Theodore Roosevelt, CEO

by Alan Axelrod

The newest in Alan Axelrod's celebrated CEO series examines Theodore Roosevelt--typically ranked among the top five US presidents by historians.

 

Following in the vein of his popular Winston Churchill, CEO and Gandhi, CEO, Axelrod provides an unprecedented look at this much-studied figure. In an engaging, conversational style, Axelrod explores seven inspirational areas that characterize Roosevelt's leadership “lives,” from the active life to the learning life, and derives from them 136 invaluable lessons for modern business executives.

 

Genres: History, Business

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Alan Axelrod, Ph.D., is a prolific author of history, business and management books. As of October 2018, he had written more than 150 books, as noted in an online introduction by Lynn Ware Peek before an interview with Axelrod on the National Public Radio station KPCW. Axelrod resides in Atlanta, Georgia.

Reviews

[Nicolas Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

The prologue is a concise biography of Theodore Roosevelt - I greatly enjoyed that. After that, he enters into a plethora of redundant chapters teaching minutely different facets of the same idea. I think I read the phrase “lead the strenuous life” 529 times. I love the idea, but I felt battered by around the 12th time.

I think the lessons brought forth in the book could have taken up less than 30 pages and been a bit more poignant. Nevertheless, if you’re looking for the Daily Bread of leadership, this is some good fodder of that style.

[Meghan Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

If this was about 100 pages shorter, I would have rated it higher. The book often times felt as if it was dragging on, and was repetitive.

[Barima Peprah-Agyemang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great lessons learnt from the book!
Also learnt a lot more about TR’s life and politics
Would recommend to any aspiring leader

[Check · Rating 5 out of 5]

Speak softly and carry a big stick.

[Paul Adrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Work smart" were oftentimes advised, "not hard." However, the example of TR suggests that working hard is working smart. Only the hard-won attainments were worth their high price, whereas the easy goals generally led to decay and destruction.