talented individuals and I search constantly for some way to de-
fine the undefinable.... But, in the end, they have to go out
into the orchestra and do it for themselves. There is no substi-
tute for the magic [of the orchestra]. It is why I snarl like a
guard dog if I sense they are being walled off or screened from
this experience.... I remember how it feels to be opened in this
way when you are young, before the shell and the ordinariness
sets in.”
There is magic in experience, as well as wisdom. And more
magic in stress, challenge, and adversity, and more wisdom.
Crisis is so often the crucible in which leaders are formed.
Look at the transformation of Rudolph Giuliani following
9/11.
Before the terrorist attacks on New York, Giuliani was a
lame-duck mayor with a reputation for toughness rather than
compassion, a reputation somewhat tarnished by his bitter
breakup with wife Donna Hanover. But tragedy showed Giu-
liani to be a genuine leader, one who was able to communicate
his vision of a brave, resilient New York in ways that com-
forted and inspired the devastated city. Following the collapse
of the Twin Towers, he was a constant, tireless presence, skill-
fully handling such disparate details as keeping celebrities
away from Ground Zero and walking brides down the aisles
whose firefighter fathers or brothers had died in the attacks.
Just as the chaos of the Blitz brought out the leader in
Churchill, the chaos of 9/11 allowed Giuliani to become, in
the words of the media, “Churchill in a baseball cap.”
On Becoming a Leader