There have been some extremely significant exceptions, but a central story of my adulthood has been a pattern of extremely intense leadership actions in dire human circumstances, attended by at least a small Cadre of excited colleagues only........

There have been some extremely significant exceptions, but a central story of my adulthood has been a pattern of extremely intense leadership actions in dire human circumstances, attended by at least a small Cadre of excited colleagues  only to find that in the midst of battle there was just one person out on the field of battle actually taking the risks, paying the price, fighting, me,  alone,  colleagues safely and immovably, with all the excuses in the world, on the sidelines.