This could be a cosmic question—why are we here? It’s not intended to be. I’m thinking more practically. Perhaps a story will help.

About 10 years ago, I had lunch with Louis Csoka, cofounder of Apex Performance, and he said something that forever changed the way I thought about developing leaders. Louis was responsible for The Conference Board’s Leadership Research Program and I was head of global research for The Forum Corporation. We shared a common mission: understand how the world’s largest and most complex organizations develop leaders.

Louis had come to The Conference Board from The United States Military Academy at West Point where he was responsible for the US Army’s officer development program. The army, of course, has an outstanding record of producing leaders. West Point graduates don’t just know how to get things done; they know how to get other people to get things done. They know how to lead.

So I asked Louis how he would compare his experience in preparing military officers to lead with his experience at The Conference Board preparing business officers to lead, and here’s what he said: “The biggest difference I found was this: in business you treat leadership development as a course. In the military we treat leadership development as a life-long commitment.”