One thing we know is that a more dangerous world makes
the need for leadership, in every organization, in every institu-
tion, more pressing than ever. In 2002, in the course of studying
how geeks and geezers became leaders, Bob Thomas and I dis-
covered that their leadership always emerged after some rite of
passage, often a stressful one. We call the experience that pro-
duces leaders a crucible. I once told an interviewer who asked
how I became interested in leadership, that it was impossible to
live through the 1930s and ‘40s without thinking about leader-
ship. There weregiants on the earth in those days—leaders of
the stature of FDR, Churchill, and Gandhi. And there were also
men who wielded enormous power in the most horrific ways—
Hitler and Stalin—men who perverted the very essence of lead-
ership and killed millions of innocent people in the process.
The Great Depression and the battlefields of World War II
were my crucible, as they were for so many people my age.
The crucible is an essential element in the process of becom-
ing a leader that I didn’t fully appreciate in 1989. Some magic
takes place in the crucible of leadership, whether the transforma-
tional experience is an ordeal like Mandela’s years in prison or a
relatively painless experience such as being mentored. The indi-
vidual brings certain attributes into the crucible and emerges with
new, improved leadership skills. Whatever is thrown at them,
leaders emerge from their crucibles stronger and unbroken. No
matter how cruel the testing, they become more optimistic and
more open to experience. They don’t lose hope or succumb to
bitterness. In a moment, I’ll describe some of the qualities that I
now realize are essential for leadership, although not sufficient to
ensure it. But first let me say something more about crucibles.
Leadership guru Abigail Adams was right on the mark (as she so
often was) when she wrote to son John Quincy Adams in 1780On Becoming a Leaderxxiv0465014088_fm.qxd:0738208175_fm.qxd 12/2/08 2:52 PM Page xxiv