The 6 o'clock news reports yet one more shooting of students and faculty in an American high school by another of the students. Hearts wilt with hopelessness. A week later the same 6 o'clock news reports the outbreak of yet another war in the Balkans. Months of tumbling stock prices portend the demise of many promising start-up companies, as they scramble for increasingly scarce venture capital funds. News of layoffs pepper the news and trickle through the community.
Retirement portfolios reflect emaciation compared to the portly dimensions of a year ago.
The prospect of another week at work apparently makes death an appealing alternative. Desperation pervades as days until retirement are counted. Only commitment to the vows they took hold them together. What distinguishes a leader from a follower in all these situations is the ability to look at what seems an unalterable situation, to envision a more promising scenario, and then to initiate action to create the world they imagine. The leader may be a housewife who watched the human destruction wrought by abandoned mine fields or the princess equally distressed by the same conditions.