There are three basic reasons why leaders are important.
First, they are responsible for the effectiveness of organiza-
tions. The success or failure of all organizations, whether bas-
ketball teams, community-action groups, moviemakers, makers
of video games, auto manufacturers, or lending institutions,
rests on the quality of their decision makers. Stock prices rise
and fall according to the public perception of how good the
leader is. But, just as important, the leader is responsible for
who is hired, the organization’s goals and aspirations, working
conditions, who has authority over whom, morale, allocation of
resources, transparency, and ethical standards.
Second, the change and upheaval of the past years has left us
with no place to hide. We need anchors and guides. The very
best of our leaders serve in that way. They inspire us and restore
our hope.
Third, there is a pervasive national concern about the in-
tegrity of our institutions. It is hard to imagine that there was
once a time when Wall Street was a place where a man’s word
was his bond (until Muriel Siebert bought a seat on the New
York Stock Exchange, there were few women on Wall Street).
Its reputation tarnished in the 1980s by the white-collar crimes
of Ivan Boesky, Michael Milken, and others, Wall Street was
gravely damaged in the first years of the twenty-first century by
the greed and double-dealing of a series of CEOs who received
imperial compensation even as they bilked both shareholders
and their own employees.
Starting with the discovery that the energy firm Enron en-
dorsed bookkeeping practices that would have embarrassed Al
Capone, the nation watched as once trumpeted corporate lead-
ers did the perp walk, led in handcuffs from their homes as TV
cameras rolled. In quick succession, criminal charges were
Mastering the Context