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Profits, Prophets, Coaches and Kings
(When) Do Leaders Make a Difference?
Brief Description
From the bestselling author of Guns, Germs and Steel, an exploration of the influence of leaders in politics, business, sport and religion. We often read history as the biographies of 'great men' who shaped the world. But are leaders, whichever field they are in, really that...
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Profits, Prophets, Coaches and Kings
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Description
From the bestselling author of Guns, Germs and Steel, an exploration of the influence of leaders in politics, business, sport and religion.
We often read history as the biographies of 'great men' who shaped the world. But are leaders, whichever field they are in, really that influential? Should CEOs be given large bonuses when a company performs well? Why, when a political leader is assassinated, is their successor as likely to improve as damage a country? When do we know if firing a coach has changed the fortunes of the team?
World-renowned historian and bestselling author Jared Diamond argues that leaders are neither heroic exceptions nor products of circumstance. Looking at four different spheres—history, business, sport and religion, Diamond asks under which conditions is a leader most likely to make a difference and why.
Drawing on the life and career of iconic leaders—from Botswana president Seretse Khama to legendary UCLA football coach John Wooden—Diamond shows us how leadership effectiveness is determined by a range of complex interrelated factors, from resources to geography, culture to technology.
Profits, Prophets, Coaches and Kings is a thought-provoking assessment of when leaders can bring about effective change, when they don't, and perhaps whether we need them at all.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780241847244
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 01 September 2026
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Allen Lane
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 1.0mm
Width: 1.0mm
Height: 1.0mm
Weight: 1g
Pages: 288
About the Author
Jared Diamond is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the seminal million-copy-bestseller Guns, Germs, and Steel, which was named one of Time magazine's best non-fiction books of all time, Collapse, a No. 1 international bestseller, and The World Until Yesterday, among other books. A professor of geography at UCLA and noted polymath, Diamond's work has been influential in the fields of anthropology, biology, ornithology, ecology and history, among others.
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