How to Lead: Wisdom from the World's Greatest CEOs, Founders, and Game Changers

by David M. Rubenstein

Overview

The New York Times Bestseller
#1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller

The essential leadership playbook. Learn the principles and guiding philosophies of Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey, and many others through illuminating conversations about their remarkable lives and careers.

For the past five years, David M. Rubenstein—author of The American Story, visionary cofounder of The Carlyle Group, and host of The David Rubenstein Show—has spoken with the world’s highest performing leaders about who they are and how they became successful. How to Lead distills these revealing conversations into an indispensable leadership guidebook.

Gain advice and wisdom from CEOs, presidents, founders, and master performers from the worlds of finance (Warren Buffett, Jamie Dimon, Christine Lagarde, Ken Griffin), tech (Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Eric Schmidt, Tim Cook), entertainment (Oprah Winfrey, Lorne Michaels, Renee Fleming, Yo-Yo Ma), sports (Jack Nicklaus, Adam Silver, Coach K, Phil Knight), government (President Bill Clinton, President George W. Bush, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Nancy Pelosi), and many others.

-Jeff Bezos harnesses the power of wandering, discovering that his best decisions have been made with heart and intuition, rather than analysis.
-Richard Branson never goes into a venture looking to make a profit. He aims to make the best in field.
-Phil Knight views Nike as a marketing company whose product is its most important marketing tool.
-Marillyn Hewson, who grew up in a fatherless home with four siblings in Kansas, quickly learned the importance of self-reliance and the value of a dollar.

How to Lead shares the extraordinary stories of these pioneering agents of change. Discover how each luminary got started and how they handle decision making, failure, innovation, change, and crisis. Learn from their decades of experience as pioneers in their field. No two leaders are the same.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781982132156
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	09/01/2020
Pages:	448
Sales rank:	148,088
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.40(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

David M. Rubenstein is the New York Times bestselling author of How to Invest, How to Lead, The American Experiment, and The American Story. He is cofounder and cochairman of The Carlyle Group, one of the world’s largest and most successful private equity firms. Rubenstein is Chairman of the Boards of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Council on Foreign Relations, the National Gallery of Art, the Economic Club of Washington, and the University of Chicago. He is an original signer of The Giving Pledge and a recipient of the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy and the MoMA’s David Rockefeller Award. The host of PBS’s History with David Rubenstein, Bloomberg Wealth with David Rubenstein, and The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations on Bloomberg TV and PBS, he lives in the Washington, DC, area.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

Visionaries

Jeff Bezos 3

Bill Gates 18

Sir Richard Branson 35

Oprah Winfrey 46

Warren Buffett 60

Builders

Phil Knight 85

Ken Griffin 96

Robert F. Smith 108

Jamie Dimon 118

Marillyn Hewson 127

Transformers

Melinda Gates 137

Eric Schmidt 150

Tim Cook 160

Ginni Rometty 169

Indra Nooyi 180

Commanders

President George W. Bush & President Bill Clinton 195

General Colin Powell 209

General David Petraeus 223

Condoleezza Rice 242

James A. Baker III 254

Decision-Makers

Representative Nancy Pelosi 269

Adam Silver 278

Christine Lagarde 290

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci 301

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg 323

Masters

Jack Nicklaus 341

Mike "Coach K" Krzyzewski 354

Renée Fleming 365

Yo-Yo Ma 374

Lorne Michaels 382

Acknowledgments 398

About the Contributors 400

Index 413

Editorial Reviews

A wonderfully entertaining book about leaders from very different professions and walks of life. David Rubenstein’s dialogues with individuals as different as Jeff Bezos and Yo-Yo Ma skillfully evoke their personal life stories and the qualities that led to their success. Above all, Rubenstein discerns the attributes of leadership they all have in common. How To Lead is an exceptionally instructive and inspirational book.”
—Robert M. Gates, former U.S. Secretary of Defense, author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller Duty

"In these fast-moving, often tumultuous times, wise and effective leadership is critical. David Rubenstein’s How To Lead provides a compelling view into how legendary leaders are made. This is required reading for today's leaders looking to up their game—and future leaders looking to enter the arena."
—Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and founder of LeanIn.Org and OptionB.Org

“Leadership is not a science but an art, and the wonderful David Rubenstein has convened a Louvre-like gathering of masters in the engaging and illuminating How to Lead. From statecraft to sports, this is an invaluable book about the things that matter most.”
—Jon Meacham, New York Times bestselling author of The Soul of America

