A leader’s long-term success isn’t derived from sheer force of personality or breadth and depth of skill. Without an ability to read and adapt to changing business conditions, personality and skill are but temporal strengths. An understanding of the zeitgeist and its implications has played a critical but unheralded role in some of the greatest business victories of all time. Jack Welch is widely credited with GE’s remarkable performance during the 1980s and 1990s, for example, but his predecessor, Reginald Jones, made the wise decision to name Welch as his successor despite the fact that the younger manager was considered too inexperienced, too impatient, and too reckless for the job. Though they were polar opposites, each was perfectly attuned to his era.
A version of this article appeared in the October 2005 issue of Harvard Business Review.