Hi, Doug.  I appreciate your vote of support.  I do want to be cautious to make assumptions about my "friend."  I don't know him, and I'm still hopeful somewhere in the back of my mind that he simply could have chosen better words to convey his sentiment.

This discussion has been very healthy, I believe, and it's bringing the topic of leadership top-of-mind for many people.  This is a good thing, no matter what their personal stance is on the issue.  We need to be considering what it is and what it looks like for us more often.

Hopefully, most of us can agree that there's no one particular road to being a leader.  It's personal, and it needs to be authentic for everyone.

I DO think the Green Beret author is a leader.  What I hope is possible is that he can also open his mind to believe that others who did not follow his same path can also be leaders too!

I could write a whole new blog post on the value of diversity in leadership, in fact.  It's a beneficial approach for companies that has positive effects on both their employees and customers.  But, I'll leave that for another time...