Why do the Yankees always seem to win and the Red Sox fade? Why do companies such as Dell and Gillette never seem to lose their halo? What lessons does Nelson Mandela offer leaders in trouble spots like the Middle East. From sports to business and the most complicated political situations, a common element, a truth, persists: people succeed when leaders give them the confidence to do so. In Confidence, Kanter, a former editor of Harvard Business Review and an advisor to prominent corporations and community organizations, such as IBM and the Girl Scouts, offers a new theory and practice of success in which winning and losing are not mere episodes but self-perpetuating trajectories. She demonstrates why organizations of all types may be brimming with talent but not winners, and why character, perseverance, and a winning tradition count more than money and superstars.