What the 'last tycoon' tells us about leadership; Monroe Stahr's story raises hard questions for anyone who wants to become a leader: do you care intensely enough about your work? Do you feel personally accountable? And are you willing to pay the price?

• Author: Badaracco, Jr., Joseph L.
• Position: Fitzgerald's The Love of the Last Tycoon

IF LEADERSHIP MEANS making a difference in the world, serious literature suggests that this effort is often a long, hard slog. The ancient Greeks understood that the work of leaders demands patience, courage, and tenacity, for months and years on end. Over centuries, they repeated and embellished a tale that eventually became the renowned epic poem The Odyssey. It tells how Odysseus leads his men on a 10-year voyage from the plains of Troy back to their homes. During this quest, they find no shortcuts, their route is lined with diversions and seductions, and they have no guarantee of success or exemption from bad luck. Odysseus eventually brings his crew home to their families--but without his ardor, tenacity, and dedication, they would have perished.

How can leaders and aspiring leaders know if they actually care enough to make their dreams real? This question first appears in the early years of a career. Many young people work hard to keep their options open, but eventually they must decide which path in life they really care about and commit to it. Once they have done this, the question of care arises again and again--at least for men and women who aim to make a difference in the world.

A complex character

To understand the crucial role of devotion in the work of leaders, look closely at The Love of the Last Tycoon, a novel about an extraordinarily successful businessman. Fitzgerald began writing this book in 1939, and he drew heavily on his experience as a Hollywood screenwriter and on the life of Irving Thalberg, who led MGM during the 1930s and made it Hollywood's most prestigious studio. Fitzgerald died of heart disease before finishing the novel, but not before creating Monroe Stahr, one of the most fascinating and complex business executives in American fiction.

When we meet Monroe Stahr, he is at the pinnacle of power and success. Stahr is a charismatic man, a brilliant manager, and a compassionate human being. But his doctor has told him he has a serious heart problem and won't live much longer. Despite this warning, Stahr continues to work at a relentless pace. Why does he do this? Why doesn't he ease up and take care of himself? Or, in today's parlance, why doesn't Stahr stop and smell the roses?

Fitzgerald doesn't answer these questions explicitly. Instead, he lets us watch Stahr work, over several days, in a series of brilliantly imagined portraits of the daily life of a responsible senior executive. Fitzgerald also shows us what Stahr is feeling and thinking. We eventually see that Stahr's choice is conscious and perhaps even sound, and not the desperate act of a workaholic racing death.

Stahr is willing to pay a steep price to live and work on his terms. Others make different choices, but Stahr's story still raises hard questions for them, if they want to become leaders. Do they care intensely enough about their work? Is their commitment reflected in a powerful drive to get the small things right and help others do the same? Do they understand the price of really caring?

These questions are always there, just beneath the surface of managers'...