Book Review: A Passion for Leadership by Robert M. Gates

About:

A Passion for Leadership: Lessons on Change and Reform from Fifty Years of Public Service by Robert M. Gates is a non-fiction book in which Mr. Gates talks about transforming large organizations from the inside. Mr. Gates has previously been Directory of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), president of Texas A & M University, as well as Secretary of Defense.

• 256 pages
• Publisher: Vintage
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307949648

 

My rating for A Passion for Leadership – 5
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Thoughts:

Robert Gates is one of those people that when I see them speak on TV, or hear them on radio/podcasts, I always stop and pay attention to what they have to say.  When I saw A Passion for Leadership: Lessons on Change and Reform from Fifty Years of Public Service by Robert M. Gates I knew that I had to pick it up and check out what Mr. Gates has to say.

I was not disappointed, the book is a tell all narrative on how to manage and implement change in vast organizations. Mr. Gates builds a narrative which is not only full of substance, but an interesting read and flowing narrative.

Mr. Gates has taken leadership jobs in large bureaucracies, each job broadened his responsibilities and understanding of management and change. I was fascinated, but not surprised, to learn that the politics at the University of Texas A&M are just as vicious as they are in Washington DC.

Mr. Gates talks about being the only government official who, in his job as Secretary of Defense, transitioned from the administration of George W. Bush to the one under Barak Obama. Mr. Gates tells fascinating stories about the powerful people he had dealt with, while negotiating egos and world problems.

Mr. Gates does not only talks about problems, but also offers solutions which would reflect well on employees at all levels, in all industries. Even though this book talks about issues at large organizations, at very high levels, I found it not only readable, but also highly relatable.

Buy A Passion for Leadership from Amazon.com*
More Books by Robert M. Gates*

Zohar — Man of la Book
Dis­claimer: I got borrowed this book from the local library.
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