George Washington On Leadership

by Richard Brookhiser

Overview

FIRST IN WAR, FIRST IN PEACE, FIRST IN LEADERSHIP.

Richard Brookhiser's revolutionary biography, Founding Father , took George Washington off the dollar bill and made him live. Now, with his trademark wit and precision, Brookhiser expertly examines the details of Washington's life that fullscale biographies sweep over, to instruct us in true leadership. George Washington on Leadership is a textbook look at Washington's three spectacularly successful careers as an executive: general, president, and tycoon. Brookhiser explains how Washington maximized his strengths and overcame his flaws, and inspires us to do likewise. It shows how one man's struggles and successes 200 years ago can be a model for leaders today. Washington oversaw two startups-the army and the presidency. He chaired the most important meeting in American history-the Constitutional Convention. Washington rose from being a third son who was a major in the militia, to one of the most famous men in the world. At every stage in his career, he had to deal with changing circumstances, from tobacco prices to geopolitics, and with wildly different classes of men, from frontiersmen to aristocrats. Washington's example is so crucial because of the many firsts he is responsible for.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780465003037
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	04/14/2009
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Richard Brookhiser is a senior editor of National Review and the author of eleven books, including James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, American, and Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington. He lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

A Note on Style and Spelling xi

Introduction: Founding CEO 1

I Problems

1 Start-ups 11

2 Strategy 23

3 The Future 37

4 Small Stuff 47

5 Management Style 55

6 Communication 71

7 Timing 81

II People

8 Unusual People 87

9 Troublemakers 99

10 Superiors and Subordinates 113

11 Failure and Betrayal 121

12 Enemies 133

13 Allies 139

14 Sex ... and Drugs 147

15 Courtesy 155

16 Bringing Out the Best 161

17 Personnel 165

III Self

18 Identify Your Strengths 169

19 Build Your Strengths 185

20 Avoid Weaknesses 199

21 Control Your Flaws 213

22 Succession 227

Conclusion: We Must Take Men 235

Notes 239

Bibliography 253

Index 257

Editorial Reviews

"Booklist"
"While leaders glean Brookhiser for practical advice, history buffs will be intrigued by his biographical insights."

"National Review"
"In Richard Brookhiser's hands, Washington remains as glorious as ever -- and if some of that glory brushes off on us lowly readers, all the better."

"Wall Street Journal"
"There is inspiration here for all of us, CEO or not..."

"Forbes"
"This is one book on leadership that's well worth the read."

From the Publisher

From a journalist and historian specializing in the lives of the Founders, lessons in leadership drawn from the plantation, military and political career of George Washington. Washington's colorful contemporary, Gouverneur Morris, disparaged books on leadership, dismissing them as merely "utopian," a skepticism National Review senior editor Brookhiser (What Would the Founders Do?: Our Questions, Their Answers, 2006, etc.) appears to share. But the author forges ahead, addressing his theme in topical fashion, distilling a series of maxims from a variety of problems and situations Washington handled. The vignettes are always interesting: Washington insisting on the importance of proper latrines and inoculations to ensure the army's health, diversifying crops at Mount Vernon, finessing the Continental Congress, putting down mutiny within the army and later rebellion within the young country, keeping the peace between Hamilton and Jefferson, dealing with the betrayal of Benedict Arnold. At the same time the "lessons" drawn from these and many other slices of Washington's life are problematic, if only because they are so often contradictory. Washington observed lines of authority (deferring to the advice and consent of the Senate), except when he circumvented them (seeking funding for the army). He was patient (settling on a strategy for the war), except when he was bold (seizing the moment at Yorktown). He was a hands-on manager (of his plantation), unless he was wisely delegating (speeches to Madison, artillery chores to Knox or matters of high finance to Hamilton). He made use of friends (Lafayette) until he broke with them (Knox). By the end of Brookhiser's colloquial, good-humoredanalysis, we're persuaded that, while no leader in American history may be more worthy of emulation, the mature Washington's signal virtue was his consistently sound, often spectacularly wise judgment, a faculty honed throughout a lifetime presiding over highly important matters and one not easily imitated. Apparently Gouverneur Morris was correct. Unexceptional wisdom breezily packaged. Agent: Michael Carlisle/InkWell Management

Kirkus Reviews