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The Leadership Podcast

The Leadership Podcast

We Study Leaders

Leaders: Myth and Reality

June 12, 2018

Leaders: Myth and Reality

The bestselling author of Team of Teams dismantles the Great Man theory of leadership, by profiling leaders whose real stories defy their legends.

Retired four-star general Stan McChrystal has studied leadership his whole adult life, from his first day at West Point to his most recent work with the corporate clients of the McChrystal Group. In this follow-up to his bestsellers My Share of the Task and Team of Teams, 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.

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About the Book

Retired four-star general Stan McChrystal has studied leadership his whole adult life, from his first day at West Point to his most recent work with the corporate clients of the McChrystal Group. In this follow-up to his bestsellers My Share of the Task and Team of Teams, 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.

Chief among the leaders profiled is Robert E. Lee, one of McChrystal’s heroes and is an icon to this day at West Point. On paper, Lee was the ideal leader. He excelled in every way possible for an Army officer in the decades before the Civil War. Yet Lee ultimately made the wrong choice about which side to serve–and then failed to lead his side to victory. Exploring Lee’s life and leadership style, McChrystal explains how his idol’s downfall forced him to rethink his own core assumptions.

He also profiles pairs of unlikely leaders from diverse eras and fields, showing that leaders often use dramatically different tactics to achieve similar results. These include:

Founders: Walt Disney built his empire thinking he was a man of the people, but was actually a bit of a tyrant to the working man. Coco Chanel hid her plebian background to pretend she was an aristocrat, but was obsessed with making clothes for the common people.
Zealots: Maximilien Robespierre whipped his revolutionaries into a frenzy through his writing, while Abu Musab Zarkawi moved on the front lines of the battlefield, winning over his followers through his personal charisma.
Powerbrokers: Margaret Thatcher and Boss Tweed, whose respective reigns depended on the networks they cultivated.

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.

Details
Author: BBB Guests - Main
Series: Dan Pink
Tags: Business, Change, Creativity, Cultural, Diversity, Entrepreneurial, Financial, Guests, History, Leadership, Military, Non-Fiction, Performance, Personal Development, Philosophy, Success, Teamwork
ASIN: 0525534377
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Other Books on the Show in the "Dan Pink"
When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others
A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future
Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself, by Daniel H. Pink
Team of Teams
My Share of the Task: A Memoir
Authentic Leadership
Courage: The Backbone of Leadership
Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are
Successful Aging: A Neuroscientist Explores the Power and Potential of Our Lives
How Will You Measure Your Life?
The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth
Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to Be the Best... and Learn from the Worst
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