Leadership: Home

What made FDR a more successful leader during the Depression crisis than Hoover? Why was Eisenhower more effective as supreme commander during World War II than he was as president? Why was Grant one of the best presidents of his day, if not in all of American history? What drove Bobby Kennedy into the scrum of electoral politics? Who was Pauli Murray and why was she one of the most decisive figures in the movement for civil rights? Find the surprising and revelatory answers to these questions and more in this collection of new essays by great historians, including Sean Wilentz, Alan Brinkley, Annette Gordon-Reed, Jean Strouse, Robert Dallek, Frances FitzGerald, and others. Entertaining and insightful individually, taken together the essays represent a valuable set of reflections on the enduring ingredients of leadership--the focus of an introduction by Walter Isaacson.

What makes a leader? Is it his or her background and training, or perhaps ideology or beliefs? Do leader possess exceptional drive for changing the world for good -- or, in some cases, evil? One can learn much from the mistakes and triumphs of some of the greatest leaders who ever lived as presented in Leadership: Fifty Great Leaders and the Worlds They Made. This reference resource examines the accomplishments of famed leaders - both men and women - in areas such as politics, military affairs, business, religion, the arts, and the sciences. The book is an excellent source for those looking for an introduction to learning about leadership and case studies that illustrate leadership in action. Leadership provides the tools and content to help students form their own opinions about the eternal questions surrounding the mystery of successful leadership by revealing the true stories behind the great leaders of history.

What makes a good American president? The answers to this question have been sought by a variety of means since the very beginning of the presidency. Some contend that a foreign policy makes one superior to another, while others contend that certain personal qualities make a man best. Here America's presidents are rated using a system that evaluates their effectiveness in some of the most critical aspects of the office: Foreign Relations; Domestic Programs; Administration and Intergovernmental Relations; Leadership and Decision Making; and Personal Qualities. Each president is scored in his fulfillment of each aspect of the office, and analysis is provided for all the scores. The presidents are then ranked overall. The most overrated and underrated commanders in chief are also examined. The presidents are then analyzed individually, in chronological order, and each entry includes biographical and political information, as well as analysis of personal qualities. A bibliography and index are included.

Contains chronologically arranged entries that provide biographical and career information on one hundred influential world leaders from throughout history.

David Brooks challenges us to rebalance the scales between the focus on external success--"résumé virtues"--and our core principles.   NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE ECONOMIST   With the wisdom, humor, curiosity, and sharp insights that have brought millions of readers to his New York Times column and his previous bestsellers, David Brooks has consistently illuminated our daily lives in surprising and original ways. In The Road to Character, he focuses on the deeper values that should inform our lives. Looking to some of the world's greatest thinkers and inspiring leaders, Brooks explores how, through internal struggle and a sense of their own limitations, they have built a strong inner character. Blending psychology, politics, spirituality, and confessional, The Road to Character provides an opportunity for us to rethink our priorities, and strive to build rich inner lives marked by humility and moral depth. "Joy," David Brooks writes, "is a byproduct experienced by people who are aiming for something else. But it comes."

In this culmination of five decades of acclaimed studies in presidential history, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin offers an illuminating exploration of the early development, growth, and exercise of leadership. Are leaders born or made? Where does ambition come from? How does adversity affect the growth of leadership? Does the leader make the times or do the times make the leader? In Leadership, Goodwin draws upon the four presidents she has studied most closely--Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson (in civil rights)--to show how they recognized leadership qualities within themselves and were recognized as leaders by others. By looking back to their first entries into public life, we encounter them at a time when their paths were filled with confusion, fear, and hope. Leadership tells the story of how they all collided with dramatic reversals that disrupted their lives and threatened to shatter forever their ambitions. Nonetheless, they all emerged fitted to confront the contours and dilemmas of their times. No common pattern describes the trajectory of leadership. Although set apart in background, abilities, and temperament, these men shared a fierce ambition and a deep-seated resilience that enabled them to surmount uncommon hardships. At their best, all four were guided by a sense of moral purpose. At moments of great challenge, they were able to summon their talents to enlarge the opportunities and lives of others. This seminal work provides an accessible and essential road map for aspiring and established leaders in every field. In today's polarized world, these stories of authentic leadership in times of apprehension and fracture take on a singular urgency.

In 2009, Simon Sinek started a movement to help people become more inspired at work, and in turn inspire their colleagues and customers. Sinek starts with a fundamental question: Why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their success over and over?   People like Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, and the Wright Brothers had little in common, but they all started with WHY. They realized that people won't truly buy into a product, service, movement, or idea until they understand the WHY behind it.    START WITH WHY shows that the leaders who've had the greatest influence in the world all think, act, and communicate the same way -- and it's the opposite of what everyone else does. Sinek calls this powerful idea The Golden Circle, and it provides a framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be led, and people can be inspired. And it all starts with WHY.