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How to Be a Leader: The School of Life
"The School of Life is dedicated to making our lives clearer, less puzzling and more enjoyable - by studying the big themes of life with the help of culture." Alain de Botton
No one is born to lead. This is the idea at the heart of this thoughtful book on leadership. Popular culture feeds us images of the square-jawed, strong-armed leader - charismatic, powerful, decisive - but the truth is, with the right amount of self-knowledge and authenticity, anyone can be a good leader, even those who don't fit the stereotype.
There are countless courses and books available on leadership technique, decision-making and public speaking, but How to Be a Leader aims to give you the tools to understand and bring out your own leadership style. With an in-depth look at what it really means to lead, and the difference between being a manager and being a leader, How to Be a Leader invites you to explore - and accept - the unique leader in you.
160 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 23, 2016
13 people are currently reading
316 people want to read
About the author
Martin Bjergegaard
13 books12 followersMartin Bjergegaard, started his first business on his 18th birthday, and co-founded in 2006 the successful "start up factory" Rainmaking together with 3 friends. Martin has always felt something was wrong with the traditional paradigm claiming that being a successful entrepreneur requires you to sacrifice most other aspects of life. When he was just a teenager he got a bit sad every time he read another autobiography about a famous entrepreneur who proudly revealed that in his life family and friends had been restricted to Sundays and Christmas holidays. He promised himself someday to write a book with a different set of role models. Well, here it is.
To learn from different angles Martin also spent some time in school and working for the big guys. A Masters in Strategy and Management, and a 15-month long (too long!) experience as a management consultant at McKinsey & Co. being the most notable. Martin learned to do market research and PowerPoint presentations, two skills he has successfully unlearned again. He learned something more useful when he spent another 15 months as a business developer for a famous Danish entrepreneur, Claus Meyer: that it can be extremely fun to be an entrepreneur, and to always keep your running shoes and a towel on hand so you can squeeze in some cardio exercise between meetings, no matter where you are or what time it is.
Martin insists that each day should be a fantastic one, and he loves to travel the world with his loved ones 8 weeks a year - recharging his batteries, playing sports and having fun. Back home he rarely works more than 45 hours per week. However, somehow, at the age of 38 he and his Rainmaking co-founders have managed to achieve 3 successful exits, have built a portfolio of 10 successful start ups with a total of 50 million dollars in annual revenues, 200 employees, and offices in London, Copenhagen and Berlin.
Alongside their business activities Rainmaking hosts huge charity dinners, have co-founded a charity, and established a school in India. Rainmaking is also behind the leading European accelerator program, Startupbootcamp, which is now each year supporting and investing in 100 start ups globally via permanent programmes in 10 cities. Their newest venture is co-working spaces, Rainmaking Loft, which are the home of hundreds of entrepreneurs in London, Copenhagen and Berlin.
To learn from different angles Martin also spent some time in school and working for the big guys. A Masters in Strategy and Management, and a 15-month long (too long!) experience as a management consultant at McKinsey & Co. being the most notable. Martin learned to do market research and PowerPoint presentations, two skills he has successfully unlearned again. He learned something more useful when he spent another 15 months as a business developer for a famous Danish entrepreneur, Claus Meyer: that it can be extremely fun to be an entrepreneur, and to always keep your running shoes and a towel on hand so you can squeeze in some cardio exercise between meetings, no matter where you are or what time it is.
Martin insists that each day should be a fantastic one, and he loves to travel the world with his loved ones 8 weeks a year - recharging his batteries, playing sports and having fun. Back home he rarely works more than 45 hours per week. However, somehow, at the age of 38 he and his Rainmaking co-founders have managed to achieve 3 successful exits, have built a portfolio of 10 successful start ups with a total of 50 million dollars in annual revenues, 200 employees, and offices in London, Copenhagen and Berlin.
Alongside their business activities Rainmaking hosts huge charity dinners, have co-founded a charity, and established a school in India. Rainmaking is also behind the leading European accelerator program, Startupbootcamp, which is now each year supporting and investing in 100 start ups globally via permanent programmes in 10 cities. Their newest venture is co-working spaces, Rainmaking Loft, which are the home of hundreds of entrepreneurs in London, Copenhagen and Berlin.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
January 6, 2020
Overall a good read! There were a handful of stuff that made me go, "oh that's clever" or "I could actually adapt this at work, or life in general". If you're after those moments too, I highly recommend this book. 😘
December 13, 2017
'The best leaders in the world find what they really care about, and almost everything else flows from this point. But many of us live in a way that is out of alignment with our true purpose.'
