This book examines the well-covered subject of leadership from a unique perspective: history's vast catalogue of leadership successes and failures. Through a collection of highly compelling case studies spanning two millennia, it looks beyond the classic leadership parable of men in military or political crises and shows that successful leadership cannot be reduced to simplistic formulae.
Written by experts in the field and based on rigorous research, each case provides a rich and compelling account that is accessible to a wide audience, from students to managers. Rather than serving as a vehicle for advancing a particular theory of leadership, each case invites readers to reflect, debate and extract their own insights.
Introduction: The Value of the Historical Perspective for Leadership
Studies.- Part I. The Postwar Period.- Leadership in War and Genocide.- Lost
in Culture.- Prisoners as Leaders of Political Change.- Part II. The Second
World War.- When Complexity Costs Lives.- Paul Geheeb and Nazi Germany.- Part
III. The Age of the Industrial Revolution.- Mary van Kleeck and the Formation
of the International Industrial Relations Institute.- Roald Amundsen in the
Age of Polar Exploration.- Clash of Cannons.- Industrial Leadership and the
Long-Lasting Competitiveness of the Swiss Watch Industry.- Part IV. The
Pre-Modern Period.- Mary Tudor, the First Sovereign Queen of England.-
Muhammad II Khwarazmshah Meets Chinggis Khan.- Töregene, Imperial Widow in
the Mongol Empire in the 1240s.- Pericles of Athens.
Dr. Martin Gutmann is the Managing Director and Lecturer at the Swiss School of Public Governance, ETH Zurich, Switzerland.
