Member-only story
Four Leadership Lessons from Mister Rogers
It may seem odd to look at the mild and kind Mister Rogers as an example for leadership. After all, most leaders we admire have traditionally been those who are forceful, deeply charismatic or visionary in some way. A simple Google image search of those terms picks up the likenesses of John F. Kennedy, Steve Jobs, and Captain Kirk (!) in one grouping.
Fred Rogers (1928–2003) was a minister and a television personality who, over the course of his three decades on PBS, touched the lives of millions of children and adults alike. With his gentle demeanor (“a voice that sounds adult to the ears of children and childish to the ears of adults,” according to Tom Junod), sneakers and cardigan, he doesn’t seem to fit the mold of what we typically think of when we imagine a leader.
And yet…
I recently had the occasion to reread a profile of Mister Rogers by Tom Junod in the November 1998 issue of Esquire, titled “Can You Say…Hero?” I’m not one who takes to hyperbole, but I can honestly say that Junod’s piece is one of the most well-written and touching long-form articles I’ve read in a long time. (Right up there with his award-winning piece from GQ: “My Father’s Fashion Tips.”)
