More than a decade ago, I had a speaking engagement at Chevron that was part of a whole day devoted to leadership development, one in which I happily participated. One of our activities was to break into small groups and draw on a sheet of paper our vision of what a “Clear Leader” looked like.

On January 1, we can all look forward to tuning in to the College Football Playoffs to watch Alabama, Michigan, Texas and Washington duke it out on the field. And when the horns sound and sidelines erupt in the expectation of making the National Championship game, we can look over to Simon Cowell in the judge’s booth to see which teams he gives a thumbs up to, determining who moves on to the title game.