Jay, John: Thank you ever so kindly for dropping by.  Your wonderful comments have me thinking.  John F Kennedy said, "Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other." Seems to me he was not suggesting we become better leaders by merely referring to wisdom gleaned from books, or the sages who write them.  Instead, I believe he reminds us when we fail to take notice, we fail to lead.  Ken Blanchard, in his writings, points out, "Leadership is not something you do to people; it's something you do with people."  For me, Kennedy and Blanchard sing the same song. There is a simple knowing left behind in the days of our youth we, as adults, would do well to retrieve.  Certainly, walking our talk is important but, as I see it, it's not enough to walk our talk if our talk fails to authentically connect.  And the best way for it to connect is for it to take pause and give room for others to ‘speak’ (through word and deed), most esp when 'others' include young and emerging leaders.  It has been my experience the one thing young people want from adults is to be noticed.  The way to notice them is to engage them in conversation — not talk at them, but talk with them … and walk with them.  When this happens, our walk begins to speak loud enough we have little need for further ‘talk.’  In saying less, it seems to me we actually communicate more ... and we communicate more deeply.  For me, this is how we learn, this is how we lead, and this is how we find our way out of the shadows.