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The quest for greatnessBy Neil Curry, Producer, Quest  RELATEDQUICKVOTEYOUR E-MAIL ALERTS(CNN) -- This month Richard Quest embarks on a quest for greatness. It is a journey which takes him to meet presidents, premiers, scientists and spiritual leaders, great minds and great hearts as he seeks to answer his own question: "Can anyone be great? Even me? Have I got it?" Many believe leadership is a key factor in greatness and today leadership is big business -- companies and individuals spend millions of dollars a year are spent on leadership courses, aimed at unleashing the greatness within seemingly ordinary people. Yet Churchill, Gandhi, Mandela and others never had to take part in a bungee jump, absail or scale a cliff face to prove their greatness. Dangling by a rope 30 meters above ground at Symonds Yat on the English-Welsh border, a terrified Richard suggests to Donald Rust of the Leadership Trust that this experience is not about leadership -- it's simply about survival. Rust replies: "As a leader, you're putting yourself into situations where you're needing to be able to inspire other people; and you can't inspire other people unless you're actually in control and giving the right emotional message across to the people that are listening to you; and here what we're doing is, is confronting you with the emotions you're hiding away from." But Richard can gain only so much insight into leadership from rock climbing. He needs a different view from the top -- one which Bill Clinton experienced as President of the United States. Richard asks Clinton: "You've said that being out of politics means you can speak your mind. Does good politics necessarily negate great men? Clinton: "No I disagree with that. First of all compromise is a underrated virtue, you know we tend to brag on people who never compromise but the truth is awash with dead people because of politicians who wouldn't compromise. I think sometimes compromise is the greatest virtue." The former president continues that history eventually forgets the details, so what really matters is what you do in the present moment. An ancient civilization such as the rock-city of Petra in the Jordanian desert has survived but the deeds of the men who ruled it have not. Petra is playing host to a meeting of Nobel prize winners and as Richard trots around the petrified city on horseback, he speculates that if greatness is to be found anywhere, then surely it must be among the Nobel laureates. Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres won the Nobel Peace Prize for his diplomatic work with Yitzhak Rabin and former Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat. Quest asked him: "Are you a great person because of it, do you think? Peres replied: "If I am a great person? I want to tell you, every person is great if you serve something that is greater than him ... I'm sure that I serve great causes and great targets. Whether I'm great or not, that's another thing. Quest: "Who do you think is great?" Peres: "A man that combines moral foundations with intellectual talents. And serves a cause. He becomes uninteresting the minute he becomes self-concerned. Then it's a waste of greatness not greatness." Another Peace Prize winner, Bishop Desmond Tutu, is very humble about his role in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, claiming he simply filled a vacuum while the "real" leaders such as Nelson Mandela were in jail or in exile. Tutu: "I suppose there is a thing where they say you have greatness thrust on you. There are, there are conditions of quality that people, a person might have, which predispose towards greatness. I think, I think you, there are some people who were born to lead. And you say they are charismatic. You know they have a way of carrying themselves. They are a presence." Suddenly Quest encounters a grinning man in burgundy, who tells him he is a big fan of Richard's teeth. Another Nobel Peace Prize winner. He is the Dalai Lama. Quest: "Can anyone become great? Are they born great or can they achieve greatness?" The Dalai Lama: "I think all human beings have the same potential. But using your brain properly and warm-heartedness are important. A sense of responsibility, sense of compassion, then I think a person becomes something, something great or something useful." Another aspect of greatness is greatness of mind. What the Dalai Lama refers to as a "smart brain." Richard heads off to the brain scanner to pit his grey matter with one of the world's greatest thinkers, Albert Einstein. Dr. Mark Lythgoe has studied Einstein's brain and found the part connected to mathematics was larger than usual. Lythgoe: "I think we can all be good at something, I don't think there's any doubt about that. We all have this maths area in our brain. We can all be good at maths. We can work it out. But whether we can be great at mathematics, unless we have that hard-wiring to start with, I don't think so." Richard's brain scan is, well, average. He seems disappointed. Quest: "So I'm not going to be a genius at anything? At leadership, at abilities, at arts. I mean, can you tell me have I got what it takes?" Lythgoe: "Certainly, in terms of pre-disposition based on that, no you don't. However, there could be something very special about you, like Einstein, he was very quirky, he was charismatic. He was celebrated by the public, by the media of that particular time and that you could be great." The man Einstein regarded as truly great was Gandhi. "Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as he ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth." So said Einstein of Mohandes "Mahatma" Gandhi, whose revolutionary ideas of non-violent protest took on the greatest empire of the modern era in India. So Richard traveled to India to the Mahatma's ashram in Ahmedabad, to talk to his great-grandson, Tushar Gandhi, who is building the world's most authoritative Web site on Gandhi: www.mahatmagandhi.org.in. Quest: "Is there a greatness gene?" Gandhi: "How I wish there was. How I wish there was. But I think it was the man himself, I don't think there was a greatness gene but I do admit that there was a string of extraordinary qualities, amongst many of his ancestors and I hope some day to discover that within myself. If there was a greatness gene we would have had 54 Mahatmas." Quest reflects on his journey. "After all this searching, it seems to me there are two levels to be reached: Great mathematicians, great politicians, great leaders. "But there is a higher level in which a person is simply great. They've reached that status because they've been severely tested. "We would all like to think we could rise to the occasion. Having met those who have, I am not sure I would want to be faced with the choice -- fear of failure perhaps -- and maybe that's what sets aside the truly great -- they may have a fear of failure but they don't let it divert them from their chosen path." 
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