For Leaders:
Biographies as “Surrogate Mentors”

by Michael H. Shenkman, Ph.D.

Many lucky managers in business today have a mentor available to them, but for aspiring leaders who do not, the lack of such a personal relationship represents a great gap. Sadly, they are forced to go it alone. Or so they think!

Actually, a ready resource for self-guided mentoring is contained in many high quality leader biographies. Though many executives don’t read much (and only some of these books are available on audio tape or CD), even among my most recalcitrant, non-reading clients, the books I cite below have been rated as excellent and/or helpful.

Why? First, they have an intimate quality to them, often written by people who have known their subjects personally. Second, these are literary pieces, making their subjects come alive. Third, they all are stories about how these people grew into larger leadership roles and responsibilities.

Anthony Samson’s Mandela shows how Mandela always approached his idealism with ferocious discipline. While he ardently believed in creating a new society in South Africa, one that was non-racial, he was willing to pay his dues in order to embody his ideals. Samson’s account of Mandela’s long imprisonment is stirring and inspiring. He approached his jailors with compassion and a strict demand for their respect. He never despaired or demonstrated disdain, never wavered. Mandela thus exemplifies the life of compassionate commitment to a grand and unifying vision.

Next, Lincoln is the archetypal non-managerial leader. In his time, Lincoln was the most unqualified person to ever occupy the White House. He assumed the presidency with no executive experience whatsoever. This aspect of Lincoln’s career is amply on display in David Herbert Donald’s Lincoln. Also on display are Lincoln’s commitment to and a deep reverence for the U.S. Constitution and its precursor, the Declaration of Independence. His approach to slavery, prior to assuming the presidency, demonstrated compassion for all those – in the North and South – implicated in that monstrous institution. Lincoln's Virtues: An Ethical Biography by William Lee Miller superbly dramatizes how the striking moral dimension of Lincoln’s make-up developed, deepened and strengthened throughout his life.

Lincoln had another great gift – his ability to write great, short speeches. The Gettysburg Address and his Second Inaugural stand as masterpieces of political and spiritual rhetorical literature. In our mentoring program, we use the Gettysburg address as a template for our mentoring clients who are preparing a “call to action” speech. To appreciate those masterpieces of inspiration, I also recommend Gary Wills’ Lincoln at Gettysburg and Ronald C. White, Jr.’s, Lincoln’s Greatest Speech.

I would of course add Doris Kearn Goodwin's Team of Rivals to my recommendations for books on Lincoln. Here we see leading in action, as a process of creating followers. The emphasis of the book is on Lincoln's ability to envision what is at stake on the grandest level, to grasp the organizational machinery at his disposal, and then bring the right people into that organization to accomplish that goal. Not all were followers, but Seward and Stanton (once bitter opponents of Lincoln) became followers. The war was won because of such dedication; the aftermath of the war, slipping into racism and Jim Crow, occurred when such a leader was no longer on the horizon… a cautionary thought in today's world.

Finally, Evan Thomas’s Robert Kennedy: His Life evokes the expansive quality of growth in spirit and moral outlook that Bobby attained after the assassination of his brother, then President, John Kennedy. Thomas knew the Kennedy family well. He writes critically about Bobby, but with the deepest grasp of what his life exemplified.

The young Bobby Kennedy believed he had to scrap and fight for every morsel of attention he could get in his competitive family. His only rule became, “Win, whatever the cost.” Many young leaders, full of their MBA teachings, display similar, “Business is War,” attitudes. But the book points out that after the assassination of his brother John, Bobby went into a deep search into what was going on in his life, and what his next steps had to be. Those next steps were to feel deep compassion for others’ suffering, and to embark on his own quest for the presidency. The Bobby Kennedy story exemplifies to young leaders how transformation at the deepest levels can result in aspirations to the highest levels of leading.

These books demonstrate how the way of leading doesn’t necessarily mean fame, fun, glory and riches. Successful leading comes at a price, and two of these subjects, paid the ultimate price. But even those who live to a ripe old age find leading strenuous. So I believe leaders need many sources of insight and energy to draw on. Biographies such as these thus play an important role in that regard.

Good books about great leaders can provide aspiring leaders with surrogate mentors who are always there, ready to guide them to their own greatness.

To view Michael’s thoughtleader achievements or to connect to his website, click here: http://www.thoughtleading.com/clients.htm

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