The Crucible of Leadership
By Pepper de Callier
One of today’s foremost authorities on leadership is Warren Bennis, Founding Chairman
of the Leadership Institute at the University of Southern California and author of 27
books and more than 2,000 articles on leadership. In his book, On Leadership, Dr.
Bennis states that, after many years of observing and interviewing leaders, they differ
from other people in very distinct and identifiable ways. First of all, they have a constant
appetite for knowledge and experience—as their worlds widen and become more
complex, so too do their means of understanding. Further, he discovered that leadership
usually emerged after some rite of passage, often a stressful one. He calls this
experience, this rite of passage which produces leaders, a crucible.
A crucible is a vessel used in laboratories and specialized manufacturing environments
for melting materials or heating them to extremely high temperatures. The word crucible
is also used, as Bennis does, to describe a severe test or trial of patience, belief or
capability, for instance. Some enter it willingly, while others are thrust into by
circumstances without notice. For those who survive immersion in the crucible, Bennis
feels that something magical happens that transforms an individual.
Today’s crucible is varied in scale and scope. It can be a government, a lost business
deal, the loss of a leader or a loved one. It could be one of the mundane occurrences in
our daily lives such as a boring meeting, an unexplained action by someone, or a closed
door. It could also be the request to do something unethical, or being asked to take on a
project that is crucial for the success of your company, which is highly visible and will
have many points at it which it can fail along the way unless everything works out
perfectly. It could even be when your boss asks you to give a key presentation to a group
of very important, influential and well-informed people. The key differentiator, though, is
that leaders will accept the challenge and look for meaning, for a lesson, or for a deeper
understanding of themselves and others in these events versus just enduring the
experience. They will not allow negative experiences to define them. Rather, they will
use all of these experiences to help them “create” the leader in themselves.
I have had several crucible events in my life and career and I can testify to the fact that
they are life-changing. What Dr. Bennis doesn’t go into in his writing, and what I want
to stress here, is that although we may be frightened, depressed or threatened by the
crucible, we must realize that it is a right of passage. And, like so many events in life,
sometimes all we have to do is focus on the structure of a solution, rather than being
overwhelmed by perception—just focus on putting one foot in front of the other.
Someone once told me that 85% of success is just “showing up”—just having the courage
to continue and not quit. How I wish someone would have shared that wisdom with me
earlier in my life when I was introduced to my first “crucible”.
To those of you who are facing your own crucibles I would say this: Be strong. Be brave.
Work hard to find the meaning and the lesson of growth—all crucibles have these
elements. I would also say that there is nothing quite as empowering as emerging from
the crucible. Keep your head down and your spirits up. Picture yourself having emerged
from the crucible victorious and take one step at a time toward that goal. Be patient and
determined—you’ll get there.
To those of you who have already come through your own crucibles, welcome to the
club! Now, find someone to share your experience with who needs a little
encouragement.
Good luck on your way up!
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