Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell's latest book is David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants.

From his Q & A with Barbara O'Dair for Reader's Digest:

What’s the one thing you’d like us to take away from your book?

That the greatest things in the world come from suffering. It ought to give us solace. A lot of what is most beautiful about the world arises from struggle.

You once said that we are always drawn to charismatic leaders, even though things often wind up badly. Why do you think that happens?

Mistake number one is that we’re interested in charisma. We often simply go for the physically imposing or attractive. Or we choose narcissists of one variety or another. We make all kinds of mistakes when we get carried away in pursuit of a strong personality.

We are also overly in love with certainty as a trait in our leaders. We want someone who can stand up and give us very clear direction even though with most of the problems we face, there is no clear direction. In a perfect world, we would be happier with more thoughtful, introverted, nerdy types. But we revert to our caveman selves, and we want to have the big, strong giant who can swing the club harder than anybody else.

Do you think great businesspeople can be moral leaders?

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Learn about Malcolm Gladwell's 6 best books.

--Marshal Zeringue