About the Author of “How to Lead”
David Rubenstein is a self-made billionaire who currently acts as the Co-Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm. He began his career as an attorney and political advisor for the Carter Administration before beginning his private equity firm and philanthropic work. Today, you can see him on Bloomberg Television hosting The David Rubenstein Show: Peer to Peer Conversations or on PBS’s History with David Rubenstein.
My Review
In “How to Lead: Wisdom from the World’s Greatest CEOs, Founders and Game Changers”, Rubenstein creates a casual but always insightful conversation with some of the world’s biggest names including Oprah Winfrey, Jeff Bezos and Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Their conversations explore the lives and more importantly, the decisions made that led these great names to the leadership positions they find themselves in today. “How to Lead” was an easy and flexible read, offering an array of brief interviews from a variety of familiar names and companies. You can read from top to bottom or cherry-pick through your favorites.
While all these interviews vary in the type of leadership positions and specialty of the interviewee, they all share stories of failure and success that inspire it’s readers to follow their gut and find their passions.
Lessons for Leadership
Some of the biggest career moves you’ll read about in How to Lead came from a feeling or intuition that these leaders bravely listened to and pursued. When you are tuned in to yourself, you can more easily understand the true desires and passions you possess.
Like when Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook shares the urge he felt to accept a leadership role from Steve Jobs in the late nineties while he was already working for the largest personal computer supplier at the time, Compaq. Many in his life at the time thought he was taking a huge risk but today, that decision led to him taking over Job’s role as Apple CEO in 2011.
One of the biggest takeaways from How to Lead was that leaders thrive in roles where they are passionate. That passion comes and grows from consistent curiosity and self-awareness. Like staying in tune with our intuitions, knowing who we are, what we love, and what we’re good at can grant us the tools to successfully guide those around us.
About the Reader
Rebecca Davis is the Marketing Director for VizBiz Solutions. Designer of emails, websites and social media graphics and a recent graduate from California State University in Long Beach with a major in Theatre Arts and minor in Entrepreneurship. When she’s not designing for VizBiz clients, you may find her at the movies or playing tug of war with her two adorable pups.
