"You must also develop the habits of heart here in this school," Gergen said.
The presidencies of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan provide a lesson on how to be an effective leader, according to Gergen
While Carter "almost qualified for sainthood, he turned out to be rather ineffectual," Gergen said.
Reagan, on the other hand, managed to be a far more effective leader even after a lifetime making "B-class movies" and a late start in politics, Gergen continued.
The key to Reagan's success was "emotional intelligence," an ability to connect to and inspire others, Gergen said.
He told students that this quality was also evident in the leadership of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Class of 1904, the architect of the New Deal and a former Crimson president.
"What distinguished Roosevelt was not his mind. In fact, for the first part of his life he was seen as quite a dandy," Gergen said.
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