View From the Top: An Inside Look at How People in Power See and Shape the World

Chapter 7Lead for GoodMotivations and Outcomes

The people we know, the events we experience, and the places we visit leave an immeasurable impression on us and, in turn, on what we contribute to the world. So it should come as no surprise that platinum leaders' greatest contributions to society are highly influenced by their personal histories, inherent motivations, and private influences. One mother's 15-year battle with breast cancer left an indelible impact on her daughter's life and ultimately, the lives of millions:

Extending my mother's life from the first time she had breast cancer, when I was 15, to the time that I was 30 mattered. It mattered because she got to see her daughter grow up and become a professor at Stanford and go into womanhood, and it mattered for me to have my mother in those years.

Millions of people could share a similar story, but what makes this one particularly important is that it was spoken by Condoleezza Rice in 2002 at a meeting of President Bush's inner circle. They were considering the launch of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a global health program of unprecedented scale to provide relief from the AIDS pandemic. At the time of this meeting, the question on the table was whether PEPFAR should provide antiretrovirals, which do not cure AIDS but extend the lives of people who have contracted the disease. This is when Rice spoke up. “If you can extend the life of a mother long enough to see her child graduate from high ...