A new leader has to be able to change an organization that is dreamless, soulless and visionless... someone's got to make a wake up call.

In order to serve its purpose, a vision has to be a shared vision.

If great teams don't have an "enemy," they create one for themselves because, as former Coca-Cola CEO Roberto Goizueta pointed out, "you can't have a war without one."

Organizations should try to find out if their learning programs actually work.

All great leaders constantly seek new information and new ways of thinking.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines crucible as "a place, time, or situation characterized by the confluence of powerful intellectual, social, economic, or political forces; a severe test of patience or belief; a vessel for melting material at high temperatures." A crucible was the vessel in which medieval alchemists attempted to turn base metals into gold. That the alchemists inevitably failed in their audacious attempts doesn't denigrate the power of the crucible as a metaphor for the circumstances that cause an individual to be utterly transformed.

The new leader is one who commits people to action, who converts followers into leaders, and who may convert leaders into agents of change.