Pat Williams - 21 Great Leaders: Learn Their Lessons, Improve Your Influence

What a unique combination this book provides! You will discover an intriguing view of twenty-one world-class leaders followed by leadership lessons that will help you grow as an influencer. My friend Pat Williams has written a leadership classic.

John C. Maxwell New York Times bestselling author

More and more I am convinced that one of the best ways to teach leadership is through the use of stories. When it comes to storytelling, no one does it better than Pat Williams. His newest book, 21 Great Leaders, is a tour de force that integrates leadership stories and lessons that will help anyone with the practical insights they can put into practice.

John Baldoni Internationally recognized leadership educator and executive coach Author of MOXIE: The Secret to Bold and Gutsy Leadership and Lead with Purpose.

Pat Williams new book 21 Great Leaders is magnificent. The stories are fascinating and the leadership lessons at the end of each chapter will prove invaluable to leaders at every level.

Frances Hesselbein President and CEO of the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute Recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Leadership may be an elusive commodity these days, but this highly useful collection will serve to remind leaders and would-be leaders alike that they need only look again to proven leaders of the past for the lessons and inspiration they need to face modern challenges. This primer should be read by everyone who aspires to manage and influence others.

Harold Holzer Chairman of the Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation

All Americans who love their country can benefit from this important book. Although most political dogs in government are probably too old to learn new tricks, the nation might return to its former glory if they emulated the great leaders Pat Williams describes so brilliantly.

Harlow Giles Unger Author of John Marshall, The Chief Justice Who Saved the Nation

Wow! What a compelling collection of leaders who personify leadership excellence at the highest level.

John Swofford Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner

In these difficult times, we all need to step up and lead. Pat Williams uses 21 Great Leaders to show us how.

Dr. Larry J. Sabato Director, UVA Center for Politics Author of The Kennedy Half Century

Plutarch, who wrote the biographies of every great man in the ancient world, said their virtues were like a looking-glass, in which I may see how to adjustmy own life. Pat Williams holds up twenty-one great men and women from George Washington to Bill Gates as mirrors for our time. Look at them, and learn.

Richard Brookhiser Author of Founders Son: A Life of Abraham Lincoln

Pat Williams asks us to join him in observing excellent leadership in twenty-one men and women from across the political spectrum. He has an eye for the revealing anecdote, an ear for different voices, and a knack for storytelling.

Joseph J. Ellis Author of Founding Brothers

Whether you are involved as a leader in sports, business, or your family, you will find immense value in Pat Williams book, 21 Great Leaders. Its a great read full of fantastic stories and practical advice that will increase your influence. You will not be disappointed in this investment into your leadership library.

Mike Slive Southeastern Conference Commissioner

21 Great Leaders is a thoughtful and insightful reflection on the lives and lessons of leadersrecent and distantwhove made a meaningful difference. Pats near encyclopedic knowledge of history and leadership, and his extraordinary personal experience as a leader and coach, give this book an authenticity that is incomparable. 21 Great Leaders is at once a deep meditation and a practical guidebook that you will find useful in becoming the best leader you can be.

Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner Coauthors of the bestselling The Leadership Challenge

2015 by Pat Williams

Print ISBN 978-1-63058-690-4

eBook Editions:

Adobe Digital Edition (.epub) 978-1-63058-694-2

Kindle and MobiPocket Edition (.prc) 978-1-63058-693-5

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Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the H OLY B IBLE , N EW I NTERNATIONAL V ERSION . NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are from THE MESSAGE. Copyright by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Published by Shiloh Run Press, an imprint of Barbour Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 719, Uhrichsville, Ohio 44683, www.shilohrunpress.com

Our mission is to publish and distribute inspirational products offering exceptional value and biblical encouragement to the masses.

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Dedication

This book is dedicated
to my friend John Maxwell,
a great teacher, mentor, and
role model of leadership

T HE S EVEN S IDES OF L EADERSHIP

A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.

J OHN C. M AXWELL

M y most memorable year as a father was the year we had sixteen teenagers living under the same roof. Every morning at seven, those sixteen teens would gather around our long dining room table for breakfast. I would sit at the head and look down the row of glazed eyes and uncomprehending expressions. I would step into my leadership role and try to get their minds engaged.

We had a daily routine called The Question of the Morning. Every morning I came up with a new questionsomething to ignite a spark of cognition in the sleepy recesses of their brains. One morning my question was Twenty years from now, what are you going to remember about your dad?

They whispered among themselvesthen, David (a future marine) stood up as their spokesman. Dad, he said, the thing well all remember most is that you were always motivating us.

I had to laugh. My kids had found me out. They knew exactly what Id been doing: motivating and inspiring them to function together as a team, to work hard in school, to play hard in sports, to keep their rooms neat, to stay out of trouble, to get real with God, and to set high goals for their lives.