Leadership has traditionally been seen as the exclusive right of the wealthy and powerful, but history has shown that a society which vests its power in a small elite faces much greater leadership risk. Quite simply, leadership is everyone’s business. A prosperous society realizes this, just as it realizes that leadership is not just about managing battalions and brigades, or large corporations. It's as much about personal leadership: the decisions and risks taken by individuals. These include decisions about investments, family, education, health, travel, careers, and extra-curricular activities. They are rooted in wisdom and successful personal development. To unleash a society’s full potential, mechanisms must exist for developing and improving all types of leadership.

Leadership is within each of us; whether we lead ourselves, a household, a private practice, a corporation, military unit, religious congregation, artistic center, not-for-profit, government entity or any other organization. This means we all benefit from good leadership skills, and suffer from the bad. It also means we have a direct responsibility to embrace the competencies and values of good leadership, and to instill these in future generations. Doing so will make the world a better place. This may seem a grandiose notion, and it is. But it is within reach. Humanity today has the knowledge and abilities to create a better world. We have greater understanding of effective educational techniques, better understanding of intelligence and emotional needs, better understanding of cultural differences and frictions, better understanding of the neurological bases for thinking and decision making, and better understanding of the biological and environmental factors affecting risk-taking. With this in mind, it should be clear that there is no excuse for shunning leadership duties.

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