Hufstedler, Knapp, and Gould clearly invented them selves, just as the other leaders I talked with did. They over came a variety of obstacles in a variety of ways, but all stressed the importance of self-knowledge.
Some start the process early, and some don't do it until later. It doesn't matter.
Self-knowledge, self-invention are lifetime processes. Those people who struggled to know themselves and become themselves as children or teenagers continue today to explore their own depths, reflect on their experiences, and test themselves. Others like Roosevelt and Truman undertake their own remaking in midlife. Sometimes we simply don't like who we are or what we're doing, and so we seek change. Sometimes events, as in Truman's case, require more of us than we think we have. But all of us can find tangible and intangible rewards in self- knowledge and self-control, because if you go on doing what you've always done, you'll go on getting what you've always got which may be less than you want or deserve.