Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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.

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.

This book is referenced in Sorkin's "Too Big Too Fail". It mentions this book is required reading for Goldman employees. It provides a good history of Goldman and some interesting insights into Reagan's leadership. Worth reading, easy to read and fun.

CWS
Cleveland, Ohio

A brief summary of John Whitehead's accomplishments thus far indicates the nature and extent of his "life in leadership": most recently, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC); previously, co-chairman of Goldman Sachs and then deputy secretary of state, second-in-command to Secretary George Shultz, in the Reagan administration; also tenures as chairman of the governing boards (at one point or another) of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the United Nations Association, the International Rescue Committee, the Harvard Board of Overseers, Haverford College from which he earned a B.A. degree, and the Asia Society. It should also be noted that, during World War Two, Ensign Whitehead commanded a Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP) or "Higgins boat" that successfully delivered troops to Omaha beach on the first day of the Normandy Invasion.

With all due respect to Whitehead's numerous and considerable accomplishments, however, what most impressed throughout his memoirs is his passionate commitment to being an effective leader of others whose welfare has been entrusted to his care. He has always cared deeply, indeed passionately about sustaining that commitment, whatever the given circumstances may be.

As a case in point, after retiring from Goldman Sachs, Whitehead was determined to disengage himself from his various responsibilities and therefore "was dead set against" accepting New York Governor George Pataki's invitation to serve as chairman of the LMDC, following the attack on the World Trade Center. After completing a rigorous analysis of the "pros" and "cons" of acceptance, "it was clear to me that I had to say no." Then, after he looked around his office at all the photographs and memorabilia, "I took a deep breath, and I knew what I had to do. I picked up the phone again and dialed the governor, and when he came on the line I told him I'd accept." There are dozens of other, comparable situations in which White also had to make an especially difficult decision, none of which he later regretted. "I don't allow myself that luxury. What's done is done."

There are several important lessons that can be learned from Whitehead's personal as well as professional experiences that he so generously shares in this volume. Those of greatest interest and value to me include these three:

1. Effective leadership is first and foremost both a privilege and an obligation; those who would lead others must embrace the obligations of trust, compassion, and dedication as well as of rigorous preparation, precise and enlightened decision-making, and courage. It is worth recalling that Dante reserved the last and worst ring in hell for those who, in a moral crisis, preserved their neutrality.

2. Effective leadership also requires not only an understanding and appreciation of teamwork but also a determination to help develop effective leadership skills in one's associates. Hence the importance of recognizing and, yes, celebrating the achievements of others.

3. Finally, effective leadership functions simultaneously within three dimensions: the intellectual, the emotional, and the spiritual. Throughout history, the greatest leaders are those who possess (a) highly refined analytical skills and sufficient knowledge that enable them to make appropriate decisions, (b) a temperament that enables them to sustain a proper balance of what is most important, and also (c) what is often referred to as a "moral compass." As Bill George has so eloquently explained in his book True North, authentic leaders must be authentic people.

When concluding his memoirs, Whitehead observes that he can't help thinking how "lucky" he has been. "Mine has been a good life, filled with lots of fun, interesting experiences, drama, and an engagement with serious issues at the highest level...I have lived at a time when there has been a lot to be done, from fighting the Nazis to battling terrorists. I like to think I have risen to many of these challenges in my own quiet fashion, and I am confident that the next generation of leaders will meet them in their turn. I have been glad to do my part in all of these great endeavors. More than glad. From first to last, I have been thrilled to be in on the action."

John Whitehead is an exemplary leader but also, in my opinion, an exemplary human being. My hope now is that many others, especially those preparing for a career or who have only recently embarked on one, will read and then re-read this compelling personal account of a life well-lived, committing themselves to honorable and productive service when they are also "in on the action," whenever and wherever that may be.

A brief summary of John Whitehead accomplishments thus far indicates the nature and extent of his "life in leadership": most recently, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation LMDC); previously, co-chairman of Goldman Sachs and then deputy secretary of state, second-in-command to Secretary George Shultz, in the Reagan administration; also tenures as chairman of the governing boards (at one point or another) of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the United Nations Association, the International Rescue Committee, the Harvard Board of Overseers, Haverford College from which he earned a B.A. degree, and the Asia Society. It should also be noted that, during World War Two, Ensign Whitehead commanded a The Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP) or "Higgins boat" that successfully delivered troops to Omaha beach on the first day of the Normandy Invasion.

With all due respect to Whitehead's numerous and considerable accomplishments, however, what most impressed throughout his memoirs is his passionate commitment to being an effective leader of others whose welfare has been entrusted to his care. He has always cared deeply, indeed passionately about sustaining that commitment, whatever the given circumstances may be.

