Let’s begin with the question of why and how does anyone become entrenched in the discipline of leadership development?  For myself, it began with a graduate course on The Presidency and the required reading of a huge tome by James MacGregor Burns on what he considered to be the most significant Presidents in the history of the US.  His was a qualitative, historical, and, at times, psychological account of the leadership vision of those who changed the institution of the American executive.  One could say, in today’s terms, he selected transformational leaders.  In fact, Burns is them academic who coined the phrase, ‘transformational leadership.’ It was fascinating to understand the determination each of these men had to lead and I wanted to be part of that journey for today’s current and future leaders.