I met Fernando Flores in about 1980 at which point he became my teacher and mentor. His philosophy that human beings are creatures of language and that we create our lives and our futures in language is revealed clearly in the domain of Leadership. This paper was given to me about 15 years ago and I've not made one change to it. At the same time, the principles outlined in the paper are timeless and important to grasp. They are in fact mission critical if you want to develop your power and skill as a leader in today's complex world. 

 

Over the years I've learned that, Leadership is a skill that can be taught and learned.

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Carlos Fernando Flores Labra (born January 9, 1943) is a Chilean engineer, entrepreneur and politician. He is a former cabinet minister of president Salvador Allende and was senator for the Arica and Parinacota and Tarapacá regions between 2001 and 2009. On March 31, 2010, he was designated President of Chile's National Innovation Council for Competitiveness by President Sebastián Piñera.  

 

Flores was born in Talca, Chile. He became finance minister in the government of Chilean president Salvador Allende and then spent three years as a political prisoner (from September 11, 1973 to 1976) after the military coup of General Augusto Pinochet. Subsequently forced into exile, after negotiations on his behalf by Amnesty International, he moved with his family to Palo Alto, California, and worked as a researcher in the Computer Science department at Stanford University. He subsequently obtained his PhD at UC Berkeley under the guidance of Hubert Dreyfus, Stuart Dreyfus, John Searle and Ann Markussen. There he developed his work on philosophy, coaching and workflow technology, influenced by Martin Heidegger, Humberto Maturana, John Austin and others. His thesis was titled Management and Communication in the Office of the Future.