excerpt...

Leader to Leader: Charles, how do you view the business-guru system -- which you're part of -- in the United States?

Charles Handy: It's interesting because we don't have that in Europe. The people who are respected in Europe are the captains of organizations -- people like Percy Barnevik or Richard Branson -- rather than what you might call the commentators. I am very unusual in Europe, and a lot of people think I'm American. The two continents are extreme in their different ways. In America, you give too much importance to the commentators, because they have a tendency to oversimplify the world -- that's what you have to do if you're making a one-hour presentation or writing a wildly popular book. In Europe, on the other hand, if you're actually running an organization, all you can usually do is talk about that organization or others like it. That's what you know. We actually need in Europe to have more people who can stand back and generalize. You need both traditions. I think we overdo it in Europe, not having the communicators, and I think you overdo it in America, paying too much attention to them.