who loses focus for a time, and then “snaps back.” This could be due to substance abuse, libido, sudden gains in wealth, etc. The “snap back” can be caused by a threat to the leader’s position, a new goal, etc. This prompt is tied to a reading of Plutarch’s Life of Mark Antony.

Passionate protector, Henry IV of France–Paul Eckert

The trickster as inconsistent but resilient–Norman Sandridge

Richard Nixon–Russell Smith

On a leader from the 19th Century

PROMPT: For your sketch, choose anyone from the 19th century. Plutarch had both the perspective and the limitation of examining Alexander and Antony centuries after they lived. The person just needs to have lived in the 19th century–birth before 1800 or death after 1900 is not a disqualifier.

Ida B. Wells–Norman Sandridge

Queen Victoria–Russell Smith

On How We Think of “Our Own”

PROMPT: Reflect on these 4 words: non sibi sed suis, the Latin motto of Tulane University, which translates to “not for oneself, but for one’s own”. Spend at least 30 minutes writing a sketch of the following: Describe who you think of as “your own”. How do you distinguish between “your own” and “others” in your actions, reactions, and words? When you think about Kallion, who is “our own”? What are 1-2 specific actions we could take as an organization to expand that definition of “our own”?