Author:Stanley McChrystal,Jeff Eggers,Jason Mangone
The bestselling author of Team of Teams dismantles the Great Man theory of leadership, by profiling leaders whose real stories defy their legends.
In Leaders, retired four-star general Stan McChrystal explores what leadership really means, debunking the many myths that have surrounded the concept. He focuses on thirteen great leaders, showing that the lessons we commonly draw from their lives are seldom the correct ones.
Leaders featured in the book include:
Founders: Walt Disney and Coco Chanel
Zealots: Maximilien Robespierre and Abu Musab Zarkawi
Powerbrokers: Margaret Thatcher and Boss Tweed
And other leaders profiled include geniuses Albert Einstein and Leonard Bernstein, reformers Martin Luther and Martin Luther King, Jr., and heroes Harriet Tubman and Zheng He.
Ultimately, McChrystal posits that different environments will require different leaders, and that followers will choose the leader they need. Aspiring leaders will be best served not by cultivating a standard set of textbook leadership qualities, but by learning to discern what is required in each situation.
'Leaders rexamines old notions of leadership - especially the outdated view that history is shaped by great men going it alone' - SHERYL SANDBERG, COO of Facebook and founder of LeanIn.Org
'Leaders takes us deeper than most other leadership books into the true and often messy mechanics of leadership. Anyone who considers themselves a student of leadership must read this book' - SIMON SINEK, optimist and author of Start With Why and Leader Eat Last
Leaders rexamines old notions of leadership - especially the outdated view that history is shaped by great men going it alone. General McChrystal shows us that leadership can take many forms, leaders often have different strengths, and great leaders can come from anywhere
—— SHERYL SANDBERG , COO of Facebook and founder of LeanIn.OrgLeaders is a superb, thought-provoking challenge to conventional understanding of the nature of leadership. An enlightening, entertaining must-read about why we revere so many leaders who are often deeply flawed and even unsuccessful, and the lessons for thinking about and teaching leadership in the future
—— ROBERT M. GATES , former US Secretary of DefenseLeadership, we learn, is complex. At a time when Americans yearn for leaders we can admire and respect, this book... will help you think differently about both leadership and our history
—— WALTER ISAACSON , author of Steve Jobs and Leonardo da VinciNo living American has more convincingly combined the practice and teaching of leadership than General Stanley McChrystal: that's why Yale students flock to his classes. Now, in Leaders, he invites us to join them, with Plutarch as his teaching assistant. No current or aspiring leader can afford to miss this shrewd and surprising book
—— JOHN LEWIS GADDIS , Yale UniversityLeaders is a must-read for all leaders - whether they're just beginning their careers or whether they're already leading an entire organization
—— KEN LANGONE , author of I Love Capitalism!Whenever Stanley McChrystal talks, I take notes. I am so drawn to his ability to cut through pop-culture theories about leadership to get to the core of what actually makes a leader. Leaders takes us deeper than most other leadership books into the true and often messy mechanics of leadership. Anyone who considers themselves a student of leadership must read this book
—— SIMON SINEK , optimist and author of Start With Why and Leader Eat LastDavis is a powerful, penetrating and immensely knowledgeable writer
—— Charles Nicholl , Guardian, *Book of the Week*Davis suffuses his reportage with a visionary tinge. But his subject more than warrants it
—— Boyd Tonkin , Financial TimesMagdalena is a revelatory and often enchanting book
—— EconomistThis book is the culmination of a lifetime's work in the country and is suffused with a love and knowledge that only such long acquaintance can bring
—— Hugh Thomson , SpectatorPassionate and profoundly engaged... [Davis'] presentation of the great river as Colombia's Mississippi, its fountain of music, the source of its many contradictions...generates an impact that few travel books can muster.
—— Brian Morton , TabletMusic and myth, commerce and colonialism, indigeneity and identity: Magdalena is as impressively exploratory in approach as it is encyclopaedic in scope
—— Oliver Balch , Times Literary SupplementWith the skill of a twenty-first-century mother juggling numerous professional and caring responsibilities, Sarah Knott's Mother expertly pulls off a delicate balancing act. Knott's poignant personal memoir of pregnancy, birth, feeding and beyond encapsulates its bloody, milky, hormonal immediacy, whilst, at the same time, she finds in each moment an echo of history, a thread situating her among women - their bodies, communities and cultural practices - across centuries and continents.
—— Dr Rachel HewittThis lyrical book-one-third memoir, two-thirds history-guides us through centuries of pregnancy, childbirth, and infant care. Knott stitches her personal story to vignettes from the past and shows us how everyday mothering differed in time and place. With stunning prose, she gives us the sensory shorn of the sentimental. A riveting read
—— Joanne Meyerowitz, author of 'How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States'An original and important account of a universal but neglected experience. Mother powerfully conveys the thrilling, bewildering, and fuzzy-headed atmosphere that surrounds pregnancy and childbirth, and offers a fascinating glimpse into the world of our mothering predecessors.
—— HeraldA useful corrective that brings us closer to a more accurate history of Western science - one which recognises Europe, not as exceptional, but as learning from the world
—— Angela Saini, author of SuperiorThe righting of the historical record makes Horizons a deeply satisfying read. We learn about a fascinating group of people engaged in scientific inquiry all over the world. Even more satisfyingly, Horizons demonstrates that the most famous scientists - Copernicus, Darwin and Einstein among them - couldn't have made their discoveries without the help of their global contacts
—— Valerie Hansen, author of The Year 1000A provocative examination of major contributions to science made outside Europe and the USA, from ancient to modern times, explained in relation to global historical events. I particularly enjoyed the stories of individuals whose work tends to be omitted from standard histories of science
—— Ian Stewart, author of Significant FiguresA wonderful, timely reminder that scientific advancement is, and has always been, a global endeavour
—— Patrick Roberts, author of JungleThis is the kind of history we need: it opens our eyes to the ways in which what we know today has been uncovered thanks to a worldwide team effort
—— Michael Scott, author of Ancient WorldsAn important milestone
—— British Journal for the History of Science, on Materials of the MindThe freshest history of the strangest science
—— Alison Bashford, author of Global Population, on Materials of the MindAmbitious, riveting, Poskett tracks the global in so many senses . . . vital reading on some of the most urgent concerns facing the world history of science
—— Sujit Sivasundaram, University of Cambridge, on Materials of the MindTerrific . . . [Makes] a substantial contribution to understanding the universalizing properties of science and technology in history
—— Janet Browne, Harvard University, on Materials of the MindHorizons forces me to think outside my Eurocentric box and puts science at the centre of world history
—— David Reynolds , New Statesman, Books of the Year 2022