To transform is to teach. You must be an effective teacher if your followers are to realize transformation, if their group or organization is to become something significantly different and better than what it has been. Osmosis won’t cut it. Serving as a silent example won’t, either. And don’t get me started about the non-starter of yelling, shouting, and bullying your way to transformation. Nope, only teaching will do it. You as the leader must be able to teach your followers.

One of the points I’ve found in my work on leadership and transformation in the experience of William DePuy was his love of teaching. DePuy is recognized for playing the central role in transforming the U.S. Army in the mid-1970s from its chaotic condition of the late stages of the Vietnam War into the world’s best fighting force by the early 1990s. As a leader, DePuy acted as a teacher.