Issue No. 410 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting features profiles of 13 leaders (some with warts) and some deep thinking on the myths and realities of true leadership. And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies) and check out this page for recent book reviews including Scott Rodin’s novel, The Four Gifts of the King.
Summer Reading List #3:
Leaders: Myth and Reality
“While leaders are generally intelligent, exceptionally intelligent people are actually less likely to emerge as leaders.”
That zinger (or perhaps comforting insight) is from “The Geniuses” section of Leaders: Myth and Reality, by General Stanley McChrystal (US Army, Retired). In reflecting on geniuses, McChrystal and his co-authors profile Albert Einstein and Leonard Bernstein.
The book’s approach is fascinating, disturbing, and thought-provoking. McChrystal’s compare-and-contrast model was Plutarch’s Lives—and, trust me, you’ll need a pen if you’re still reading books the old-fashioned way. Oh…and schedule a long vacation this month—this gem is over 400 pages, plus notes.
In the news recently was an observation that only three prime ministers—across the pond—have been known by their first names: Winston, Maggie, and Boris.
Between 1979 and 1990, Margaret Thatcher served as the U.K. Prime Minister. McChrystal describes her early leadership style as a cabinet minister in 1970:
“Within a week, she took her abrasive tongue to the page, writing a minute at the bottom of an interim departmental report of a flagship research program. ‘This is one of the most disappointing and frustrating documents I have read. Not a penny [in funding] after 1971.’ She had a disparaging habit of refusing to send out substandard documents given to her for signature, instead ripping the tops off those pages she thought inferior.”
There are more fireworks as the authors exegete leadership myth and reality in “The Power Brokers” section—contrasting Thatcher (1925-2013) with New York City’s infamous “Boss” Tweed (1823-1878).
Tweed, the corrupt politician, was nevertheless a leader. “…he increased the size of Tammany Hall’s general committee from 21 to 150 members, making the group more unwieldly and less able to make decisions.”
“The Zealots” commentary positions the French Revolution’s Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794) against the jihadist Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi (1966-2006). (Note to budding revolutionaries: both men died in their 30s.)
A leader—yet a confirmed introvert, “…the Revolution took Robespierre out of his room and placed him front and center. That this deeply private man both had to and tried to play an increasingly public role would become his undoing.” (For more, read Peggy Noonan’s Wall Street Journal timely July 25, 2019, column, “What Were Robespierre’s Pronouns?”)
And for another take on never-done-this-before leadership in-the-trenches, read my review of McChrystal’s Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World. It was a runner-up for my 2016 book-of-the-year.
The authors of Leaders also list book recommendations for each of the 13 leaders profiled—a generous bonus. After reflecting on leadership styles for each leader—I couldn’t stop discussing the strengths and the foibles of each leader. (Ask my wife, Joanne!) I urge you to dive into these troubling portraits of leadership. No one survives unscathed.
• The Marble Man: Robert E. Lee
• The Founders: Walt Disney and Coco Chanel
• The Geniuses: Albert Einstein and Leonard Bernstein
• The Zealots: Maximilien Robespierre and Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi
• The Heroes: Zheng He and Harriet Tubman
• The Power Brokers: William Magear “Boss” Tweed and Margaret Thatcher
• The Reformers: Martin Luther and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I confess—I skipped the 13 profiles and read the authors’ conclusions first. “Three Myths” (the Formulaic Myth, the Attribution Myth, and the Results Myth) challenged my leadership assumptions. In the final chapter, “Redefining Leadership,” the authors include a helpful chart on page 397 calling for an improved definition of leadership.
After reading the back end of the book, I then I returned to the first profile on General Robert E. Lee and was stunned to read what McChrystal wrote:
“On a Sunday morning in 2017 I took down [Lee’s] picture, and by afternoon it was in the alley with the other rubbish awaiting transport to the local landfill for final burial. Hardly a hero’s end.”
Oh, my. You must read “The Marble Man” chapter. Leaders is jam-packed with insights and surprises. So consider these ideas for staff meetings:
• Pick four team members and inspire them to each “compare-and-contrast” two leaders at future staff meetings.
• Or…zero in on the authors’ insights summarizing each section—such as “Entrepreneurialism and Ego,” or “The Cyclic Lure of Conviction,” or the follow-up to Harriet Tubman, “A Human Need for Heroes.”
• With Hong Kong and China in the news—don’t skip the chapter on Zheng He (1371-1433). Prepare for “aha!” moments—as you learn about China’s motivations for today and the future.
To order from Amazon, click on the title for Leaders: Myth and Reality, by General Stanley McChrystal (US Army, Retired), Jeff Eggers, and Jason Mangone.
To listen to this book on Libro.FM audiobooks (17 hours, 2 minutes), click here.
BONUS BOOK! For faith-based teams, couple Leaders with Steve Moore’s brilliant analysis, The Top 10 Leadership Conversations in the Bible: Practical Insights From Extensive Research on Over 1,000 Biblical Leaders (read my review here).
In his chapter on “Failures,” Moore notes, “There are qualifying failures, and disqualifying failures. They can be further subdivided into character-based failure, and competency-based failure. Disqualifying, character-based failure can be partial or complete. Competency-based failure can be direct or indirect.” (Another must-read!)
To order from Amazon, click on the title for The Top 10 Leadership Conversations in the Bible, by Steve Moore.
YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS:
1) Leaders reports that Margaret Thatcher had a “distinct style of written command” with quick Yes, No, or Agreed notes on memos. “But a prime minister does not lead by force of memo alone.” Peter Drucker often wrote about understanding your supervisor’s learning style: is she a reader or a listener? So…what is your leader’s style?
2) In the chapter on Martin Luther, the authors share a “Table Talk” recollection: “When Luther’s puppy happened to be at the table, looked for a morsel from his master, and watched with open mouth and motionless eyes, he [Martin Luther] said, ‘Oh, if I could only pray the way this dog watches the meat!’” So…how’s your prayer life?
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Delegate Your Reading!
Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets Workbook
One of the big ideas in the Book Bucket, Chapter 5, in Mastering the Management Buckets, is to delegate your reading. When someone recommends a great book, buy it—even if you don’t have time to read it. Delegate some of your reading to the management zealots on your team.
But…if you do delegate the reading of Leaders to someone else, don’t skip the chapter on Harriett Tubman. As our nation revisits our racial history, you’ll appreciate Tubman’s heart and style. “She never intended to lead, and that turns out not to matter—she became a hero, and a leader, all the same.”
For more resources from the Book Bucket, including a link to “20 Books to Get You Started” on your lifelong learning journey, click here.
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JASON PEARSON: UNEXPECTED CREATIVE. Are you leveraging the extraordinary power of visual media to inspire your members, clients, or customers? Check out the innovative work from Jason Pearson at Pearpod Media (branding, digital, print, and video).
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