Indispensable: When Leaders Really Matter

by Gautam Mukunda

Will your next leader be insignificant—or indispensable?The importance of leadership and the impact of individual leaders has long been the subject of debate. Are they made by history, or do they make it?In Indispensable, Harvard Business School professor Gautam Mukunda offers an enticingly fresh look at how and when individual leaders really can make a difference. By identifying and analyzing the hidden patterns of their careers, and by exploring the systems that place these leaders in positions of power, Indispensable sheds new light on how we may be able to identify the best leaders and what lessons we can learn, from both the process and the result.Profiling a mix of historic and modern figures—from Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln to Winston Churchill and Judah Folkman—and telling the stories of how they came to power and how they made the most important decisions of their lives, Indispensable reveals how, when, and where a single individual in the right place at the right time can save or destroy the organization they lead, and even change the course of history.Indispensable will also help you understand this new model so you can use it in your own life—whether you’re a citizen casting a ballot, an executive choosing your next CEO, or a leader trying to make your mark.

Genres: Leadership, Business, History, Nonfiction, Politics, Biography

318 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 14, 2012

Reviews

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mukunda introduces his "Leader Filtration Theory" as a way to distinguish between individuals who arrive at positions of leadership through regular, or typical processes, and those who don't. He argues, fairly persuasively, that filtered leaders (e.g., Thomas Jefferson, Neville Chamberlain, and Richard Nixon)have typical characteristics and experiences of many of their peers who possibly would have become leaders but did not "win" out in the final leadership choice decision. Unfiltered leaders (e.g., Lincoln, George W. Bush, Obama, Churchill, Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan) are those who come to power and leadership through atypical routes, usually due to some crisis in the leadership filtration, i.e., selection, process, or due to some unique characterstics that they possess. They are more likely to behave in exteme ways (both negatively and positively)compared to their filtered counterparts. In other words, the variance is wider for unfiltered leaders compared to filtered leaders who tend to behave in a more modal fashion. It's not that filtered leaders aren't great; they can certainly rise to the occassion (e.g, Jefferson). They are simply less unlike their contemporaries who might have been leaders, too. The implications for this theory are interesting to consider, both for nations as well as corporations and other organizations.

[Guruprasad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book mainly deals with how a leader is made in the difficulties he faces. how to differentiate between Modal Leader and Great Leader. bit of a complex book will be reread to understand better.

[Alysen Ralstin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not for me. It was a lot of guess work regarding the motives of people he never met. Not awful, but also didn’t feel useful or thought provoking enough for me to recommend it to anyone else.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gives some good food for thought, particularly in light of our current election cycle, and gave me a new appreciation for the wisdom and humility of Abe Lincoln, and the perspicacity of Winston Churchill. At times overly academic, but an enjoyable read nonetheless.

[Myles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whether you buy Mukunda’s theory of leadership you will find in this book accounts of how men rose to positions of leadership that will make your hair stand on end.

I found the rise of Lincoln and Churchill absolutely incredible and terrifying.

Based on his track record Churchill should have been the last person the British turned to in the fight against Hitler. That he turned out to be the best person can be no lesson for anybody in need of leadership.

He was an alcoholic, emotional, a bigot, a bully, and messed up big time. And yet he bested Hitler, one of worst murderers on record.

[Terence · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept of this book is that there are filtered and unfiltered candidates for roles. An unfiltered candidate will tend to be an extreme leader, which may produce positive or negative results. A filtered candidate may perform well, but their performance will be average in comparison to the extreme results of unfiltered leaders.

Looking at leaders over time, the writer put this hypothesis to the test. I thought it was an interesting concept and the mini biographies were done well.

[Angela Natividad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Awful dry reading, mostly to back up a point you're introduced to quite quickly: most leaders are "filtered," which basically means they fall more or less out off the same mold and are vetted by a homogenous elite. Most things that happen under their leadership would have happened anyway. Unfiltered leaders are rare, and really change the game, for better or worse.

