Ivan:
You ask if "true leaders compromise their beliefs, values, etc.?".
Perhaps a true leader is that person who has such a basic, positive,
innate sense of Truth and Humanity that she or he leads the maelstrom of
personalities, with their unique manifestations, in a roughly singular
direction to the benefit of many. Within this maelstrom is subsumed the
leader's own belief system.
I recall the description of an Amir in Arabia who held council for the
region's beduin tribesmen. His presence in the shadow of a mud wall by
the oasis town plaza was enough to bring most all conflict to a positive
resolution. The particular beduin men were intensely free people. Before
tha Amir they argued passionately, each out-shouting the other. Only
occasionally would the Amir speak a word of two of encouragement or
clarification. Then suddenly, the two pleaders would stop short their
argument, realize the path they had walked, and depart mumbling and
reconciled from the presence of the Amir.
While this anecdote may seem romantic (it is a true story), it exemplifies
what can be done by any leader who understands the subterranean flows in
humans.
-- Barry Mallis bmallis@markem.com