“Indispensable provides a masterly, absorbing, and exceptionally original approach to the age-old study of leadership.”
— Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize–winning author and presidential historian
Indispensable: When Leaders Really Matter
Will your next leader be insignificant—or indispensable? The importance of leadership and the impact of individual leaders has long been the subject of debate. Are they made by history, or do they make it?
In Indispensable, Harvard Business School professor Gautam Mukunda offers an enticingly fresh look at how and when individual leaders really can make a difference. By identifying and analyzing the hidden patterns of their careers, and by exploring the systems that place these leaders in positions of power, Indispensable sheds new light on how we may be able to identify the best leaders and what lessons we can learn, from both the process and the result.
Indispensable will also help you understand this new model so you can use it in your own life—whether you’re a citizen casting a ballot, an executive choosing your next CEO, or a leader trying to make your mark.
Press and Praise for Indispensable
“In fact, we need leaders like that everywhere: to fix stagnant public schools; to create new industries and innovate in old ones; to develop the policies and technologies necessary to deal with climate change; to think and act anew in a transformed world.”
— Tom Friedman, The New York Times
“Indispensable is indispensable—an eye-opening analysis of how we should evaluate leaders in our politics and our organizations, and a set of gripping narratives about some of the most fascinating people who have ever lived.”
— Steven Pinker, Harvard College Professor of Psychology, Harvard University; author, The Better Angels of Our Nature and How the Mind Works
“In his new book, Indispensable, Gautam Mukunda, of Harvard Business School, uses Lincoln to examine one of the liveliest debates in modern management—whether insiders or outsiders make better bosses.”
— The Economist
“Indispensable provides a masterly, absorbing, and exceptionally original approach to the age-old study of leadership.”
— Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize–winning author and presidential historian
“I have studied innovation and change from many dimensions. Somehow, however, I had simply assumed that the right leader can be selected to effect the changes required. Indispensable has taught me that I was woefully naive. This is a great book.”
— Clayton M. Christensen, bestselling author, The Innovator’s Dilemma
“Why do some leaders change the course of human events, while others find themselves not quite up to the task when history knocks? In a study that applies to business as well as to civil society and politics, Mukunda explores the ‘filtration’ systems through which we choose our leaders, providing fresh and fascinating insights.”
— David Gergen, Professor of Public Service, Harvard Kennedy School; senior political analyst, CNN
“Indispensable provides fascinating insights into how leaders are shaped by their unique personal and professional journeys and by the context of their times. Whether they were focused on saving countries, saving companies, or saving lives, the individuals profiled here are memorably illuminated through Mukunda’s sharp and engaging analysis.”
— Kenneth C. Frazier, Chairman, President, and CEO, Merck & Co
“These insights should now be of considerable help to the future development of aspiring executives and those who coach them, and to those responsible for selecting a CEO most suited to mastering a looming challenge.”
— Strategy and Leadership