278 REFLECTIONS ON CHARACTER AND LEADERSHIP
After the rise and fall of so many empires in Europe — of which the
Roman Empire is one of the more memorable — the business community
has been given a great opportunity to unite Europe. And business leaders
have gone a long way toward making this challenge come true. Henry
Kissinger ’ s famous question, ‘ Who do I call when I want to call Europe? ’
is losing its poignancy. The US president, George Washington, may have
been more visionary when he said, ‘ Some day, following the example
of the United States of America, there will be a United States of
Europe. ’Endnote
Material in this chapter has appeared elsewhere in print in Kets de Vries ,
M.F.R. and Korotov , K. ( 2005 ). ‘ “ The future of an illusion ” : In search of
the new European business leader, ’ Organizational Dynamics , 34 ( 3 ): 218 – 230.
The author would like to thank Konstantin Korotov for his contribution to
this chapter.1.