The Case of the Missing Cutlery

Exercise 2

The Quest

Real ambition is the means by which you galvanize your following. It is the driving force behind the culture you create and the motivation for your people to make you buoyant.

“Will Be . . .”

“We are going to make the city of New York safe for people to live the life of their ambitions.” These words, intoned by a former U.S. attorney, just-defeated mayoral candidate, and now law firm partner, made our quest clear. The assembly, one I had the privilege to be among, was a small advisory group meeting in the Third Avenue law offices of Rudy Giuliani. I may not have been alone in my feelings about how impossible this ambition seemed, given a city out of control—this was wholly two years before Giuliani’s second attempt at ...