Lessons from the presidents by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

What an incredibly rich description of 4 lifetimes of transformational leadership by 4 wildly different individuals with each of their own leadership styles, strategies and tactics to learn from.

This is one of those reads that’s so dense, juicy and packed with gold nuggets, wisdom and perspective, that it’s completely impossible to extract the maximum value from it without dedicating years of re-reading and practice. It’s the sort of book you have to be ready for. It’s less than 400 pages, but still took me 3 months to digest.

Goodwin’s subject matter is the lives and leadership of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklink Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson, 4 of the most remembered and revered presidents of The United States.

The book is split into sections.

  1. Ambition and the recognition of leadership – dealing with (very different!) paths the presidents took to step into the ultimate leadership position, and their first steps towards recognition for their leadership potential.
  2. Adversity and growth – dealing with intense adverse experiences in life that broke them, forged each man anew.
  3. The leader and the times: how they led – dealing with their specific policies and unique challenges to solve at their specific time in the history of the US.

Section 3 is conveniently split into the themes of transformational leadership, crisis management, turnaround leadership and visionary leadership. Each represents the core of the leadership strategy applied by the 4, and are matched to the challenge that they had to rise and face.

After my first reading here in 2021, the key takeaways have been.

  • Lead by getting out in front.
  • Paint a picture, tell a story, help them see.
  • I need far less rest and downtime than the lazy parts of my brain would have me think (a.k.a. if Lyndon can work 18 hours days for 20 years, why shouldn’t I be able to handle 10 hour days? I even have weekends!)
  • Serve.
  • Have a plan and a vision.
  • Charisma is part practice.
  • Integrity.
  • Do something that matters. Move people.