Albright argued that we misunderstand leadership because 'we expect it to come from the outside' — from some mighty voice coming out of a loudspeaker. But the most consequential leadership, she said, comes from within: the moment you realize that preparation is over and action must begin. She illustrated this with examples that were deliberately modest rather than grand. Leadership is found 'in simple acts of self-expression: when we challenge a falsehood that has been advertised as truth, when we call injustice by its name, when we go out of our way to help another, or when we choose a career that is less about making money than about making a difference.' This was a former Secretary of State telling graduates that leadership isn't about the Situation Room — it's about the daily choices that define character. Albright also warned against confusing leadership with certainty. 'All too often, we follow people simply because they have commanded us to follow,' she said. 'But certainty is no guarantee of wisdom — as Hitler and Osama bin Laden prove.' The leaders worth following — Gandhi, Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Mandela — believed deeply but also 'embraced broadly.'