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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Leadership as Service, Character, Courage, Common Sense, April 18, 2003
This review is from: Theodore Roosevelt on Leadership: Executive Lessons from the Bully Pulpit (Paperback)
Theodore Roosevelt was many different things to many different people. Most of all, he was a charismatic leader who inspired himself and others to great achievements in a time when America was starting to come of age as an emerging world power. James Strock did a tremendous job in capturing the many leadership lessons that can be learned from the life and times of this extraordinary man. The book's thirteen chapter titles do a good job of describing Roosevelt's leadership effectiveness: "Leading-wherever you are," "Always learning," "Action, action, and still more action," "Getting the best on your team," "Putting action into words," and "Putting words into action" to name just a few. At the end of each chapter is a listing of Roosevelt's leadership take-aways that can serve as an excellent primer on leadership. For example, "A leader should aim to build a life based on service, not a career based on advancing up a series of positions," "Strive to exemplify character," "Courage (physical and moral) can be developed as an act of will," and "Use simple, down-to-earth stories to communicate complex issues." Throughout the book, Strock made great use of many colorful Roosevelt quotes and anecdotes, what I affectionately call, "Teddyisms," to reinforce his main points and help bring those points to life. Besides extensive research into the life, writings, and others' personal recollections of Roosevelt, Strock made many effective references to respected current leadership and management experts such as Stephen Covey, Peter Drucker, John Maxwell, and Warren Bennis. Those references proved to me that Roosevelt's leadership has stood the test of time and is certainly still applicable today. This book helped reinforce my opinion of Roosevelt as a morally and physically courageous leader who was not afraid to follow his vision and convictions despite often open and powerful public opposition. After reading this book, I can understand why many people view Roosevelt as a benchmark against which to judge public servants, especially presidents.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Riding Again into the 21st Century, May 31, 2001
By A Customer
The fact that Teddy Roosevelt was president during America's transistion into the 20the century, and the important lessons and context his actions and personality offer for American leadership in the 21st century, is the fulcrum for this very compelling and insightful book. TR was really the first modern president, who used the bully pulpit like no president before him (and without benefit of a T.V. camera), to inspire notions of preservation and conservation, corporate and personal responsibility, technological progress and innovation, and U.S.leadership in the world domain. There are many parallels to today, but some revealing contrasts, too. For example, the same man who built a world-class Great White naval fleet over the objections of many in Congress, organized the first international environmental conference. (Nowadays, as citizens and leaders, we tend to polarize between "pro-environment" and "pro-commercial development" and/or "pro-military".) As Strock writes, TR was indeed a "preacher militant"! Strock has written a sequel, in essence, to his very well-regarded book on Reagan and leadership; ironically, the Reagan book dealt with an "old-fashioned" presidency in terms of instilling fundamental values and restoring confidence in the American story, while TR, who predates Reagan as president by 80 years, is seemingly more of a "modern" president, invoking change and sustaining bigger government for specific purposes, and challenging all around him to soar to new heights. Both have many common traits: each lived the life personally that he espoused for the general population, neither trusted (fully) large combinations of businees (or labor) interests, each implored all Americans to recognize their special place in world history, and each could be mule-like in their insistence on what he considered America's best interests. As to the particular times in which TR led, I was struck by how relatively tiny was the domain of the Federal government (the IRS did not even exist!), and was reminded of how much imbalance existed as a result of the industrial age, similar in certain respects to the modern discrepancies associated with the new technical era. While TR certainly believed that people controlled their own destinies, he obviously led the charge for government action on many issues of social concerns, and felt very strongly that business had obligations and accountability accordingly. Thus, Strock has written a "modern" book about a modern turn-of-a-century president, whose ideas never go out of style. While written with a light touch, it is inspiring and thought-provoking. I hope he continues his practical series on presidential leadership.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
TR an American Churchill, May 26, 2001
I just returned from watching the much ballyhooed film Pearl Harbor and meeting some of the survivors of the attack.Having just read Strock's book about Teodore Roosevelt I wondered again about the role of great men in history. This book successfully portrays TR as the epitome of the traditional American male--e.g. robust, intelligent,honest, brave, extremely individualistic, courageous,emotionally vulnerable, etcetera. Likewise,it aptly depicts TR as being more namely, one of history's great all-around leaders. I could not agree more. The beauty of Strock's book is that it is more than a mini-biography and analytic profile, it is more than a readable and insightful business-leadership guide for success, it is more than a historical account of how great leaders are born and made. No, hidden in his inimitably sensitive and deeply perceptive prose is also a "call to arms",a cry d'couer. If you are a serious, informed, and intelligent reader you will sense this from the beginning TR quote..."the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood..." In an age where most of our national leaders spin their way out of their self-inflicted injuries and stupidities, at a time when most of our Congressional reps do not even own a passport, in a country where recent presidents, senators, governors, and mayors have never seen active duty in the defense of our nation and only sweat while jogging, STROCK'S TR summons all of us to be stronger than we are and better than we expect. To take the road less travelled and to fear naught. The true leader LEADS by example, always adheres to the truth, and never lowers his standards of honesty. In particular, he/she must be absolutely honest with himself lest there be serious consequences. After watching Pearl Harbor I am convinced that had TR lived long enough he would have joined Brokaw's greatest generation to beat the enemy back. I strongly recommend this tour d'force to anyone who aspires to become a leader and to all leaders who seek to be great.
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