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Leaders

Myth and Reality

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Leaders

By: Stanley McChrystal, Jeff Eggers
Narrated by: Jason Mangone, Paul Michael
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About this listen

- Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Leaders by General Stanley McChrystal, Jeff Eggers and Jason Mangone, read by Paul Michael.

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

In Leaders, retired four-star general Stan 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.

Leaders featured in the book include:

Founders: Walt Disney and Coco Chanel

Zealots: Maximilien Robespierre and Abu Musab Zarkawi

Powerbrokers: Margaret Thatcher and Boss Tweed

And 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.

'Leaders rexamines old notions of leadership - especially the outdated view that history is shaped by great men going it alone' - SHERYL SANDBERG, COO of Facebook and founder of LeanIn.Org

'Leaders takes us deeper than most other leadership books into the true and often messy mechanics of leadership. Anyone who considers themselves a student of leadership must read this book' - SIMON SINEK, optimist and author of Start With Why and Leader Eat Last

©2018 Stanley McChrystal, Jeff Eggers & Jason Mangone (P)2018 Penguin Audio Leadership Management Military Military & War Workplace Culture Business War Imperialism Franklin D Roosevelt
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Critic reviews

Leaders rexamines old notions of leadership - especially the outdated view that history is shaped by great men going it alone. General McChrystal shows us that leadership can take many forms, leaders often have different strengths, and great leaders can come from anywhere (SHERYL SANDBERG)
Leaders is a superb, thought-provoking challenge to conventional understanding of the nature of leadership. An enlightening, entertaining must-read about why we revere so many leaders who are often deeply flawed and even unsuccessful, and the lessons for thinking about and teaching leadership in the future (ROBERT M. GATES)
Leadership, we learn, is complex. At a time when Americans yearn for leaders we can admire and respect, this book... will help you think differently about both leadership and our history (WALTER ISAACSON)
No living American has more convincingly combined the practice and teaching of leadership than General Stanley McChrystal: that's why Yale students flock to his classes. Now, in Leaders, he invites us to join them, with Plutarch as his teaching assistant. No current or aspiring leader can afford to miss this shrewd and surprising book (JOHN LEWIS GADDIS)
Leaders is a must-read for all leaders - whether they're just beginning their careers or whether they're already leading an entire organization (KEN LANGONE)
Whenever Stanley McChrystal talks, I take notes. I am so drawn to his ability to cut through pop-culture theories about leadership to get to the core of what actually makes a leader. Leaders takes us deeper than most other leadership books into the true and often messy mechanics of leadership. Anyone who considers themselves a student of leadership must read this book (SIMON SINEK)

What listeners say about Leaders

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The best I’ve listened to this year

An in-depth look at what leadership is/thought to be and differing approaches to it. So many lessons gleaned from it. A thoroughly enjoyable read. If any criticism it’s that coverage of some of the examples was maybe not thorough enough but I can see why they did that for brevity.

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Leaders

This has been a fascinating listen. Some of the people described may not automatically spring to mind as great leaders. However, when I listened to this audiobook, I understood why they had been chosen. Very interesting if you like history.

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Exceptional Insight to Leadership

Having read the other 2 books by General McChristal, I admired his style of leadership & thought he had a good handle on leadership, but he used this book to suggest otherwise by questioning his leadership credentials and results. Now that takes serious guts & deep reflection.

This book book is simply remarkable!! It covers a good blend of leaders and to my pleasant surprise didn't just include the typical white male. African, Chinese & Arab leaders were explored. Most importantly, women were also featured in order to give this piece a well intentioned all-round view of the topic. I like that the authors were clear from the beginning that there's no such thing as good or bad leadership rather, emphasis was placed on the effectiveness of leadership. The ultimate conclusions of this piece was quite humbling & unexpected.

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4/5 - decent story, good narration @1.25 speed

Disagree with the selection of some of the characters. There were more types of leaders to chose from. Why not talk about someone who failed? Or an example of someone who was a bad leader? Good listen overall and maybe a follow up book required.

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This book is for the dumb and uneducated

No insight at all, bland repetition of existing biographies. The military branding is a bad misdirection.

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