Hi, I'm a few years out of college, interested in leadership, and find my education of great leaders sorely lacking.
"The Prince", which I had never heard of (despite knowing the word "Machiavellian") until a few weeks ago, has me feeling like a former resident of Plato's Cave. I want to take Niccolo's advice and "always follow in the footsteps of great men and imitate those who have been outstanding".
Machiavelli recommends studying figures such as Alexander the Great, Scipio, Dido, etc.
My question to /r/AskHistorians: Which works on leadership and greatness have stood the test of time, as "The Prince" has?
Current reading list:
UPDATE Recommendations in this thread:
Best book on leadership I can recommend to you is Field Marshal Slim's 'Defeat into Victory.' Its the story of his role in the Burma campaign, arriving to take command of Burma Corps in 1942 following the disaster of Singapore, it tells the story of his struggle to turn a demoralised and defeated force into an increasingly competent and eventually victorious one in 1944-45. His refreshing honest narrative presents his successes and failures equally, without mitigation or glorification, in marked contrast to all of his contemporaries. His no-nonsense approach to leadership inspired his men during the war, but robbed him of his fame post war due to his lack of self-aggrandisement, as Max Hastings noted-
'In contrast to almost every other outstanding commander of the war, Slim was a disarmingly normal human being, possessed of notable self-knowledge. He was without pretension, devoted to his wife, Aileen, their family and the Indian Army. His calm, robust style of leadership and concern for the interests of his men won the admiration of all who served under him ... His blunt honesty, lack of bombast and unwillingness to play courtier did him few favours in the corridors of power. Only his soldiers never wavered in their devotion' (1)
Today the book is required reading at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.
Hasting, M., Retribution (London, Penguin, 2008), p69
If you're a historian reading this, I'd ask that you recommend a book! So far, two military histories have been recommended (and seem fantastic). What about great works by thinkers like Machiavelli? Thanks :)
/u/LordHighBrewer has suggested a good one. Along that same line, I would also add The Last Fighting General: The Biography of Robert Tryon Frederick by Anne Hicks. Frederick was the youngest divisional commander in the Second World War and one hell of a leader. Winston Churchill called him "the greatest fighting general of all time" and said "if we had had a dozen more like him we would have smashed Hitler in 1942".