A little history about the inspiration for this site…
“If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulder of giants,”
is a quote from a letter written by Sir Isaac Newton in 1676. But before Newton the phrase appears in the works of the Jewish tosaphist Isaiah di Trani (c. 1180 – c. 1250).
A wise philosopher responded: “Who sees further a dwarf or a giant? Surely a giant for his eyes are situated at a higher level than those of the dwarf. But if the dwarf is placed on the shoulders of the giant who sees further? … So too we are dwarfs astride the shoulders of giants. We master their wisdom and move beyond it. Due to their wisdom we grow wise and are able to say all that we say, but not because we are greater than they.“
And then, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in The Friend (1828), wrote:
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“The dwarf sees farther than the giant, when he has the giant’s shoulder to mount on.“
This idea is a perfect metaphor for leadership. We might ask the question, who sees farther the leader or the follower? That is, who is most important? Both are important.
We all can learn from the wisdom of leaders and become better leaders ourselves. Due to their leadership we grow wiser and lead better, but not because we are better.
We all learn from each other and become the better person for it. We are all dwarfs and we are all giants.
My passion for leadership is inspired by the leadership of others. May we learn from each other.
To this end this site is dedicated to leadership, to leaders, to you who desire to become better leaders. May you find inspiration here.