April 13, 2017
Heavily influenced by Eastern religiosity
October 30, 2018
Started promising, then dragged on into part name dropping to substantiate the obvious, part hocus pocus psychological theories
November 19, 2020
Disappointing
I don't know who this book is aimed at, but certainly not me. I bought for research purposes, but I think I'm too down to earth for the level of philosophical thought required to be a leader, at least according to this book. Any new leader picking this book up in the hope of learning how to be a leader is going to be sorely disappointed. It's full of broad brush ideas of what a leader should be like and what they should do. Some of it is really basic (communication) and some of it completely esoteric (ecosophy) with no advice on how to apply any of this to your normal daily life - if you even understand what they're on about. It did start quite well, hence two stars instead of one, but I've finished it with no more insight into how a leader should face challenges than I had before I read it. This is despite getting homework at the end, which is largely the same as the rest of the book. The examples are people with whom it's very difficult to relate and seem distant. Not recommended.
I don't know who this book is aimed at, but certainly not me. I bought for research purposes, but I think I'm too down to earth for the level of philosophical thought required to be a leader, at least according to this book. Any new leader picking this book up in the hope of learning how to be a leader is going to be sorely disappointed. It's full of broad brush ideas of what a leader should be like and what they should do. Some of it is really basic (communication) and some of it completely esoteric (ecosophy) with no advice on how to apply any of this to your normal daily life - if you even understand what they're on about. It did start quite well, hence two stars instead of one, but I've finished it with no more insight into how a leader should face challenges than I had before I read it. This is despite getting homework at the end, which is largely the same as the rest of the book. The examples are people with whom it's very difficult to relate and seem distant. Not recommended.
July 28, 2018
A solid intro to leadership with twelve engaging chapters. The final chapter in ego and glamour made the whole journey worth while. It has a bit of a tech influence behind it but that’s somewhat expected in today’s business world. If nothing else, it provides a good list of other books and individuals to look into based on what area of leadership you might be interested in.
September 17, 2017
This book served as a great, short, easy to read introduction on Leadership. Taking on broader horizons of leadership, the twelve 'lessons' were engaging and enough short bursts of information to make you want to learn more through other books.
January 11, 2019
Nice book that opens ideas on how to lead a bit differently from classic leadership books -- concepts like radical honesty, etc., but I do feel it merely skims past these ideas and ends it with a homework note, which doesn't help with the sticky roots of improving leadership.
January 16, 2019
As often seems to be the case with this genre, a mixture of a bit of guff, a lot of gems and some hard to follow ideas. Definitely more that seemed useful than did not seem useful and I can myself reading it again to understand/ think about in more detail.
June 26, 2020
An empathetic take on leadership exploring altruism, ego and coping with criticism. Plenty ideas/references to explore depending on what struck you most. Generally inspiring read but not convinced by concreteness.
September 3, 2017
I don't like self help books , I really don't. That's the one thing I learned.
Too anecdotal.
Too anecdotal.
October 8, 2018
A quick (and surprisingly therapeutic) read, with twelve thoughtful sections designed to help you understand and bring out your individual leadership style.
February 3, 2022
Well written, easy to understand.
July 2, 2022
کتاب یا کلی گویی بود یا تجربیاتی که برای یک شخص خاص در زمان و شرایط خاص اتفاق افتاده بود. از نظر من آنچنان مفید نبود.
February 17, 2025
Enlightening. Not a cookbook for Leadership as a practical subject, but deep dives into the philosophical and psychological part of the discipline.
October 21, 2017
I enjoyed that you could read short parts of this book and come to it easily. The topics inspire you to really look at yourself in ways that you may not think of. The practice activities and homework at the back were helpful too.
September 8, 2019
Not exactly what I was looking for. Nonetheless, still a good and inspiring read.
December 20, 2016
A short and sweet read. The following stories stuck with me:
Mind the Body
This was an important chapter for me and as always the Sir Ken Robinson quote when talking about the body "as a form of transport for our heads" spoke to me and really captured the meaning of the importance of the whole body in self-leadership.
Leadership during crisis
Interesting story about Claus Meyer and how he held his head high during the crisis he went through.
On ego and the forces of glamour
This was the first time I have seen the term glamour in the sense of thinking highly of ourselves or an object and not seeing the reality. I found that to be a very interesting concept and a well written chapter.
Mind the Body
This was an important chapter for me and as always the Sir Ken Robinson quote when talking about the body "as a form of transport for our heads" spoke to me and really captured the meaning of the importance of the whole body in self-leadership.
Leadership during crisis
Interesting story about Claus Meyer and how he held his head high during the crisis he went through.
On ego and the forces of glamour
This was the first time I have seen the term glamour in the sense of thinking highly of ourselves or an object and not seeing the reality. I found that to be a very interesting concept and a well written chapter.
April 21, 2017
Again a bit disappointed.
This is the 4th book in the series that I have finished reading.
Not the best book in the series or on the topic but has some good information.
I guess the author of " How to find fulfilling work " in the series does a great job.
This is the 4th book in the series that I have finished reading.
Not the best book in the series or on the topic but has some good information.
I guess the author of " How to find fulfilling work " in the series does a great job.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews