0465014088_01.qxd:0738208175_01.qxd

Since the transformation is a process, On Becoming a Leader

is a story of that process rather than a series of discrete lessons.

As a modern story, it has no beginning, middle, or end. But it

has many recurring themes—the need for education, both for-

mal and informal; the need to unlearn so that you can learn (or,

as Satchel Paige is supposed to have said, “It’s not what you

don’t know that hurts you, it’s what you know that just ain’t

so”); the need for reflecting on learning, so that the meaning of

the lesson is understood; the need to take risks, make mistakes;

and the need for competence, for mastery of the task at hand.

I know—this book has more leitmotifs than a Wagnerian

opera. But I warned you this was a complex business. And not

only do the themes recur, but they overlap. For example, the

story Sydney Pollack tells about directing Barbra Streisand that

appears in chapter five, “Operating on Instinct,” also illustrates

risk taking and reflection. After you’ve finished reading the

book the first time, you may want to browse through it again.

At least, I hope you will.

At bottom, becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming

yourself. It’s precisely that simple, and it’s also that difficult. So

let’s get started.

Cast of Characters

I’ve always liked the Russian novelists’ custom of listing their

characters in advance of the story. Herewith, then, the cast of

characters in On Becoming a Leader,in alphabetical order. Their

updated biographies appear at the end of the book.

Herb Alpert and Gil Freisen,longtime partners in A&M

Records

Gloria Anderson,newspaper editor and executive

Introduction to the Original Edition, 1989

xxxvii

0465014088_fm.qxd:0738208175_fm.qxd 1/9/09 1:16 PM Page xxxvii