Customer Reviews

Certain Trumpets: The Call of Leaders

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Wills has a keen sense of the importance of followers to leadership. In the introduction to the book he states plainly "The leader most needs followers". He goes on to explain that in reality followers "have a say" in what they are led toward! The theme of Certain Trumpets is that a successful leader doesn't just trumpet or sound their own certain message, but instead they sound a specific call to others capable of following. He believes that leaders need to understand their followers more than followers need to understand them! What is Garry Wills basic definition of a leader? "One who mobilizes others toward a goal shared by the leader and followers". In other words, coercion of others is not leadership, it is just power.

With this introduction in mind the rest of the book consists of Wills discussion of individuals who have possessed leadership in various ways. The author believes that different leaders should be considered notable because of their own goals rather than their personalities, which is the most common perspective. As a result of this perspective, Wills does not treat leadership as a single thing, but mentions sixteen various kinds of leadership within the book. He also goes on to discuss various subdivisions within the sixteen kind's. Certain Trumpets attempts to define these distinctive types of leadership by using examples that range from Franklin Roosevelt (Electoral Leadership) to Dorothy Day (Saintly Leadership). To make this exploration interesting, and to provoke thought, he also provides an antitype character in contrast to each distinctive type of leader presented. It is Wills hope to exemplify the individual's characteristics by providing this contrast. Wills doesn't think we lack leaders today, but sufficient followers. He refers to this as the "real problem with leadership". Certain Trumpets is easy to read, stimulating and creative enough to look at leadership from a different lens.

As Wills notes, "tell me your admired leaders, and you have bared your soul." Wills has bared his and while I might choose others, his descriptions of each type of leader give me something on to which to hang my own leadership research. This is a helpful piece of research. If one is able to see that we are all subjective in our approaches to and understanding of leadership, there is a great deal to learn here.

I picked up this book intending to read only a couple of chapters. I ended up reading the entire book with fascination. This is the kind of book that makes one think, reflect, and re-evaluate simplistic cultural paradigms. Those who confuse leaders with super heroes or think leadership has to do with wielding power to combat evil would benefit from reading this book. Wills does an excellent job of recognizing that people with a lot of influence or power are not necessarily leaders. I found this relavant to today's shortage of positive leaders.

Although each chapter cannot delve into the representative leader in great depth, each chapter does an excellent job of distinguishing between different types of leadership. The introduction, the conclusion, the notes, and the many citings of other books on leadership added to my learning. This very readable book provides an excellent sense of history and places leadership within the context of history. This is a pleasant change from the endless books on leadership and business.

My only complaint would be the lack of attention to the influence of media on today's leaders and followers.

I used Garry Wills' book, "Certain Trumpets" for humanities students in a senior seminar. I was urged to use a text that takes more of a "how to" or "elements of leadership" approach by others who teach "Leadership" at the school, but decided, because these were advanced students from diverse educational backgrounds, to use something that did not take a paint-by-numbers approach by spoonfeeding obvious conclusions. (Ironically, one colleague specifically urged me not to use Wills' book -- too messy, too difficult for students to make the leap from the disconnected narratives to the major issues that face leaders).

The decision to use "Certain Trumpets" turned out to be most fortuitous. I was, to be honest, astonished by the enthusiasm with which the class embraced the book and by the depth of thought that it inspired. This class took place concurrent with Barak Obama's first year as president, and the students made parallels between events in the news and the reading with great alacrity and insight. Students who, previous to this, had expressed an aversion to political discussion became obsessed with it. They wrote journal entries in which they compared Harriet Tubman or Napoleon to contemporary leaders. They discovered historical figures on their own, exploring people as far-ranging as Aristotle, Pamela Churchill Harriman, and Catharine the Great -- none of whom is even in the book!

What they seemed to appreciate most about Wills' book is that his observations about the people he includes are not platitudinous,and each chapter provoked further discussion. Students enjoyed learning about important figures whose names were unfamiliar -- Andrew Young and Adlai Stevenson come to mind. They also enjoyed new appraisals of people whose lives they had read about in anticeptic assessments. Each major type of leader is matched in the book with an "anti-type." The class loved this "litany of losers." I knew something valuable was happening when a breathless and spontaneous debate erupted in which students urgently argued whether Obama was most like Lincoln, Roosevelt, or Reagan. Napoleon became a pivotal figure in their discussions -- something I never would have predicted. They adored the notion of internal and external friction and began to apply the idea to all aspects of public and professional life.

Finally, the book is simply a good read. For a lively seminar, the accessibility of its prose helped the class reach complexity of thought. I hope to use the book as a text again.

I purchased this book for an online class. The book provides a general overview of several leadership styles. The author covers a broad spectrum of leaders from Socrates to Martin Luther King, Jr. I am not an avid reader, however I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in historical leadership styles.

Certain Trumpets is a great resource for individuals who want to take a fresh look at leadership types. As an introvert I've been puzzled for many years, wondering what kind of magic I exude that makes people want to follow me. Garry Wills affirms that there are many types of leaders, and likens them to historical figures.

Author Gary Wills proposes a thesis that there is no one best leader and that those great leaders have been so as a function of personal characteristics meeting the circumstances of the times. This is a worthy and admirable approach on the surface but the author fails to adequately cite what elements or factors were key to this leadership. Rather he settles for recounting history. This recounting is complicated with the author's political biases tending to overshadow the points the author intends to make. There are many more effectively communicated and thoughtful books available on the subject that are devoid of left-leaning political bias. This book is not worth the money spent on it and fortunately my book retailer took mine back for a credit.

This is one of two books on leadership I consider worthwhile. What really sets it apart is there is very little theory. This is a must read for anyone interested in leadership. Great read!

Good concept to discuss different types of leadership with good and bad examples. However, most of the work seems to be on the positive examples with the anti-types being included as an afterthought. Nearly all chapters are weak developments of leadership style with the notable exception being the one on Harriet Tubman. Additionally, both the types of leadership styles discussed and the people chosen to represent them appear to fit the author's preferences rather than true representations of leadership styles and leaders. This book was an easy read and parts were even enjoyable but the content was not as substantive as I had hoped.

The best recommendation that I can make is to check this one out of a library instead of purchasing it.

(review written by a life-long student of leadership with a library full of leadership texts.)

Leadership is an interesting topic, but Wills somehow manages to drain all the life out of it. I did learn a little, though, so that's why I gave it two stars instead of one.

I also thought that the author let his political bias get in the way of his writing.

Not a book that was worth reading.