Becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself. It is precisely that simple, and it is also that difficult.

Effective leaders make a full commitment to be a learner, to keep increasing and nourishing their knowledge and wisdom.

The crucible is a dividing line, a turning point, and those who have gone through it feel they are very different from the way they were before. Believing that they have been transformed or have transformed themselves, those who survive the crucible (and many don't) are more confident, more willing to take future risks. That new self-confidence is grounded in the belief that he or she has done something hard and done it well.

Government is like an onion. To understand it, you have to peel through many different layers. Most outsiders never get beyond the first or second layer.

If I had to reduce the responsibilities of a good follower to a single rule, it would be to speak truth to power.

The failure to find the right niche for people - or to let them find their own perfect niches - is a major reason that so many workplaces are mediocre, even toxic, in spite of the presence of talent. Leaders of great groups give them whatever they need and free them from everything else.

Taking charge of your own learning is a part of taking charge of your life, which is the sine qua non in becoming an integrated person.