Rosabeth Moss Kanter

A Harvard Business School professor, she has recently published Rosabeth Moss Kanter on the Frontiers of Management (McGraw-Hill, 1997).

All older Northeastern cities were carved up into lots of tiny jurisdictions because, historically, it took a lot of time to get from place to place -- say, from Boston to Cambridge to Watertown. So we have too many little political territories in which people fight for power. That's one problem that's shared by our region in general.

We are also one of the few major parts of this country that has not had women in significant leadership positions. One positive development has been the emergence of a network of women leaders who are helping other women. That support system has been very important, not only to women running for political office but also to women who are beginning to take leadership positions in other places, like the Federal Reserve and the Supreme Judicial Court. I think the agenda that women leaders often have -- the importance of people, education, and so forth -- will make a difference. And newcomers bring a different kind of energy and enthusiasm.

We should try to be as inclusive as possible in the selection of people for every single board and commission and visible opportunity. I don't think it's a question of having a whole series of festivals, and one at a time each group gets up and shows how great they are as a group. It's just an attitude question. It's remembering to include people. It's remembering to take them seriously. The best way to bridge those divides is to actually get out in those communities and work side by side with people who are different, people that you would not meet in your normal business life or social life.

We have to remain a brainpower capital. We have to do everything we can to acknowledge and recognize those institutions that make us unique. The colleges and universities give us youth, they give us new people, they give us new ideas, they help give us new businesses.

We have to maintain our quality-of-life amenities, too. We have an incredible set of natural attractions and historical attractions -- that European, traditional feel that's small-scale and makes people feel connected to roots. Those attractions mean that smart people who really could live anywhere in the world want to stay here.

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