“David Rubenstein deftly distills the key qualities of effective leadership while treating the reader to a feast of his inimitable interviews with many of our nation’s most accomplished leaders, How to Lead is a gripping compilation of intimate and fascinating conversations peppered with powerful lessons in how to compete and thrive in the most demanding environments.”
—Susan E. Rice, Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and National Security Advisor

“It’s time to add David Rubenstein to the roster of master interviewers like Bill Moyers, Lesley Stahl, Anderson Cooper and Jim Lehrer. Rubenstein persuades two dozen prominent Americans to tell the inside stories of how they rose to power and leadership. Fascinating tales at a snappy pace — and a fresh reminder that we still have real leaders in our midst.”
—David Gergen, CNN Senior Analyst; Founding Director, Center For Public Leadership, Harvard Kennedy School

“David Rubenstein is an expert on leadership. Reading this invaluable trove of advice from the greatest leaders of our time is like sitting in an armchair and listening to the masters reveal their secrets.”
—Walter Isaacson, #1 New York Times Bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs

"Rubenstein wants readers to see the full spectrum of assets and liabilities in leaders."
–Forbes

“Rubenstein shares his unparalleled access to many influential leaders, using his stature and experience to provide insights otherwise unavailable to many....An introduction launches into Rubenstein's ruminations on life; his 12 attributes of leadership, from luck and focus to failure and integrity; plus his belief that real success occurs during the second and third "thirds" of life on earth....Readers will want to keep a pen handy: “Most of our regrets are acts of omission” (Jeff Bezos). “Your legacy is every life that you’ve touched” (Oprah). “Data is actually sexist” (Melinda Gates). “If you’re willing to make the trade-offs that you need to make, you can have it all” (Indra Nooyi). Words for life.”
—Booklist, starred review

From the Publisher

08/01/2020

This book contains 30 interviews and aims "to provide the reader with the leadership perspectives of different kinds of leaders, with the hope that readers might be inspired to develop or enhance their own leadership skills." The interviewees span a broad range, from former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to Jeff Bezos of Amazon to Indra Nooyi of Pepsico to retired general and former CIA chief David Petraeus. Some of those included are more public opinion influencers than leaders per se (e.g., Oprah Winfrey). In keeping with the inspirational purpose of the book the interviews are generally friendly in tone and often not very probing. Rubenstein (The American Story: Conversations with Master Historians) tries to draw some conclusions in his introduction but it seems a stretch. The most one will find here is informal advice or the occasional insight. For example, former U.S. National Security Adviser Colin Powell speaks of the importance of "inspiring followers." However, some of the interviews manage to draw out the personalities of the interviewees and these tend to be the most interesting. VERDICT This is more successful as a set of biographical interviews or personality profiles than as a guide to effective leadership.—Shmuel Ben-Gad, Gelman Lib., George Washington Univ., Washington, DC

Library Journal

2020-06-09
Charismatic leaders share the secrets of their success.

In this follow-up to The American Story: Conversations With Master Historians (2019), billionaire businessman and philanthropist Rubenstein highlights the contributions of distinctive leaders in six categories: “Visionaries,” “Builders,” “Transformers,” “Commanders,” “Decision-Makers,” and “Masters.” The author opens with Jeff Bezos, who discusses his career as Amazon founder, space travel enthusiast, and owner of the Washington Post. Since most of the interviews were conducted within the last decade, the advice about starting small, building gradually, and staying focused is mostly relevant. In other profiles, Rubenstein explores the careers and motivations of Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Richard Branson, Phil Knight, Jamie Dimon, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, Nancy Pelosi, Jack Nicklaus, Lorne Michaels, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Yo-Yo Ma, and Oprah Winfrey, who was once terminated as a TV anchor and advises that “getting fired is an opportunity for something else to show up.” Though readers will be familiar with many of Rubenstein’s subjects, his interviews are filled with useful, probing queries on career challenges, ethical responsibilities, and even equality—as evidenced in an interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook. The author also questions the interviewees about the keys to their industry durability and longevity through volatile economic, social, and political instability and their humanitarian initiatives and philanthropic foundations. Rubenstein also shares his own personal history, emphasizing the indispensable nature of a solid work ethic and how, as a young New York attorney, he was immensely influenced by John F. Kennedy. Though the collection would have benefitted from a wider selection of racially diverse contributors—notwithstanding the inclusion of Winfrey, Ma, and PepsiCo. CEO Indra Nooyi—the profiles are worthwhile, especially for college students and both aspiring and established entrepreneurs eager to discover the unique perspectives of today’s distinguished leaders.

A cleverly organized motivational collection brimming with wisdom and business acumen.

Kirkus Reviews