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The ability to acquire knowledge and to reason more effectively can be
learned and developed, as well as becoming competent at applying this
intelligence to real-world, day-to-day activities. It is dangerous to assume
that your existing base of knowledge, competency, and skills will be

sufficient for tomorrow’s challenges.

The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write
but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. Alvin Toffler.

If you do what you’ve always done, you will get what you’ve always gotten.

Therefore, it is important for leaders to assess how they currently learn, to
understand other ways to gain new competencies and skills, and to make
the opportunity to experiment with new learning tactics. This approach
can help them develop the flexibility and responsiveness they need to build

on the experience they have acquired. 121

Is capable of creating a culture of excellence

Successful and sustainable organizations are likely to possess a strong and
well-defined culture. Organizational culture is a composite of values,
beliefs, practices, shared meanings, rituals and celebrations, and history of
the organization that combine to make an organization unique. Although

the organization’s culture is derived from the activity and behavior of the
entire organization, its leadership plays the most critical role in shaping it.
Schein states that the only thing of importance that leaders do is create and
manage culture and the unique talent of leaders is their ability to understand and
work within the culture. 122 It would appear that only through leadership can an
organization truly develop and nurture a culture that is adaptive to change. 123

121 Ellen Van Velsor, et.al. “Our View of Leadership Development.” Cynthia D. McCauley, et.al. editors.
The Center for Creative Leadership: Handbook of Leadership Development. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Publishers, 1998, p. 23.
122 Edgar H. Schein, Organizational Culture and Leadership, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers,
1992.
123 James C. Sarros, et.al., “Building a Climate for Innovation Through Transformation Leadership and
Organizational Culture,” Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, Volume 15, No. 2, November
2008, p. 145.

David Kolzow 109