10
Forging the Future
In a time of drastic change, it is the learners
who inherit the future. The learned find themselves
equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.
—Eric Hoffer
quoted in
Vanguard ManagementI began this book with a chapter on mastering the context, and
I’d like to end it the same way. I offered two stories, one of Ed,
who surrendered to the context, and another of Norman Lear,
who conquered it. You may recall that the board of directors
that ultimately refused to promote Ed was looking for five
qualities in a new leader: technical competence (which Ed had),
people skills, conceptual skills, judgment and taste, and charac-
ter. Those are all important qualities, and I think the board was
moving in the right direction. But these are complicated times
we live in, and even more will be required of tomorrow’s lead-
ers. As Abigail Adams wrote to her son John Quincy Adams,
“These are the hard times in which a genius would wish to
live.... Great necessities call out great virtues.”