As a case in point, after retiring from Goldman Sachs, Whitehead was determined to disengage himself from his various responsibilities and therefore "was dead set against" accepting New York Governor George Pataki's invitation to serve as chairman of the LMDC, following the attack on the World Trade Center. After completing a rigorous analysis of the "pros" and "cons" of acceptance, "it was clear to me that I had to say no." Then, after he looked around his office at all the photographs and memorabilia, "I took a deep breath, and I knew what I had to do. I picked up the phone again and dialed the governor, and when he came on the line I told him I'd accept." There are dozens of other, comparable situations in which White also had to make an especially difficult decision, none of which he later regretted. "I don't allow myself that luxury. What's done is done."

There are several important lessons that can be learned from Whitehead's personal as well as professional experiences that he so generously shares in this volume. Those of greatest interest and value to me include these three:

1. Effective leadership is first and foremost both a privilege and an obligation; those who would lead others must embrace the obligations of trust, compassion, and dedication as well as of rigorous preparation, precise and enlightened decision-making, and courage. It is worth recalling that Dante reserved the last and worst ring in hell for those who, in a moral crisis, preserved their neutrality.

2. Effective leadership also requires not only an understanding and appreciation of teamwork but also a determination to help develop effective leadership skills in one's associates. Hence the importance of recognizing and, yes, celebrating the achievements of others.

3. Finally, effective leadership functions simultaneously within three dimensions: the intellectual, the emotional, and the spiritual. Throughout history, the greatest leaders are those who possess (a) highly refined analytical skills and sufficient knowledge that enable them to make appropriate decisions, (b) a temperament that enables them to sustain a proper balance of what is most important, and also (c) what is often referred to as a "moral compass." As Bill George has so eloquently explained in his book True North, authentic leaders must be authentic people.

When concluding his memoirs, Whitehead observes that he can't help thinking how "lucky" he has been. "Mine has been a good life, filled with lots of fun, interesting experiences, drama, and an engagement with serious issues at the highest level...I have lived at a time when there has been a lot to be done, from fighting the Nazis to battling terrorists. I like to think I have risen to many of these challenges in my own quiet fashion, and I am confident that the next generation of leaders will meet them in their turn. I have been glad to do my part in all of these great endeavors. More than glad. From first to last, I have been thrilled to be in on the action."

John Whitehead is an exemplary leader but also, in my opinion, an exemplary human being. My hope now is that many others, especially those preparing for a career or who have only recently embarked on one, will read and re-read this compelling personal account of a life well-lived, then commit themselves to honorable and productive service when they are also "in on the action," wherever that may be.

I had trouble finishing this book because I could barely get through a couple of pages without getting so inspired that I had to stop so I could take action on my own dreams. As a recent graduate of NYU, I was reminded that my career path will take many unexpected turns and of the possible impact I can have by following my vision and sticking to my values.

This autobiography is written with such authenticity that it is completely relatable. The author's struggle to pay his own way through college in 1939 reminded me of my own in 2000. I could relate to the feelings of triumph. And I could certainly relate to the mortifying mistakes (although perhaps I haven't yet experienced anything as bad as driving Henry Ford home in a Chevy!).

At the same time, the book is incredibly educational. History, business, political, and leadership lessons are encapsulated in every story. As Whitehead describes his experiences, certain themes begin to emerge, giving the reader tools they can apply to their own life. I found myself using lessons I derived from Whitehead's diplomacy missions in my work with others!

I am about through with the book and I normally don't make comment until I'm done with a book, but this man is truly remarkable. The author has lived a remarkable business life and the book is an inspirational biography full of relatable business lessons or nuggets. I have had a lot of fun laughing and learning from his life lessons.

On the other hand, I feel that the lesson I have learned most is that a balance of work and life is imperative to me. The author is twice divorced and I believe he dedicated more time to his work life than his family life. I think he is kinda reluctant to talk in more depth about it having only dedicated three pages to the topic. I think he would agree. Nonetheless, I have become a huge fan of John C. Whitehead.

I found this autobiography very concisely written by a very humble man from modest origins who eventually rose to co-senior partner of Goldman Sachs, followed by his decision to leave banking and enter public service work. I particularly found the part where he discusses the bold changes he brought to Goldman Sachs most interesting (introducing "new businessmen" to "sell" investment banking services, internationalizing Goldman Sachs businesses, using accounting goals to motivate employees and improve performance, etc.) Overall, this is an excellent autobiography and gets the reader inside the head of major leader like Mr. Whitehead.