????琳達?辛格有兩個非凡的職業。她是咨詢業巨頭埃森哲（Accenture）的執行董事，同時還是美國軍方的一名準將。她的履歷非常精彩：高中輟學，曾經離家出走，最終卻領悟到了領導力的真諦。在阿富汗服役兩年之后，今年六月，辛格從上校晉升為將軍，成為馬里蘭州國民警衛隊（Maryland Army National Guard ）最高長官。49歲的辛格與我們分享了她的故事和有關領導力的經驗教訓。

????去年我在阿富汗服役，有一天，我負責將一批國防部平民護送到難民營。我站在一個滿地垃圾的地方，向孩子們分發衣物。當時的情景就像是在一座動物園里——孩子們爭搶著T恤和褲子，根本不管衣服的尺寸。很顯然，這些孩子肯定不會自己穿這些衣服。他們會把這些衣服賣掉，或者用它們來交換食物、燃料，或是他們更需要的物品。

????這些孩子就靠這點簡單的東西生存下去，讓我想起我的祖母。她會把老板的舊衣服拿回家給我穿。與難民營里的孩子一樣，我也曾經無家可歸。

????八歲之前，我一直與祖父母住在馬里蘭州，我從沒意識到我們很貧窮。我們有的吃，也有的穿，雖然都是別人用過的或者手工縫制的。而且，我的祖父母給了我很多的愛。九歲的時候，我搬去和父母一起住，從那之后，我的生活徹底亂了套。我的童年經常遭到虐待。我甚至遭到過親戚的性騷擾。15歲那年，再次遭到性騷擾之后，我離家出走。實其實是我跟母親大吵了一架，然后她讓我滾。

????我在漢堡王（Burger King）工作過，后來在一個賣椒鹽卷餅的柜臺打工。等我賺到足夠的錢后，我從馬里蘭州弗雷德里克的一對老夫婦那里租了一個房間。每個月的租金是65美元，但我很快就無力承擔。于是我搬了出去，有時會睡在朋友家的門廊，或者在Francis Scott Key購物中心卷餅攤后面的操作臺過夜。我竟然一直堅持了下來。

????同時我還得兼顧學業。我的學習成績很好，還加入了校籃球隊——司職大前鋒，場均能得十幾分。但最后，工作、學業和無家可歸的壓力讓我不堪重負。我的成績開始下滑。我沒有足夠的錢參加SAT考試。最終，我從高中輟學。

????后來，有一天下班后，當我在卷餅攤后臺休息的時候，我看到了美國國民警衛隊在購物中心里設置的征兵處。我也不知道到底是什么讓我邁出改變命運的那一步。總之，在1981年6月3日這一天，我成了一名軍人。我不得不說服我的父母在文件上簽字，因為我還不滿18歲。這是他們為我做過的最好的一件事。我的命運從此被徹底改變。

????所以，當我站在阿富汗那個滿地污穢的地方，看著孩子們討要捐助品時，我意識到，他們大多數人并沒有我當年所享受到的微薄的支持。阿富汗的女孩不能借助參軍這條路來逃離糟糕的家庭生活。當時，我決定，我要說出我生活的真相，以及如何成為一名領導者。如果我坦率地講出自己的經歷，或許可以幫助人們克服困難。那一天，我看到的那些孩子和他們的父母，或許永遠都沒有機會講出他們自己的故事，但我可以。如果我的故事能幫助一個人從無助走向成功，那么，它也能解釋我到那個塵土遮天的地方到底是為了什么。

????Linda Singh has an extraordinary dual career. She is a managing director at consulting giant Accenture (ACN) and a Brigadier General in the U.S. Army. She also has a remarkable history: She's a high-school dropout and onetime runaway who found a path to leadership. Promoted from Colonel to General in June and newly in charge of the Maryland Army National Guard after two years of service in Afghanistan, Singh, 49, shares her story and lessons in leadership here.

????One day last year during my service in Afghanistan, I accompanied a group of Department of Defense civilians to a refugee camp. I stood in the middle of a garbage-strewn lot, handing out clothes to children. It was a zoo—kids grabbing shirts and pants no matter the size. Clearly, the kids would never wear this clothing. They would sell or barter it for food or fuel or other things they needed more.

????These kids, wanting such simple things to survive, reminded me of my grandmother bringing home hand-me-downs from her employer. I wore those hand-me-downs. And like these kids in the refugee camp, I was once homeless too.

????Living with my grandparents in Maryland for the first eight years of my life, I never realized we were poor. We had food and clothes, even if they were used or handmade, and my grandma and grandpa gave me plenty of love. I moved in with my parents on my ninth birthday, and that's when things turned turbulent. Abuse occurred at multiple points during my childhood. I was sexually molested by a couple of my relatives. After one of those incidents, when I was 15, I ran away from home. Actually, my mom and I had a really big fight and I was told to leave.

????I got jobs at Burger King and later at a pretzel stand and made enough money to rent a room from an elderly couple in Frederick, Maryland. The room cost $65 a month, and soon enough I couldn't afford that. So I moved out. I slept on the porches of friends' homes or in the back office of the pretzel stand in the Francis Scott Key mall. I made it work.

????And I kept it together at school. I got good grades and played Varsity basketball—power forward, scoring a dozen or so points per game. But eventually, the stress of working, going to school and having no home did me in. My grades declined. I didn't have enough money to take the SAT test. So I dropped out of high school.

????Then one day, on my break from work at the pretzel stand, I spotted a U.S. Army National Guard recruiting booth in the mall. What possessed me to walk over and redirect my life, I'm not sure. But on June 3, 1981, at 17, I joined the Army. I had to persuade my parents to sign the papers because I wasn't yet 18. It was the best thing they ever did for me. It turned my life around.

????So, as I stood on that filthy lot in Afghanistan and watched the kids scrounge for handouts, I realized that most of them don't have even the tenuous support I had when I was their age. Girls in Afghanistan can't escape bad home lives by joining the military. At that moment, I decided I needed to speak the truth about my life and what it takes to be a leader. If I can be transparent, maybe I can help people overcome their difficulties. The children and parents I saw that day will likely never tell their story publicly, but I can tell mine. If that helps one person go from hopelessness to success, then telling my story will explain why I ended up at that dusty lot..