One is that we often put the wrong people in leadership positions. Think about it. Probably, the person with the best sales record. High tech firms are notorious for thinking that technical proficiency translates automatically into leadership proficiency. Well, things don't work that way.
Leadership is a skill, just as surgery and sales and computer programming are skills.
If it's a skill, it can be taught. If we're in a leadership position, the people we're likely to think have the greatest leadership potential are people who look like, talk like and act like us. In short, our current approach to leadership tends to perpetuate the old boy network. Leadership training is one way we can help more women and minorities break through the glass ceiling. So, one of the things I want to do at the LBJ School is to upgrade our teaching of leadership.