Anne Bryant was first chosen by others. “In elementary
school,” she said, “I got awards for leadership activities, which
always surprised me. In high school, I was asked to be a leader.
Of course, I was taller than everyone else, so I sort of loomed
over everyone, which may have helped. But I never ran for
things. I do like taking charge of things. I always have.” Since
she likes “taking charge of things,” it’s not surprising that
Bryant became an executive and led an organization, the Amer-
ican Association of University Women, with 150,000 members
and assets of over $47 million, whose goals include promoting
equity for women, self-development, and positive social change.
Betty Friedan was always an organizer. “In fifth grade, we
had a substitute teacher who didn’t like children, so I organ-
ized a club, the Baddy-Baddy Club, and at a signal from me,
everybody dropped their books on the floor and did other
things that would irritate the teacher. The principal called me
to his office and said, ‘You have a great talent for leadership.
You must use it for good, not evil.’ ...In my adult profes-
sional life, I’m theoretically a writer, but I spend much time
on my political activity. I organized three of the key organiza-
tions of the women’s movement and then bowed out of active
leadership.”
The second test is knowing what drives you, knowing what gives
you satisfaction, and knowing the difference between the two.
Roger Gould said, “I remember dreaming every night about
how I was going to save everyone, not just me, but everyone. I
must have been 12 or 13 at the time.” So Gould grew up to be-
come a psychoanalyst, a kind of secular savior.
Mathilde Krim needed to be useful: “I spent three summers
working on an isolated farm. It was horrible, but it gave me a
fantastic feeling of self-confidence. I thought if I could do that,
I could do anything. I did it because it was the right thing to do
On Becoming a Leader