A Life In Leadership: From D-Day to Ground Zero: An Autobiography [Hardcover]

John C. Whitehead (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 31, 2005

John Whitehead began life in Montclair, New Jersey, as a child of the Depression and went on to lead an exemplary life in the years of the Greatest Generation. In this intimate, charming autobiography, he shares his stories and the lessons he’s learned about quiet leadership.He describes how on D-Day he commanded one of the landing crafts at Omaha Beach, and witnessed one of the greatest battles in American military history. Later, in his role as co-chair of Goldman Sachs, he was one of the pioneers of the globalization of international finance that was to change the face of American business. In 1985, Whitehead was appointed Deputy Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan and became the architect of the Reagan administration’s successful efforts to wean the countries of Eastern Europe from the Soviet Union and to open up space there for the democratic movements that eventually resulted in the fall of the Berlin Wall.Most recently, he was appointed by New York Governor George Pataki as Chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, which is charged with the task of rebuilding Ground Zero. Whitehead provides a first-hand account of the difficult decisions the LMDC has made in meeting its goals of re-developing lower Manhattan and honoring the victims of 9/11 as the capstone of his remarkable career.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In November 2001, New York's Governor Pataki asked Whitehead to head up the Lower Manhattan Development Council. Although Whitehead reports that he was initially reluctant to take the job-he had just retired and wanted to spend some time traveling and catching up on reading-he eventually consented because he wanted to contribute to his city's redevelopment in the wake of 9/11. For this memoir, Whitehead trudges through the events of his life from his childhood in New Jersey and his years in the Navy to his leadership of Goldman Sachs and his part-ownership of the New Jersey Devils in tedious, meticulous detail. Whitehead observes that he learned most his leadership lessons (honesty, loyalty) from his years as a Boy Scout. He recalls how those years in scouting also led to lifelong friendships, such as the one with John McMullen, the friend with whom he later co-owned the Devils hockey team. He recalls with humor the time that he drove Henry Ford to his New York hotel in a Chevrolet, and he recounts his many years of work for non-profit organizations such as the International Rescue Committee. Finally, Whitehead offers a few lessons in leadership: "The best leaders do a lot of listening," leaders should be willing to delegate tasks and "effective leadership has to have an ethical dimension."
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Review

"If we hope to recapture a different industry ethos, this book should be required reading for all new hires." -- New York Observer, August 8, 2005

"The principles of leadership that [Whitehead] advances emerge quietly in the book as they seem to in his life." -- U.S. Naval Institute, September 2005

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (May 31, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465050549
• ISBN-13: 978-0465050543
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #293,529 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Inspiring, Entertaining, and Thought-Provoking Book, February 4, 2008

By 

Alexander N. Rossolimo (Newton, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Life In Leadership: From D-Day to Ground Zero (Hardcover)

This fascinating book will be of interest to a wide array of readers. Previously, I knew a little about John Whitehead's illustrious career of leadership in three sectors: as an icon of Wall Street, Deputy Secretary of State, and a philanthropist. Whitehead describes how his professional and personal goals were achieved. With humor and low-key modesty, he shares his experiences throughout his life, and admits to the cases of serendipity that marked aspects of his career.

Readers interested in business and finance will enjoy reading how John Whitehead realized his vision of turning Goldman Sachs & Co. into a global investment banking powerhouse by the application of straight-forward methods. With determination, clear-thinking, good planning, and honesty, he rose at Goldman Sachs from a young Harvard MBA to co-chairman in the span of 29 years.

Whitehead promoted innovations at Goldman Sachs that were later adopted throughout the investment banking industry: the first initial public offering, preferred stocks and convertible bonds. His nine-point memo with advice to the New Business Department was revolutionary at the time. It included the famous aphorism, "You can never learn anything when you're talking." The co-chairmanship of Goldman Sachs that he established with John Weinberg was a novel leadership solution, as no Wall Street firm had ever had two chairmen before. John Whitehead displayed determination and thoroughness in his work. For example, no one outside of privately-held Ford Motor Company knew exactly how big the company was. In the mid-1950s, Whitehead took the train up to Boston and personally went through the public records in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts files, to find a copy of Ford's balance sheet. This information stimulated Goldman Sachs to initiate a relationship with Ford, which culminated in its managing the IPO of the largest family-owned company in the world.

