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Got started on Opposable Mind by Roger Martin over the break, one of the books that's been neglected on my "to read" pile for too long.

The one sentence premise: When making major decisions, the best leaders create a new, better solution from the obvious options being contemplated.

It's an interesting idea, and I may have more on that later as I read more of the book and let my thoughts crystallize about it. But one passage in the book reinforces a notion on leadership that has been percolating with me recently. Here's what he wrote:

"I am certain that a variety of capabilities contribute to business success. Intelligence, drive, and good health all play a part. So does getting the right break at the right time."

It's that last part—the right break at the right time—that I think is the single most important determinant of successful leadership. I don't think it's total randomness or just luck. There's something more to it, but it's not anything that can be neatly studied or written about. It's what bothers me about lesson-based business books. When you look at people who can be described as achieving success, it's because of the way they acted (the decisions they made) given the circumstances they were in.

I'm not saying there's nothing to gain from Drucker or Peters or Collins or Roger Martin. I think they each make important observations that probably do help describe the successful decisions given a circumstance. It's just critical to understand that it's entirely possible to make the same observations about decisions that are not as successful given a different set of circumstances.

To me it's an iterative process and everyone is going to have ups and downs—sometimes huge ups, and sometimes huge downs. The important part is for leaders to see the impact their decisions are having and to adjust them or even scrap them entirely if that's what's needed. That's why these days I'm leaning more toward thinking of much less concrete ideas of leadership: what does it mean to act with courage? What does this decision say about you and are you being authentic? Are you transparent? What is trust? Why is it relevant?