INTRODUCTION
SORTING THE SOURCES OF SUCCESS

MY CAREER WAS LAUNCHED by a trash can.

Like many seniors in college, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do for a living, but I knew that I needed a job. Drexel Burnham Lambert, an investment bank that was hot at the time, came on campus to recruit students for a new training program. My interview went well enough that I was called to the firm's headquarters in New York City. I put on my best suit and tie, polished my shoes, and headed to the Big Apple.

Early the next morning, we candidates gathered in a vast conference room and listened intently as the leader of the program told us what to expect for the day. “You will have full interviews with six members of our staff,” she informed us, “and then each ...

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