and I was giving them opinions. To an extent, leadership is like
beauty: it’s hard to define, but you know it when you see it.
I still don’t have all the answers, but in the years since the
publication of Leaders,I’ve learned much more about leader-
ship. So here is my second report. Leaderscovered the whats.
On Becoming a Leaderis the hows:how people become leaders,
how they lead, and how organizations encourage or stifle po-
tential leaders.
But since leadership, by definition, cannot take place in a
vacuum, I’ve begun with the current context—the myriad
forces that conspire against would-be leaders. Everyone de-
plores the alleged lack of leadership in America today, and the
blame usually lands at the feet of the individual who hasn’t
made the grade. Greed, timidity, and lack of vision are rampant
among the current crop of pseudo-leaders. Certainly, no mat-
ter how many genuine leaders there are in this country—and I
know there are many, because I’ve met them and talked with
them—we could use more, particularly at the national level.
But our shortcomings as individuals are symptomatic of a
much larger problem.
If it is fair to say that all too often our leading citizens seem
incapable of taking control of their various domains, it is even
fairer to add that the world itself is out of control. The changes
in the last generation have been so radical that it seems even in
business as if the world plays soccer while America plays foot-
ball. It’s not just that the rules changed—it’s a different game.
For this reason, before people can learn to lead, they must
learn something about this strange new world. Indeed, anyone
who does not master this mercurial context will be mastered by
it. Plenty of people have prevailed, including the leaders you
will meet in these pages. They range all over the map in back-On Becoming a Leaderxxx0465014088_fm.qxd:0738208175_fm.qxd 12/2/08 2:52 PM Page xxx