Intelligent Leadership

CHAPTER

3

The Wheel of IntelligentLeadership™: The Inner Core

Do you remember when you first learned to drive a stick-shift automobile? I do. My memories are very sad indeed! In 1973, at the age of 16, I was living with my family outside of Boston in the middle-class suburb of Waltham. I learned how to drive a stick shift on a black Volkswagen Beetle, no heat, no horn, and I think the car had half a floor board! I recall the fateful day well—when my dad said to me, “Do you want to learn how to drive a stick shift?”

I remember uttering something pretty idiotic like, “Dad, that’s not even a car; it’s a lawn mower!” My dad replied, “Get in the car. We are going to the high school parking lot.” I said, “Why?” My dad said, “Because the parking lot ...