Leaders

Myth and Reality

By: General Stanley McChrystal, Jeff Eggers, Jay Mangone

Narrated by: Paul Michael, General Stanley McChrystal

An instant national best seller!

Stanley McChrystal, the retired US Army general and best-selling author of Team of Teams, profiles 13 of history's great leaders, including Walt Disney, Coco Chanel, and Robert E. Lee, to show that leadership is not what you think it is - and never was.

Stan McChrystal served for 34 years in the US Army, rising from a second lieutenant in the 82nd Airborne Division to a four-star general, in command of all American and coalition forces in Afghanistan. During those years he worked with countless leaders and pondered an ancient question: "What makes a leader great?" He came to realize that there is no simple answer.

McChrystal profiles 13 famous leaders from a wide range of eras and fields - from corporate CEOs to politicians and revolutionaries. He uses their stories to explore how leadership works in practice and to challenge the myths that complicate our thinking about this critical topic. With Plutarch's Lives as his model, McChrystal looks at paired sets of leaders who followed unconventional paths to success. For instance...

• Walt Disney and Coco Chanel built empires in very different ways. Both had public personas that sharply contrasted with how they lived in private.
• Maximilien Robespierre helped shape the French Revolution in the 18th century; Abu Musab al-Zarqawi led the jihadist insurgency in Iraq in the 21st. We can draw surprising lessons from them about motivation and persuasion.
• Both Boss Tweed in 19th-century New York and Margaret Thatcher in 20th-century Britain followed unlikely roads to the top of powerful institutions.
• Martin Luther and his future namesake, Martin Luther King Jr., both local clergymen, emerged from modest backgrounds to lead world-changing movements.

Finally, McChrystal explores how his former hero, General Robert E. Lee, could seemingly do everything right in his military career and yet lead the Confederate Army to a devastating defeat in the service of an immoral cause. Leaders will help you take stock of your own leadership, whether you’re part of a small team or responsible for an entire nation.

©2018 Stanley McChrystal, Jeff Eggers, and Jay Mangone (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“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, optimist and author of Start with Why and Leaders Eat Last)

"Leaders reexamines 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, COO of Facebook and founder of LeanIn.Org and OptionB.Org)

"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, former US Secretary of Defense)

An Outstanding Book On Leadership!

I’ve read over 20 books on leadership in the last 10 months - and this is by far the best of the bunch! I’ve learned so much about these great leaders and how they weren’t perfect-beings — but human beings!
One could easily use this book by itself to build a university level course on leadership.
I highly recommend this book to anyone starting their journey of understanding leadership!

Leadership is a Journey

I loved it. The book provided great examples of Leadership... Highly Recommend reading for Growth...

Great book!

This book is worth the read and a valuable take on leadership. Some parts can get a little dry but overall - this book is a great read that helps you really understand leadership styles that worked (and didn’t work) throughout history.

Insightful and informative

Excellent book. I certainly learned a lot I didn't know about these lives, and the considerations from the authors about leadership theory are extremely insightful. A must read if you are interested in a refreshing and intelligent perspective on how people work.

Great content and very well written

I enjoyed the content about leadership, but it’s one of the best written books I’ve read in some time.

Great resource for CGSC

I’ve never liked history. I mean never, but this book weaves in historical references masterfully to teach new lessons about leadership. It forces you to look at Leadership in a new way. If you’re a person who doesn’t get excited about seeing famous people and you believe in the team mentality from top to bottom, you will appreciate this book.

The needle in the haystack

I’ve read or listened to several leadership publications from various authors in my lifetime. I’ve also tried to emulate the traits of past leaders based off their myths. This book does an amazing job illustrating the ways in which I have set impossible expectations of my own leadership and the leadership of those in positions above mine.

Bravo Zulu, Gentlemen. Strike Hold!

Superb book!

As a student of leadership, this book was exceptional at presenting important leaders in history and their context versus prescribing a leadership style and a one size fits all which is typical. I highly recommend the book!

A comparative history lesson of leadership

The book provides outstanding comparative history lesson of leadership and the accompanying myths. Completing the book can be a daunting task for a novice of the study. As the authors state”... being a good leader is a journey not a destination...”. You can begin your journey here.

Excellent dive into the complexity of leadership

It took a little for me to get into it, probably because I thought I could listen to it while I ran. While it isn’t an inspiring running track, it is a thoughtful, insightful dissection of leadership, followership, and the relationship between them. This is groundbreaking stuff that anyone who studies leadership must read. This will change the narrative in the public sphere on what leadership is and is not. I am purchasing the hard copy, because there is just so much gold in here, and I want it on my shelf so I can reference it often and share the word!