Do you remember me discouraging you from reading self-help books (except mine of course) on leadership? I’ve encouraged you instead to read biographies of acknowledged leaders. Here’s a wonderful example of why I say that. There’s a new biography of Winston Churchill’s first year as Prime Minister. It’s called The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson. He’s written five best sellers. The following excerpt captures everything I’ve pushed on conciseness and the resulting i

Ain’t it so: one thing leads to another. I’m about done with my Churchill year. However, I got interested in Public School curriculum in England at that time because Colville mentioned Plutarch. So I bought a copy of Plutarch’s Lives on Amazon (A nice used leather-bound one). If you think of Kennedy’s Profiles In Courage…Plutarch is the original you might say. He profiles leaders, 48 of them, each an opposite of the other. So I’m going to spend several of these weekly

In the spirit of, “Don’t read self-help books on leadership, instead read novels that depict leaders,” here’s an example. This is the commander of the submarine Dallas as written by Tom Clancy in The Hunt For Red October. Look at how short the sentences are. Clancy does that to create a feeling of raw competence and leadership composure. You can do it. I guarantee it! The Hunt for Red October Tom Clancy Pg. 105 – The USS Dallas Bart Mancuso had been on duty in the attack

Anyone who’s worked with me probably knows by now that I am not a big fan of listening skills workshops. I’ve fought for the idea that the speaker has the responsibility to say something worth listening to and say it in a compelling way. And a writer has the responsibility to write something worth reading and write it in a compelling way. If he or she does that, believe me…listeners will listen and readers will read. My current Isolation book is “The Fringes of Power.