[John-Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for aspiring leaders, and elites who have the privilege of “anointing” the next generation’s leaders.

[James Barr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting book, especially in context of our current presidential campaigns.

Extreme leaders who bypass the normal channels that typically filter them out of contention, sometimes become truly indispensable. Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill are two that the book cites. However, at other times those who bypass the leadership filters become horrible leaders, such as Hitler.

The author concludes that the very best extreme leaders are those who are humble enough to acknowledge the possibility of their own error, while being mated to the resolve to see things through. They are a mix of profound humility and extreme self-confidence with the insights to know when to reject advice and when to take it.

In the course of discussing his primary topic, the author provides some very interesting historical background and considerations.

Most of all, this book is a study of selecting leaders. If you participate in that responsibility, it is an important book for you to read.

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and highly readable book on research done around the area of leadership, segmented into "filtered" and "unfiltered" leaders. With a focus on U.S. Presidents, the case is made that the greatest leaders are "unfiltered"--that is, they do not percolate up through the normal vetting process of the organization but rise to leadership through unusual means. Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill are two primary examples who were exactly the kind of leader needed (and did those things that a "filtered" leader would most likely not have done). But for every great example, there are disasters who did much worse than a filtered leader would have been expected to do. Very thought-provoking!

[Robert B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mukunda, a Harvard Business School professor, looks at the ways that organizations filter or vet the leaders that they choose. He argues that some leaders are unfiltered, i.e., relatively unknown when selected to lead. He further argues that unfiltered leaders tend to be either very good (e.g., Lincoln) or very bad (e.g., Wilson) and that filtered leaders tend to be fairly average. He argues that selecting an unfiltered leader may make more sense in a crisis or little understood situation. The framework is interesting, especially in this year's Presidential race, but his examples are not always clear cut, unambiguous, or convincing.

[Mastmaula Ram · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book provides great insight about what is the people's thinking when they acccends to the leadership roles. The great homogeneity of leadership thought is well established. The way theory is proved is also interesting to read. But some factors which i say are Life turning factors are missed.
it fails to account those "EUREKA" moments in the life of politicians which some times plays crucial part in making.
but the book is really interesting provided my poor historical knowledge of American Presidents and British Prime ministers.

[Jaclyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, enjoyable read. Admittedly, I have a degree in history, so I may be more inclined than others to love a description of a good nominating convention.

That said, Mukunda's theory is worth thinking about and is a useful lens through which to judge leaders after the fact. I'm less certain that its principles can be used proactively to help organizations/countries/etc. select the correct leader in the moment.

Learned a lot about Wilson and Chamberlain, so that was fun.

[Doug Wells · Rating 2 out of 5]

As this is a Harvard Business book, I feel like I should like it and say hmmmmm, provacative. But, this book just didn't do it to me. That's my nice way of saying it sucked. The author just didn't make his case as far as I was concerned. Some nice and interesting tidbits of history...that's all I can say. Meh

[Daniel Oon Yong Lin · Rating 4 out of 5]

great read. Covered many leaders in the book as filtered/unfiltered. With the latter performing amazingly well or terribly lousy. Details are extremely specific. Another great book from the hbr press. Owners/proprietors are encouraged to read and implement the LFT in overall management of subsidiaries keeping in mind that the best leaders (EICs, CIOs) will almost always be unfiltered extremes.

[Aloysius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. I learned quite a bit about leaders like Churchill, Wilson, and Lincoln. A very interesting theory, and although the last chapter was not as engaging (because I'm not a businessman or anything), I am still intrigued by the theory offered here by Gautam.

[Mike · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dry
Boring
Academic
Unrealistic
Theory smacks of tweaking the facts to agree with the assumptions.
Struggled through the first three chapters, but I don't feel it is worth finishing.
I was hoping for an account of leaders that make real differences in our world. This isn't it.

[Christina Gagliano · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really interesting, engaging look at what has made some of history's greatest--and least effective--leaders successful (or not) and why.