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Early in our careers, when we worked for the General Electric Co in Schenectady, New York, there was no road map for a young manager desperately trying to find ways to lead. One had to experiment, employing various mechanisms such as motivational sessions, inventory control, budgetary control and information management. But none of those, alone or in combination, seemed to provide a comprehensive lever for leadership innovation. At that time, the notion of managing for quality, at GE and elsewhere, was specific. It was defined as meeting technical specifications in products and services. In organizational terms, there was often a quality department whose responsibility was to make sure these specifications were met. We observed, however, that this narrowly defined emphasis on quality nonetheless had a wide ripple effect; it connected to every process and person in the organization and made them better. We came to realize that quality was not so much a matter of techniques, of which we had plenty, nor statistical control, important as that was, nor testing machines. It was a way of leading, inspiring, integrating efforts and managing for profitability and growth. It was the lever we had been seeking. Today, companies of all types use quality as a strategic touchstone and organizing principle. They have developed metrics to regularly assess the economics of quality and of unified quality value. They use those metrics - supported by processes, tools and strategies - to help each person in the company think, learn, act and make decisions about how to help provide superior value to all stakeholders. It is this building of management capital that generates profitable growth in today''s brutally competitive marketplace.