Chapter 1

The First Workout

Skyles Gym at 16th and H Streets in Washington, DC, wasn’t particularly crowded on that rainy Tuesday afternoon in May. At 29 years old with her short cropped blond hair and steel-blue eyes, Stephanie Marcus looked like she might be a professional athlete training for an upcoming competitive event. Her smooth, tanned skin glowed golden from the sweat she’d produced from her five-mile run on the treadmill. Defined muscles rippled across her shoulders, arms, and exposed abdomen—Steph was an athlete, and she always received a fair number of admiring stares, even if they only lasted a few seconds.

She wiped off the sweat with a towel and tuned her iPod to the next Darden Business School lecture she’d downloaded. As soon ...

Get The Transparent Leader: A Business Fable of Clear and Effective Leadership Communication now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.