For readers interested in foreign policy, the book illustrates how to achieve results inside the government. Even before his confirmation as Deputy Secretary of State under President Reagan, in the face of Senator Jesse Helms' obstructionism, he learned the value of speaking directly to an adversary in a successful effort to work things out. Whitehead wanted to make a difference in the world, which he accomplished "with just a little insight and persistence." One of his key successes was to begin the process of weaning Eastern Europe away from the Soviet Union through astute diplomacy, while US foreign policy was still focused on Moscow. He gives a riveting account of his meetings with Lech Walesa and Poland's president Jaruzelsky, Rumania's president Ceaucescu, and Bulgaria's dictator Zhivkov.

John Whitehead also made a strong imprint in the world of nonprofits. "They appealed to the idealistic side of my nature," he writes. Over the course of his life, he has given away more than $100 million. His involvement in nonprofits began with assistance to freedom fighters resisting the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956. He describes his exciting experiences with US-supported mujahedin fighting Russian invaders in Afghanistan, including witnessing an attack on a Soviet fort led by a Harvard Law School graduate from Pakistan! More recently, Whitehead's chairmanship of numerous nonprofits - notably the International Rescue Committee, United Nations Association, Youth for Understanding, International House, and The Asia Society - coincided with their spectacular growth.

What makes Whitehead's book especially appealing are the captivating details about his personal life. He relates how his dashing father would land his single-engine plane during World War I on an athletic field on the Bryn Mawr campus, to court his future wife. Upon graduating from high school, John Whitehead worked at the 1939 World's Fair running a concession guessing customers' weights. That summer, he earned enough to pay for his first year's tuition at Haverford College. When he joined the State Department, his daughter made up flash cards to help him memorize the capitals and the names of the political leaders of the 185 countries recognized by the United States.

The book enters the new millennium with John Whitehead's tenure as chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, to which he was appointed by Governor Pataki. Its mission was to rebuild the World Trade Center following the tragedy of 9-11. Whitehead describes the vision and challenges of rebuilding Ground Zero. The book concludes with his ideas about leadership, and comments about foreign policy and the general state of the nation. In Whitehead's model of "quiet leadership," the most effective leaders are patient, thoughtful people who are guided by high ideals and do a lot of listening. The ethical dimension of John Whitehead's life and leadership style, and his credo of "doing well while doing good," are truly inspiring - as is this book.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best Business Books Ever Written, June 26, 2005

By 

Steve Mariotti "President of the National Fou... (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Life In Leadership: From D-Day to Ground Zero: An Autobiography (Hardcover)

I would highly recommend this book to anybody interested in leadership, but especially young business people at the beginning of their careers. This memoir gives an incredible inside and frank perspective on leadership of an individual who has had a more ecclectic and successful career than most people could ever hope for. Furthermore, this book is also fascinating because it provides a historical insight into the business world that a history textbook could never provide.

Lastly, I recommend this book because the leadership lessons it provides are universal. They aren't fly-by-night strategies, but basic and simple values that can be applied to almost any leadership position at any time.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible Business Memoir, June 24, 2005

By 

Michael Simmons "Student Success Coach (succe... (NY, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Life In Leadership: From D-Day to Ground Zero: An Autobiography (Hardcover)

In my opinion, this is one of the best business memoirs ever written. While John Whitehead may not be as well known as Jack Welch or Mayor Giuliani and other individuals who've written best-selling autobiographies, in many ways his career and character are no less impressive.

This book was extremely readable and I finished it all in one day! What I appreciate the most is its honesty and integrity. As I reader, I felt that John Whitehead, now in his late 70s, wasn't writing this book as a tool to step up his own career or feed his ego. I felt that he genuinely wanted to share his experiences and the lessons he's learned from them.

Another aspect of the book that I enjoyed was the focus on character. Unlike other business memoirs, which focus on business strategies, this book focuses on simple values such as hard-work, honesty, integrity, humility, and friendliness. It is inspiring to see these values in somebody who achieved massive success as a business man, states man, and philanthropist.