This list is an outline of leadership in practice—each of the 40 items can be explored through AI-assisted research. Simply cut-and-insert any of the 40 tenets into your AI engine of choice—preferably one with the best available citations—explore further and learn. Use a preparatory direction, like: 

“[paste tenet text, with any references],” explain in plain language: what it means in practice, why it matters for leadership, its main historical and current intellectual roots (earliest key sources first), the most relevant supporting thinkers or traditions with core works, and two strong examples mainly from public-sector or local government leadership (leader, setting, outcome). If key context is missing, ask me two clarifying questions before answering.

Remember, there is no substitute for reading primary sources. 

After identifying 40 practices, I separated them into four areas of felt commonality and wrote a characterizing label for each. The four characterizing labels became:

1. Strive Toward Purpose.
2. Engage All Participants.
3. Foster Team Spirit.
4. Build Organizational Resilience.

Strive Toward Purpose

Understanding values, defining a worthy direction, converting it into aligned work, and persisting until results are achieved.

• Learn stakeholder interests and values. (adapted from Freeman, F.E., 1984).
• Support a vision of the future and a sustainable organizational purpose. (informed in part by Kouzes and Posner’s The Leadership Challenge, 1987).
• Engage MARK objectives: Measure, Action-plan, Realistically frame, and Keep checking. (adapted from Doran, G.T., 1981).
• Rely on knowledge and expertise to influence the actions of others. (French and Raven, 1959; Confucius; Drucker, Peter).
• Compassionately walk the talk. (Chris Argyris; Gandhi, M.; Covey, S.).
• Create a task structure that engages participants with meaningful work. (Herzberg, Frederick, 1959; Hackman and Oldham, 1976).
• Assure congruence between goals and routines. (Aristotle, Drucker).
• Audit routines and goal accomplishment. (Drucker, P., The Practice of Management, 1954; Deming, W. Edwards).
• Adaptively take timely, thoughtful, reasonable risks to achieve goals. (Aristotle; Heifetz, Ronald; Drucker).
• Achieve sustainable, tangible results. (Drucker, The Effective Executive, 1967; Deming, W. Edwards; Senge, P.).

Engage All Participants

Conditions for participation and trust.

• Provide timely, specific, practical feedback. (reduced from Confucius and others).
• Become visible to everyone who shares the organization. (Bennis, W., On Becoming a Leader, 1989).
• Foster task team attitudes and practices across functional areas. (Hackman, J.R., 1980).
• Speak to stakeholder groups in regular, predictable ways. (Covey, S., 1989; Kotter, J.P., 1995).
• Ensure a wide range of valid and reliable feedback. (Hersey & Blanchard, 1969).
• Promote constructive dialogue on both task and professional issues. (Argyris & Schön, 1978; Senge, P., 1990).
• Create and ensure policies that support caring. (Gilligan, C., 1982).
• Seek to appreciate, perceive, and discern, prior to seeking compliance. (Buddhism; Taoism; Covey, S., 1989).
• Understand participant values, including cultural values. (Hall, E.T., The Silent Language, 1959).

Foster Team Spirit

Share responsibility, celebrate progress.

• Create a shared sense of organizational and community history. (Drucker, 1954).
• Choose collaboration over competition and accept shared responsibility for group welfare. (Greenleaf, R., 1977).
• After a mistake: accept and admit it, apologize, correct it, suffer in common, and take heed going forward. (Amy Edmondson, 1996; Robert Greenleaf).
• Show co-ownership of occasional mistakes made by team members in pursuit of excellence. (Amy Edmondson)
• Be predictable, consistent, and authentic. (Henderson & Hoy, 1982).
• Honor promises and align structure with judgment and integrity through words and actions. (Confucius; Aristotle; Covey).
• Seek outcomes, where feasible, that advance mutual interests, foster mutual gains, and resolve competing claims through fair, practical, and transparent criteria. (Fisher & Ury, 1981).
• Express appreciation for acts of leadership. (Kouzes & Posner, The Leadership Challenge, 1987; Wheatley, Margaret).
• Use additive language where possible, avoid finger-pointing and blame, and emphasize shared purpose over self-importance. These principles are defaults, not absolutes.
• Shared accountability and purpose should invite contribution without silencing dissent. (Blackstone, Keith, Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre, 1981; Wilmer, Harry A., Practical Jung, Nuts and Bolts of Jungian Psychotherapy, 1987; Deming, W. Edwards). 
• Recognize individual, team, and organizational wins—including small ones. (Weick, K.E., "Small Wins: Redefining the Scale of Social Problems," 1984).

Build Organizational Resilience

Planned growth, recovery, and creativity.

• Identify opportunities for success. (Dewey, John; Addams, Jane; Weick, K.E., 1984).
• Enhance the strengths of yourself and others. (Follett, Mary Parker; Greenleaf, R., 1970; Burns, J.M., Leadership, 1978).
• Encourage training for personal competence, confidence, and vocational growth, enabling organizations to absorb disruption, adapt, and sustain mission continuity. (Maslow, A., 1943; Drucker).
• Develop the conditions to perceive and welcome opportunity in change. (Lao Tzu; Heraclitus; Socrates; Plato; Lincoln, A.; Carnegie, D.; modern organizational change theory).
• When fostering change, visibly share in the hardships of others. (Hesse, H.; Greenleaf; Gandhi).
• Counter a prognosis of doom with a positive, realistic vision of the future, co-created with all concerned. (Stoics; Ellis, Albert; Weisbord, Marvin and Sandra Janoff; Seligman, M., Learned Optimism, 1991).
• Display a patient and strategically aware attitude. (Sun Tzu, The Art of War; Machiavelli, N., The Prince).
• Foster creativity. (Pragmatists, Follett, M.P., The Creative Experience, 1924).
• Cultivate, celebrate, and recognize excellence in character, contribution, and improvement (Confucius; Drucker, 1954; Deming).
• Share specific gratitude to help people feel seen, strengthen community, and steady the organization under stress. (The Stoics; Greenleaf; Emerson, R.W.).

Final Summary

These tenets (descriptors, behaviors, practices) are not the ultimate authority on leadership. Neither do they replace effective management, resource allocation, or technical skills. However, the tenets play a crucial role in success at work by shaping how leaders are perceived, supported, respected, and empowered. History, scholarly thought, and leadership research generally support the relevance and reliability of each tenet. None of these 40 descriptors under four subheadings was written as an exact quote; each is a paraphrase, an approximation, a working note for a practicing manager.

ICMA's Gettysburg Leadership Institute registration is open for June and September sessions. This can help fulfill your annual professional development requirements as outlined in the guidelines for Tenet 8 of the ICMA Code of Ethics.

Copyright © 1997, 2026 Mark E. Hoppen. All rights reserved.*

*A Steward’s Heading is an original work by Mark E. Hoppen. References to authors, books, traditions, and frameworks are provided for identification, attribution, commentary, and scholarship. All third-party names, titles, and marks remain the property of their respective owners. No affiliation, endorsement, sponsorship, certification, or formal association is claimed or implied.