5 (oddly) amazing leadership books you probably haven’t heard about.
What makes these 5 leadership books stand out in the sea of ‘Same-Same but Different’?
Visitors to my old blog will know I enjoy my reading. Military history, anything with the word Biggles on the cover, leadership, stoicism, real-life bold adventures, the Sharpe series, anything about BBQ, and of course the yearly dose of Lee Child at Christmas - it all gets a look in.
Over the years I’ve have gathered quite a collection, and as I was boxing them up as part of an office refresh, I found all the usual leadership suspects; Drucker, Lencioni, Sinek. Their books are on the shelf for a reason. They offer insight and inspiration, and particularly in the case of Drucker, stand the test of time. They are at their core, simply very good authors.
However, what really caught my eye was the number of books that trended towards the frighteningly niche end of the literary spectrum, and despite the ‘Rise of the Algorithm’ driving consumers to the big-name authors, these oddly amazing books still burrowed their way onto my bookshelf and into my consciousness.
It wasn’t until I put them all in a pile and pondered it for a moment that I realised how they’d done it….
Number 5: The Lost City of Z: A Legendary British Explorer’s Deadly Quest to Uncover the Secrets of the Amazon (David Grann)
Often referred to as the last of the legendary breed of British explorers, Grann lays out in beautiful detail the (true) stories of Colonel Percy Harrison Fawcett’s 20th century adventures into the wilds of the Amazon.
Apart from the fact you can hardly fathom the conditions Fawcett and his teams endured, it gloriously documents what humans can overcome when they believe so deeply in an idea.
Even before it was a leadership maxim, Fawcett was able to articulate and share his ‘why’. The result was scores of other like-minded explorers unflinchingly signed up to his explorations, despite the obvious risk to life and limb. The explorers faced impenetrable jungles, starvation, candiru (Google it at your peril), and the occasional poison-tipped arrow; to survey areas of the world maps of the time hauntingly referred to as “Unexplored”, and all as part of Fawcett’s quest to uncover an ancient city lost to the jungle.
If Fawcett found the lost city buried deep in the Amazon is not for me to spoil, but reading how he persevered and his approach to leadership alone makes this worth the read.
What can we learn? Despite the hurdles (and arrows) life throws at you, unwavering confidence in your foundational skills, and the relentless pursuit of your goals will ultimately lead to success more times than not, but balancing grit and mania is no easy feat.
Also, the Amazon jungle has been struck off my list of places to visit.
Number 4: Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War (Robert Coram)
A doorstop of a book, this 504-page monster chronicles the life and work of John Boyd, the most famous military strategist you’ve never heard of. In militaries communities across the planet, his name is uttered in the same breath as Sun Tzu, but outside of that world he’s invisible.
Boyd (a successful US military pilot) took on the entire Airforce and military construct to redefine how military aircraft were flown, designed and their pilots trained - after seeing all 3 were being done poorly. At significant personal and professional loss, he and a small group of advocates rallied against the institutional groupthink. Boyd’s philosophies ultimately disrupted the status quo, and his training programs and design approaches are now the fundamentals of US military strategy in every theatre of war.
I came away from reading this book wondering (hoping maybe?) if I’ll ever have something burn so deeply in my soul that I bet my entire career and reputation on it, and effectively go to war with the system itself. Boyd died not knowing the full impact of his work, but pressed on regardless. Boyd often asked his students a question I now ask myself regularly, “Are you going to be someone, or are you going to do something?”.
What can we learn? While it might not be the entire US Military that you rage against, simply accepting the statement “That’s just the way it's done here” when you know there’s a better way might haunt you to your grave. If you believe there’s a better way, if you gather a small group of like-minded souls that also believe what you believe, and you stay the course, you too can affect real and lasting change.
Number 3: The Clay Pigeons of St. Lo (Glover S. Johns Jr.)
If you like your leadership lessons wrapped in bullets and mud, run, don’t walk, and get yourself a copy of this book.
It only takes a moment or two to wrap your head around the third person narrative form Johns’ takes in describing his battalions’ battles amongst the hedgerows of 1944 Normandy.
There is no hiding from the bleakness of war in this book, and I guess that’s the point. Johns’ details the realities of storming gun emplacements, being told his unit must simply push on towards an enemy he describes as being simply “too tough”, and the crushing fear of night patrols in enemy held territory. He speaks of his reliance on setting clear objectives, having empathy, and maintaining the well-being of his platoon under the most horrific circumstances - lessons which still apply today even though the consequences aren’t nearly as high.
What can we learn? Johns’ speaks clearly about his approach to leadership and courage under fire. He speaks of humbleness, determination, courage and sacrifice - values and attributes I fear are often lacking in the modern workplace.
Number 2: Men at Arnhem (Geoffrey Powell)
Years ago, I stole a technique for taking notes in the margins of books and indexing key points inside the front cover. A simple, nerdy, but effective way of capturing nuggets for future reference.
After reading (for the third time) Powell’s mesmerising recollection of 8 terrible days in September 1944, the themes I wrote down were:
Trappings of talent
Self-sacrifice
Duty
Futility
Trust
Honor
Better to die on your feet
Battlefield decisions
Humility
Teamwork
Leadership
Similar to The Clay Pigeons of St. Lo, the lessons are learned in the most torturous crucible, but their efficacy can never be doubted.
What can we learn? l read military history mainly to remain connected to the past, but also to give myself perspective on the present. It’s unlikely in my role as a Coach or Construction Professional I’ll find myself under the same physical circumstances, having to make the types of decisions with as high a consequence as Powell recalls, but I do hope to be able to apply the same themes and principles.
Number 1: Forged in Crisis (Nancy Koen)
Koen chronicles the stories of “five gritty leaders whose extraordinary passion and perseverance changed history”. Shackleton, Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Rachel Carson are all presented; their stories, qualities and legacies analysed for us to attempt to replicate.
Koen’s premise is that leaders are not simply born but are made, often in times of adversity. She poses the point the ability to summon up those qualities is not beyond us mere mortals if we can simply get out of our own way for long enough to remember the lessons of the past.
What can we learn? A particular paragraph stuck with me and is taken from an interview Koen had with A.G Lafley, who at the time was a CEO of Proctor & Gamble, who said:
“There are three main ingredients for making a leader. First, an individual's strengths and weaknesses and the cumulative experience a person acquires walking his or her path. The second is that an individual recognises a moment has arrived that demands his or her leadership. The third is that the individual has to consciously decide to embrace the cause and get in the game.”
Why so different?
Why do these particular books stand out amongst hundreds of others? Other than Koen’s Forged in Crisis, none would likely be found in the ‘Leadership’ section of a bookstore. How have they become some of my go-to references when faced with leadership challenges?
Turns out they are all filled with tales of Determination, Boldness of Action and an undying sense of Honour & Duty.
I get it. These are easy to say, but desperately hard to replicate. I think as modern leaders we’ve either lost or forgotten these qualities somewhat, and have replaced them with Meetings, Office Politics and the Harbouring of Petty Grudges.
Where’s the grandness gone? Why are we so determined to ‘be somebody’ rather than to ‘do something’? Where are the bold adventures and the belief in something that’s so strong you feel it in your bones? As I get older it’s something I yearn more for but feels further out of reach.
As leaders I’m convinced we can do better, and even more so that it’s lessons from the past where we can find both the wisdom, boldness and inspiration to do so.
The maestro said it best…
“Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
