????《互聯網是我的信仰》（The Internet Is My Religion）一書的作者是社區管理平臺NationBuilder的創始人兼CEO吉姆·吉列姆。第一次讀到這本書的草稿時，我便被它的誠實及其揭示的信息所深深吸引。我與吉姆相識已有一段時間，但對他其實不是特別了解。這本書（7月22日出版）透過吉姆的視角講述了他的故事，首先他告訴讀者，他從小被培養成一位基督教原教旨主義者。之后，他講述了自己與癌癥的艱苦斗爭，以及信仰體系的徹底崩塌。吉姆分享了其斗爭史中最隱秘的時刻，正是這些斗爭將他磨練成一項新運動的重要領導者。

????在閱讀這本書的過程中，我們將發現與我們自身有關的新秘密。對我而言，我找到了一個古老且重要的問題的答案——偉大的領導者是天生的，還是后天發展出來的？由于我會在CEO身上進行投資，并為他們提供咨詢，所以我非常關心這個問題。優秀的領導者是否天生便擁有驅動其他人做大事的魅力、決心和勇氣？抑或，這些素質源自豐富的經歷和大量培訓？有許多人看起來“天生”便是領導者，但沒有人承認自己天生如此。但如果領導者是后天培養的，為什么真正的領導力幾乎無法言傳？

????對于這個問題的答案，我一直不太滿意，直到我完全理解了吉姆的故事。我們第一次見面的時候，他正在努力說服我的風險投資公司投資他的公司。吉姆解釋說，NationBuilder出售的軟件旨在幫助領導者與他們的支持者們溝通，組織粉絲社區。這是一種突破性的概念，包括互聯網和社交網絡在內的一系列技術突破使其變成可能。

????這款軟件會幫助領導者建立一個支持者數據庫，然后通過各種技巧培養和鼓勵他們。它能夠連接到所有現代社交網絡和電子郵件，使領導者可以隨時隨地與支持者交流。此外，這款軟件提供的許多工具可以用來培養下級領導者，激勵支持者，幫助領導者實現自身目標。

????與NationBuilder同樣有趣的是，它在技術方面依舊存在一個問題，我們親切地稱之為“自展問題（bootstrapping problem）”?！白哉埂痹醋?9世紀的一個短語，是指啟動一個自我維持程序。例如，在將操作系統安裝到存儲器之前，你如何啟動計算機？你需要一個在啟動程序之前的程序。領導力軟件非常了不起，但領導者又從何而來？

????為了解NationBuilder對自展問題的解決方案，首先我需要了解吉姆。

????吉姆身材瘦長，臉色蒼白，看起來不像是那種傳奇式的領導者。他靦腆的個性和局促不安的樣子，更是增強了這種感覺。除此之外，吉姆在職業生涯當中也沒有為偉大的領導者工作過，而且缺乏正規的管理培訓。

????但吉姆確實是一位真正的領導者。他有清晰的、吸引人的愿景。他能激勵人們取得偉大成就。他對工作非常專注，如果你妨礙了他，他會用目光在你身上燒出洞來。他取得了許多了不起的成就，如將晦澀的紀錄片電影變成大片，此外他創建的一個社區，在他的肺被化療燒壞之后，幫助他找到了一對新肺?，F在，在沒有背景和人脈的情況下，他創建了這家非常有前景的新公司——需要說明的是，我的公司投資了這家公司，我也在其董事會任職。

????如果吉姆的領導能力既非天生也不是后天得來的，那它到底從何而來？這個身材瘦長、有些笨拙的人如何學會領導？秘訣是什么？

????在讀完《互聯網是我的信仰》一書后，我找到了這個問題的答案，也解答了一個更大的問題。領導者既非天生也非后天得來；領導力是被發現的。書中講述了吉姆如何發現自己內心的領導者。所有領導者都要經歷這樣一個發現之旅，只是幾乎沒有人講述這個過程。你要學會獨立思考，用最有效的、最有影響力的方式分享你所知道的。我希望你在讀這本書的過程中，能夠找到內心的領導者，為這個世界帶來更多奇跡。（財富中文網）

????本文作者本·霍洛維茨是風險投資公司安德森霍洛維茨的聯合創始人兼普通合伙人，該公司位于加利福尼亞州門洛帕克。

????譯者：劉進龍/汪皓

????審校：任文科

????When I read the first draft of The Internet Is My Religion, the new book by NationBuilder founder and CEO Jim Gilliam, I was blown away by its honesty and what it revealed. I had known Jim for quite some time—but I did not really know him. The book (July 22) tells Jim’s story through his eyes, beginning with his upbringing as a Christian Fundamentalist. It takes us through his harrowing battle with cancer and the comprehensive collapse of his belief system. Jim shares the most intimate moments of his personal struggle, which lead to his emergence as an important leader of a new movement.

????Through this journey, we learn new secrets about ourselves. For me, I found the answer to an old and important question: Are great leaders born or made? Because I invest in and advise CEOs, it’s a question which I care deeply about. Do great leaders come out of the womb with the charisma, grit, and courage to move men and women to do great things? Or are they forged from intense experience and great training? There are many seemingly “natural” leaders, but almost none of those would say that they were born that way. But if leaders are made, then why is true leadership nearly impossible to teach?

????I never really became comfortable with my answer to this question until I fully understood Jim’s story. I first met Jim when he came to pitch my venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, to invest in his company. NationBuilder, Jim explained, sold software meant to help leaders communicate with and organize their followers. It was a breakthrough concept, made possible by a series of technological breakthroughs including the Internet and social networking.

????Essentially the software helps a leader build a database of his or her followers, then grow and encourage that base through a variety of techniques. It connects with all of the modern social networks as well as email to enable the leader to communicate with his or her followers where they are. It then provides tools for building sub-leaders, incentivizing followers and generally helping a leader accomplish his or her goals.

????As interesting as NationBuilder was, it still had what we affectionately refer to in technology as “a bootstrapping problem.” Bootstrapping, a term derived from a 19th century phrase, refers to starting a self-sustaining process. For example, how do you start a computer before loading the operating system into memory? You need a process before the process. Leadership software was great, but where would the leaders come from?

????To understand the solution to NationBuilder’s bootstrapping problem, I first had to understand Jim.

????Exceptionally tall, impossibly thin and white as ghost, Jim does not look like a storybook leader. His shy personality and awkward manner reinforce this perception. On top of that, Jim has not worked for great leaders in his career and lacks formal management training.

????But Jim is a real leader. He has a clear, compelling vision. He inspires people to greatness. He leads with a focus so intense that if you get in his way, he’ll burn a hole in you with his eyes. He has accomplished amazing things in life, from turning obscure documentary films into blockbusters to rallying a community that he created to help get a new pair of lungs after chemotherapy burned out his original pair. Now, with no background and no connections, he has built this very promising new company—one, I should note, in which my firm invests and on whose board of directors I sit.

????If Jim the leader was neither born nor made, where did this come from? How did this gangly, awkward man learn to lead? What was the source?

????After reading The Internet Is My Religion, I learned the answer this question and to my larger question as well. Leaders are neither born nor made; they are found. This book is about Jim’s journey to find his inner leader. It’s a journey that all leaders must go through, but one that almost nobody ever talks about. It’s about learning to think for yourself and sharing what you know in the best and most impactful way possible. I hope that as you read this book, you will find your inner leader and lead the world to great things.

????Ben Horowitz is co-founder and general partner of Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, Calif.