The old values will prove reliable.

• Position: Views of Jon M. Huntsman, Chairman and CEO of Huntsman Chemical Corp. - Special Section: Being a Global Leader

The Old Values Will Prove Reliable

A global economy and world peace are for the first time clearly within our grasp. Sweeping changes in Eastern Europe have brought us to the threshold of unparalleled opportunity on a global scale.

Traditional economic models of supply and demand have never been more vividly demonstrated. No true entrepreneur could look at our present worldwide marketplace without seeing these opportunities that are rather ingeniously disguised as problems. Our present and future international business climate favors the making of large fortunes and the helping of many people.

Global business leaders will emerge onto this new stage because they will recognize these opportunities where others see only problems. They will see reasons to act, when others will only see reasons to wait.

We cannot fear involvement with East Bloc nations because of the instability in political or economic arenas. The new global business leader will find, for example, ways of converting devalued currency in areas like the Soviet Union, while others will only wonder how they thought of such a thing and dared to take the risk.

The fine line between risk and unprecedented opportunity is at times imperceptible. A vital ingredient for success not taught at even the finest business schools is what I call the emotion of business. Entrepreneurs must be optimists and speculators. They must have that fine sense of how to survive.

At this threshold of opportunity, conventional wisdom may say to wait for a more stable climate; but to wait only gives others the chance to fill the void. Conventional wisdom is important, but I've discovered that by the time most people agree on an approach, that approach may already be history. The entrepreneur must always be on the cutting edge of thought; he rarely waits to be overtaken by conventional ideas.

Major inventions and creations are rarely developed away from crisis or danger. I sincerely believe that the greatest reserves of human creativity are tapped only at such times.

To get ahead, you must take risks, but those risks must be carefully calculated and based on extensive knowledge of your industry. Fortune does favor the prepared mind. Trust emotions as well as logic; balance is the secret.

Global leadership in the coming decades will not depend on new methods or philosophies. I'm certain that old values of integrity and mutual respect will prove most reliable. Thinking globally will not require us to think...