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"Elias Aboujaoude explores how simplistic and hollow our concept of leadership has become, how divorced from the actual qualities and circumstances that make a truly great leader. The result: Everywhere we look, from corporate boardrooms to elected officials, we see failures of leadership. Dr. Aboujaoude begins with a takedown of the foibles of so-called leadership experts he dubs the "leadership industrial complex." an unholy alliance of gurus, coaches, business professors, TED-talkers seemingly united in a modern form of alchemy to create leadership gold. Rather, he vividly illustrates, leaders emerge from a combination of personal, psychological, and situational factors that vary from person to person. Personality, he shows, is sticky, not malleable, resisting attempts at manipulating it into something it is not. To a large degree, great leaders are born, or happen, with the help of innate temperament, talent, opportunity, timing, and circumstance, in ways that we do not fully understand. How Leaders Happen is a refreshing take on a classic subject. Frank and unflinching, it empowers readers to break free from the simplistic and hollow cult of leadership. Step up to lead if you are willing and capable, Dr. Aboujaoude urges, but if you decide otherwise, there are equally, often superior ways to make your contribution in the world"--
About the author
Dr. Elias Aboujaoude is a psychiatry professor, researcher, and author at Stanford University, where he heads the Anxiety Disorders Section and OCD Clinic. He has also held positions at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the University of California in Berkeley, the University of California in San Francisco, and the University of York in the United Kingdom. Besides OCD, Dr. Aboujaoude's research has focused on the interface between technology and psychology, both in its negative manifestations (e.g., video game addiction, online narcissism, cyberbullying, effects of online privacy violations) and positive applications (e.g., telemedicine, virtual reality therapy, AI-mediated digital therapeutics). His entrepreneurial projects include cofounding the first Silicon Valley video-enabled therapy platform.
In addition to peer-reviewed scientific publications and academic books, Dr. Aboujaoude has authored general-audience books, including Virtually You: The Dangerous Powers of the e-Personality (a New York Times Editors’ Choice) and articles for the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the Harvard Business Review, the Financial Times, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and Fortune. His work has received broad coverage, including by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, National Geographic, TIME, Newsweek, Congressional Quarterly, NPR, CNN, ABC, NBC, and BBC. He has lectured in over 20 countries, including at scientific, specialty, or general-audience events (e.g., World Psychiatric Association, US Department of Defense, University of Miami convocation, Stanford Alumni Association).
Summary
A psychiatrist puts leadership "on the couch," with a provocative exploration of its crucial, often ignored, psychological and personal character foundations.
Foreword
A psychiatrist puts leadership "on the couch," with a provocative exploration of its crucial, often ignored, psychological and personal character foundations.
