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Henry Louis Gates, Jr.: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, thank you very much for granting me this interview.

Condoleezza Rice: It's a pleasure to be with you.

Gates: How do you define a leader?

Rice: A leader is someone who inspires others toward a common goal. The most important thing about leadership is to remember that you are trying to bring people together to achieve something. And none of us wants to be pushed and shoved in any particular direction, so if you treat the people that you're leading with the same respect with which you would like to be treated, then I think you are a good leader.

Gates: Are leaders chosen or are leaders made?

Rice: I think leaders are made. I have never believed that anyone is born to anything. And leadership is also something that I think you get better at over time. In many experiences, as a younger person trying to lead a university or leading people, you make mistakes because you're young and maybe a little too aggressive. I think leaders are not only made, but they get better at leading over time.

Gates: Let's talk about that idea with regard to your own upbringing. When I looked at your family pictures, I particularly noticed the way your parents looked at you. They seemed to be looking at someone who was going to be a major player, going to be a leader. Is that a self-fulfilling prophecy, do you think, the kind of reinforcement through self-esteem that is part of the air that you breathe?

Rice: There is no doubt that without John and Angelina Rice, I would not have ended up where I did. I grew up in the segregated South where the messages could have been absolutely crushing, but somehow my parents made the messages about empowerment, which is no small trick in and of itself. They also, from a very young age, wanted me to understand that I should want to make decisions. So I was president of the family from age four. I remembered this as I was writing my book and I thought, ‘What in the world were they thinking?’ I think they were just trying to give me a sense that even...

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