Virtues of Leadership by William J. Bennett
Reviewed by Holly Byars, Customer
Relations and Communications Manager
“Getting
others to believe in you—that’s no easy task. If we want to be good leaders, we
can begin by looking in these pages to see how others have done it.”
That is a fragment from the Introduction of William J. Bennett’s book, Virtues of
Leadership, which was released in 2001. This insightful, perceptive book is a collection
of vignettes about recognizable leaders in our history and stories of old, made
fresh by the principles they illustrate. Those principles serve as guidelines to
being a good and respected leader. This book reveals that scaling the heights of
success as a leader is in direct correlation to your actions. It asks the question:
how well do you serve your followers and what kind of example do you set?
Taken from two of Bennett’s previous works, The Book of Virtues and The Moral Compass,
these stories are startling reminders of traits and behaviors we should already
recognize and know to be important, but many times fail to execute. One of the tales
is about Charlemagne, also remembered as Charles the First, who reminds us to lead
by example and that leading often means lifting others up in their times of struggle
and hopelessness. The ancient story of “The Gordian Knot” is retold, highlighting
the belief that leadership sometimes means finding a way to complete a task no matter
what the odds. All it takes is a healthy dose of fortitude and resolve to cut through
the proverbial “red tape”, as Alexander cut through the supposed-permanent Gordian
knot. “The Man Who Would Not Drink Alone” recounts another story in the famed life
of Alexander. As he was leading his troops home from battle, through the hot desert
of India, Greek travelers offered Alexander some water. He took one look at his
suffering men and offered the drink to them instead. The soldiers’ spirits rallied
and they carried forward on their journey home with positive attitudes and a renewed
sense of loyalty in their leader.
These stories and dozens more are incorporated into this 131-page book that I found
to be an extremely quick and fascinating read. Different accounts in the book include
Harriet Tubman, George Washington, Joan of Arc, Florence Nightingale and others:
ordinary people who made extraordinary use of their leadership abilities. If you
need a quick and powerful reminder of the virtues of a good leader, this read is
for you.
Dr. Bennett served as Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under
President George Bush and as Secretary of Education and Chairman of the national
Endowment for the Humanities under President Reagan. Virtues of Leadership is published
by W Publishing Group, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Purchase your copy of Virtues of Leadership at
Amazon.com .