I was recently sitting with someone who described her normal reaction to her boss as, "wanting to run out of the building screaming." She eventually did. She left the company. "While I worked with him, he was getting his master’s in leadership," she added. I could tell she didn’t think to highly of degrees in leadership. Can you blame her?

We talk a lot about leadership, read books, go to seminars, but the reality is, massaging leadership ideas isn’t enough. Putting them into practice is the only way those good ideas mean anything. I’m all for study and sound thinking. But let’s face it, ideas alone are not enough when it comes to leadership. Practice is required.