 and were themselves. That is the key-not to create a facade behind which you can hide the real CEO, but to capture his or her real strengths and present them in self-reinforcing ways that give people confidence and hope. Bob Allen was not a charismatic public speaker, but his dry wit and self-deprecating humor made audiences comfortable. While his direct reports often found him enigmatic, he had a gentle manner that made rank-and-file employees comfortable. While he was long described as a loner, on his last day at work, AT&T employees formed a line to say Reimagine Your Company's Mission good-bye that stretched from his office out the door of the building and a quarter of a mile down the road to the exit for Route 287. Mike Armstrong, by contrast, was a forceful speaker who often gal- vanized audiences. He had an outgoing charm and an easy grin that drew people to him. When he left, employees sent him e-mail mes- sages and copies of photos of themselves with him that they had taken on one of his many visits to the field. But he could also appear combat- ive and defensive. Both men had great strengths and real weaknesses. I saw my job not as hiding the latter, but as projecting the former. Armstrong's decisive leadership shook the company awake. But he never really succeeded in pulling his direct reports together as a team. He never named a chief operating officer, preferring to play the role himself by quizzing his business unit leaders in periodic operational reviews. But a company as large as AT&T cannot be managed by in- spection. One and a half years into Armstrong's tenure, we brought in a consultant who had long experience studying the attitudes of AT&T employees. This time, his assignment was to survey only the 505 highest-level people in the company. He found a group of managers who were nearly unanimous in their belief that the company finally had strong leadership. But there was a pattern he had never seen be- fore: The further managers were from the seniormost ranks, the more decision-making authorit