Leadership: In Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin - 2018-09-18

Simon & Schuster, 2018-09-18. New. In this culmination of five decades of acclaimed studies in presidential history, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin offers an illuminating exploration of the early development, growth, and exercise of leadership

Are leaders born or made? Where does ambition come from? How does adversity affect the growth of leadership? Does the leader make the times or do the times make the leader?

In Leadership, Goodwin draws upon the four presidents she has studied most closely—Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D Roosevelt, and Lyndon B Johnson (in civil rights)—to show how they recognized leadership qualities within themselves and were recognized as leaders by others By looking back to their first entries into public life, we encounter them at a time when their paths were filled with confusion, fear, and hope

Leadership tells the story of how they all collided with dramatic reversals that disrupted their lives and threatened to shatter forever their ambitions Nonetheless, they all emerged fitted to confront the contours and dilemmas of their times

No common pattern describes the trajectory of leadership Although set apart in background, abilities, and temperament, these men shared a fierce ambition and a deep-seated resilience that enabled them to surmount uncommon hardships At their best, all four were guided by a sense of moral purpose At moments of great challenge, they were able to summon their talents to enlarge the opportunities and lives of others

This seminal work provides an accessible and essential road map for aspiring and established leaders in every field In today's polarized world, these stories of authentic leadership in times of apprehension and fracture take on a singular urgency