The young attack it and the old grow wistful for it. Parents have lost it and police seek it.
Experts claim it and artists spurn it, while scholars want it.
If bureaucrats pretend they have it, politicians wish they did. If there was ever a moment in history when a comprehensive strategic view of leadership was needed, not just by a few leaders in high office but by large numbers of leaders in every job, from the factory floor to the executive suite, from a McDonald's fast-food franchise to a law firm, this is certainly it. Leadership has an elusive, mysterious quality about it. It is easy to recognize, hard to describe, difficult to practice, and almost impossible to create in others on demand. Leaders differ not only in terms of their official role, but also according to the values and attitudes they promote and defend.