How Leaders Decide
Inspiration, Insights and Wisdom from History’s Biggest Moments
Greg Bustin
“Guiding you through fifty-two dramatic historical events and decisions that changed the course of our world, How Leaders Decide challenges decision-makers with provocative ideas and leadership lessons that will propel your business forward. Greg Bustin’s well-researched and inspiring stories of high-stakes turning points in history and the leaders that made the final call will help you make sure your next decision is the one that changes everything.”
This book was not what I expected and not in a good way. I thought I was picking up something about how leaders make decisions, but instead it turned out to be a bunch of short stories that had nothing to do with ‘how’ to make decisions.
I’m actually fine with short story collections but these just didn’t work. They felt random, irrelevant, and way off the mark from what the title promised. Most of them were old historical tales, some going back to the Roman Empire, which made the whole thing feel more like a history book than something useful for leaders today.
I gave it a fair shot. I read quite a few of the stories properly, skipped around to a few others, but honestly they were all pretty bad. The Titanic one was somewhat interesting, though it mostly made me think, “Wow, people really can be idiots.” Not exactly the inspiring leadership takeaway I was hoping for.
The book expected you to read one chapter per week, like a slow-burn learning journey. But most leaders looking for a book on decision-making want to dive in, pull out practical ideas, and start applying them. This book gives you none of that. There’s no clear advice, no “how-to,” no insights to implement.
I didn’t finish it. 1 star. Wouldn’t recommend it. Don’t waste your time.
I was pretty pumped when I first saw this book because, well, it’s red! I had high hopes for an exciting read, but boy, was I let down. The beginning of the book dragged on with long-winded chapters all about military stuff. It was like the words were just sliding off the page instead of getting into my head. Sure, we needed some background info, but that was way too much. I get that the principles are based on military history, but a little less history and a little more about applications of those principles would be usefu.
Built on the idea that being a virgin is about having had sex between a boy and a girl, this short story attempts to prove that it’s different for boys who have sex with boys. Unforunately, that’s not what I took away from it. All I saw was a boy refusing to admit he was gay, one poor kid who is clearly gay, one (potential) Ally and one homophobic but horny boy.
A Life in Trauma
Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas
Made in China
This book is very slow. It spends a good chunk of the start of the book “rethinking leadership” in a modern way. Although I agree that some leaders do need to rethink how they lead, the people that have picked up this book would already agree with the title and modern leadership and do not need to be convinced.
I could not bring myself to finish this book. I felt pretty grimey while reading it, and I just couldn’t get the point of it. Everything was so passionate and big that I didn’t know what the actual important parts were. Oh no, Kia has to turn to prostitution. Yes, it’s a dangerous ‘job’. She feels like she has responsibility for the boy next door, yet doesn’t invite him into her own home? So like, paying twice the rent she needs to?
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
Believe – Sam Frost
Angel Mage – Garth Nix
Once Upon a Crime
This book is filled with references to the past. It’s jumps straight into Simon’s last year at Watford School of Magicks (a boarding school of course), and the background of battling the Humdrum is just tossed in there. I couldn’t work out why I was reading it – there seemed to be no real plot at all. Thus it’s a DNF for me – I gave up and went and read something else.
Suzi picked this book up from the library, so the following review is hers. I was after a book that wasn’t theory based for a change, and had more real life examples and stories to learn from. he title misled me, sadly. “Leadership lessons from Australia’s iconic change makers” – from this, I really expected actual lessons, stories and examples. However, what I received was 2-3 pages from each leader of wishy washy, meant to be inspiring and motivating, crap. This was the type of motivating crap that says “lighten up” or “the measure of success must be yours” or “failure isn’t falling down, it’s remaining where you’ve fallen”. This was paired with a quote on a coloured background page in between each leader’s lesson. If I wanted motivational sentences, I’d read ‘The Secret’!