LEADERSHIP 585 



by, or inspires those among whom his lot is cast. The first is 

 intellectual independence and the thing we call initiative, by 

 which I mean the power of thinking for one's self instead of 

 borrowing thoughts from others, and of deciding on a course 

 for one's self instead of following the advice of others. 



The second is tenacity of purpose, the capacity to adhere 

 to a view once adopted or a decision once taken. Whoever, 

 wanting this, lets himself be blown about by every wind of 

 doctrine or every pressure of menace or persuasion may be a 

 very acute man or a very adroit man, but will never impress 

 himself on others as a person to be followed. 



The third element is a sound judgment, fit to forcast the 

 results of action. Few people can look beyond the next move 

 on the chess-board, and the man who sees several moves ahead, 

 and whose forecast is verified by the events, soon grows to be 

 the man whose advice is sought and taken. His neighbors seek 

 it. Any assembly where he finds himself, from a town meeting 

 or a local school committee up to a legislature, gladly listens to 

 his counsels. 



The last is sympathy that is, having the capacity for enter- 

 ing into the thoughts of others and of evoking their feelings 

 by showing that he can share them. The power of sympathy 

 is so far an affair of the emotions that it may exist in persons 

 of no exceptional abilities. Yet it is a precious gift which often 

 palliates errors and wins affection in spite of faults and weak- 

 nessses. It is a key to unlock men's hearts, and the heart that 

 has given confidences attaches itself to the person who has re- 

 ceived them, and is prone to surrender itself to him if he is felt 

 to be strong:. 



TRAINING FOR RURAL LEADERSHIP * 



JOHN M. GILLETTE 



WHEN the rural problem arose in its full significance, almost 

 the entire emphasis was placed on organization, so that organi- 

 zation became the shibboleth, and the economic factor received 



i Adapted from "Training for Rural Leadership," Annals of the American 

 Academy, LXVII: 87-96, September, 1916. 



