New Merchants of the Light

The New Merchants of Light

by Harriet Rubin

Leader to Leader, No. 10 Fall 1998

|[pic] |Thought Leaders |

| |Forum: |

| |Harriet Rubin |

|Harriet Rubin, the former editor of |

|Doubleday/Currency, published some of the |

|most influential business books of the |

|decade, including 40 best-sellers. She now|

|speaks widely and writes for the Wall |

|Street Journal, Fast Company, and other |

|business publications. She is working on a|

|new book about leadership and is author of|

|The Princessa: Machiavelli for Women. |

|(9/98) |

|More on Harriet Rubin |

|[pic] |This article |

| |appears as "The New|

| |Merchants of Light"|

| |(Chapter 12) in On |

| |Creativity, |

| |Innovation and |

| |Renewal. Read more.|

| |Order from |

| |Amazon.com. |

|From Leader to Leader, No. 10 Fall 1998 |

|[pic] |• Table of Contents|

| |• From the Editors |

| |• Resources |

|Additional resources for this article |

ost leaders are capable of much more than even their best products or management methods reveal. Leaders have their own glass ceiling. They face-savingly call it "the top." But the top is just another boundary. They know there is more.

The urge to accomplish more, to find meaning -- in short, to leave a legacy -- is fueled by an inescapable social phenomenon: A generation of boomer executives is marching towards retirement. But instead of becoming tired and resigned, most are becoming bolder. As they approach the highpoint of their careers, leaders are wondering how their lives' work would be summed up now, not in 20 years. They are asking themselves if they...