The author, David Gergen, served as White House advisor to four US Presidents (Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton), and now teaches at Harvard’s Kennedy School. Few, if any, may be more qualified than the author to discuss how modern leaders are shaped, and how such leaders can be both moral (see a clear “True North”) and effective (get things done!). So, how? A new generation seems to be transforming the practice of leadership. It is no longer a matter of seeing a good leader as a phenomenon of being a single great person, but to see him/her as leader of a team. Yet some more traditional qualities and skills seem to have eternal appeal. The author thus has a “concern for establishing and guiding the next generation” (in line with “generating” the seventh of Erik Erikson’s eight key stages of life). And the author is clear: much of the future rests on the infusion of fresh blood into civil life (p. 8).
The book falls into three parts:
- Inner Journey: Hearts touched with fire (Oliver Wendal Holmes) and consists of six chapters.
- Outer Journey: Where one is “rubbing up against the outside world” (p. 13), consisting of three chapters.
- Leadership in Action: How a leader might get ready for effective action, another four chapters.
In addition, the book offers a useful 20-point executive summary, as well as a final chapter, primarily looking at the future (answering the call).
I recommend this book for all involved in leadership. While the author’s experience seems to be primarily within public sector leadership, most of the principles he puts forward may be equally applicable to the private sector, and he also draws extensively on experts that have studied this sector (Bennis, Collins, Hackman, (one of this reviewer’s professors at Yale), …). Good leadership appears to be universal, with little difference between settings or sectors. Let us now review each of the book’s sections in more detail. While as Albert Schweitzer said, “to serve, to show compassion, and to have the will to help others” are all key dimensions for a good leader, a trend towards more collaborative leadership seems to emerge, including having strong focus on courage, compassion and character, all embedded in a team approach. It is a matter of “we, we, we” in contrast to “me, me, me”.
The author then discusses how such collaborative leadership may have been central when it comes to modern icons such as Robert John Lewis (black activist), Ruth Bader Ginsberg (supreme court judge), and John McCain (US senator; air force pilot/naval officer). The author sees a total of seven common factors that characterize them as strong leaders. Further, he suggests five factors that seem to be particularly significant when it comes to self-awareness, and another two that focus on strengths and relentlessly improving performance (p. 49).
To not rush things, but to prepare oneself systematically over time seems essential, and the author suggests eight major factors. To draw on effective coaches and sponsors are also important. A central outcome might be a clearer perception of one’s “True North”, one’s core values.
It is of course a matter of having sufficient inner strengths to survive setbacks. Perhaps it might all be summarized as having a “sunny temperament” (p. 93), being highly adaptable, although with hardiness and stoicism, i.e., no rash emotions.
The author concludes this section on inner strengths with two examples of how two individuals turned adversity into purpose, Harvey Milk (activist) and Katherine Graham (Washington Post owner).
The author now moves on to section two, the leader’s outer journey. He starts with a discussion of “leading up”, i.e., how to cope with one’s boss, six recommendations, as well as well as “leading sideways”, i.e., drawing on friends, such as how George H. W. Bush drew on his friendship with James Baker (Chief of White House Staff).
Then the author’s focus shifts to leading a team, a central issue indeed. The author sees six points as perhaps particularly critical, including getting the right people to join one’s team, and in the most meaningful capacities, as well as asking dysfunctional personalities to leave. Good group-centered leadership is now a reality!
This section concludes with a chapter on how to strengthen a leader’s ability as an effective persuader. Effective presentations and public speeches are crucial, the author claims, and he proposes five issues that seem to be particularly relevant, including focusing on three key elements: ethos (building on the speaker’s/presenter’s credibility), logos (the argument(s) the speaker/presenter is advancing) and pathos (appealing to the audience’s emotions) (p. 163). It is now increasingly important to successfully make effective presentations in a digital world, as we saw when it came to the election campaigns of Obama, as well as others.
Section three is about leadership in action, as already indicated. The author emphasizes five main issues, when a leader takes over, including having a “Plan B” in case things do not work out as initially planned.
The author also discusses how a leader might lose his/her way. Perhaps one of the most famous recent cases here might be that of the former CEO of McKinsey, Rajat Gupta, who was caught doing insider trading. In total the author discusses seven sources of derailment, including when a leader is or becomes fundamentally dishonest, perhaps initially not self-evident. But there may be instances too where a leader might involve intentional dishonesty,“low art”, as the author calls it (pp. 196-200). Such instances should be rare, however.
To lead through a crisis, a so-called VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity), is of course never easy. The author offers eight ways here, perhaps the most critical being to always attempt to be prepared for the worst, be more or less ready. By not doing this, former President Trump mishandled the COVID-19 crisis, for instance. This probably significantly lessened his chances for re-election.
The final chapter deals with boasting (pp. 218 – 234). Heuristics such as careful documentation of decisions, practicing ardent reading, and always trying to be upbeat, maintaining good humor, are all important. It is perhaps central too to exercise strict discipline when it comes to how a leader spends his/her time, i.e., balancing priorities.
As mentioned in the introduction of this review, the author also offers a 20-item executive summary. The following 14 are perhaps particularly critical when it comes to leading in the private sector:
- Leadership seems to have become harder and harder
- Leadership starts from within
- Articulate three key objectives early
- Find your “True North” / purpose
- Focus on your strengths
- Extend your leadership journey outside yourself
- Remember that you are never too young to lead
- Secure your finances
- Learn to manage your boss
- Mobilize others through persuasion
- Consider that your greatest enemy might be you
- Seek guidance from the past and present
- Friends, and networks, still matter
- Maintain a celestial spark
- In the epilogue, Mr. Gergen offers five factors that help in “answering the call”, to step up as effective leaders in the years to come. To be an effective social entrepreneur is perhaps the most critical – typically young idealists á la Greta Thunberg.
Having come to the end of the journey of reading this great book, I feel that the following five general observations need to be made:
- The author has read profusely, impressive! There are indeed many essential references. But does the book contain too many names? Is the author running the risk of being accused of namedropping?
- The author’s experience is, of course, vast – perhaps unparalleled by others. There are plenty of great concepts and examples in his work. Are possibly some of these excessive, and could they be seen as slightly exaggerated borrowing?
- There are several valuable lists of what to do versus what not to do – meaningful tradeoffs. However, are these lists a bit too much, perhaps causing the reader to consider some of them as overly “mechanical”?
- The author may at times come across as slightly emotional, even dogmatic, perhaps particularly so when the author discusses the various paths to be taken, set out in the epilogue.
- The past is always key, allowing us to learn a lot, and not to repeat mistakes made before. But is the author perhaps too wedded to the past, maybe the near past in particular?
But these small objections or criticisms, areas where one perhaps might raise some questions, shall not distract from the impressive undertaking that David Gergen has accomplished. He has succeeded in clarifying what modern leadership is! This is a major feat – the author has “outperformed” many well-known thinkers, scholars and practitioners in bringing superb clarity to what leadership entails and signifies. This is a great book – a must read!