by Doris Kearns Goodwin
October 1, 2019
496 pages
This is one of my favorite leadership books! It combines my love of history with my passion for leadership development. It is also very timely as the world struggles to overcome the COVID-19 crisis. As our nation faces multiple challenges associated with the pandemic, racial injustice, and partisan politics, Goodwin takes us back in our past to show us how skillful leaders successfully navigated similar challenges.
Leadership in Turbulent Times follows four former U.S. presidents as they confront the nation’s greatest challenges- Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation, Theodore Roosevelt and the Coal Strike, Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Great Depression, and Lyndon Johnson and the Civil Rights Bill.
Some takeaways you may discover:
· Leaders may come from all backgrounds and follow very different paths but share common traits.
· How we face personal adversity can shape our ability to lead in difficult times.
· Leaders must surround themselves with the right people.
· Building and protecting relationships is vital to getting things done.
· Leaders must be willing to set and sell outrageous goals.
Leadership in Turbulent Times is part biography and part leadership book. The early chapters deal with each man’s rise to power and their battles with personal tragedy. The subsequent chapters are case studies of the challenges I mentioned earlier. Here the book becomes a leadership playbook, taking almost step-by-step recipes for transformational leadership, crisis management, turnaround leadership, and visionary leadership. While I enjoyed each man’s story, I found LBJ’s the most compelling. Although he was the only one in office in my lifetime, I knew little about him and most of it was negative. The book gave me insight into his many successes and a new respect for all he accomplished.
None of us may ever be asked to bail out a failing banking system, end a labor strike, or pass controversial legislation, but we may be tasked with turning around a troubled project, managing a crisis, or leading an organization into the future. This book shows us what it takes to be ready when those turbulent times cross out path.
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