A Leader's Destiny

“[Aboujaoude] delivers a book that anyone considering enrollment in a course with “leadership” in the title should investigate. A distinctive, thought-provoking view on leadership in the 21st century.”—Kirkus Reviews

“[A] provocative takedown…Aboujaoude makes a thought-provoking case that pat, multistep prescriptions for good leadership generalize too broadly and fail to account for the importance of chance…will leave readers with much to contemplate.”—Publishers Weekly

“Elias Aboujaoude’s thoughtful and stimulating A Leader’s Destiny is at once a great read and an incisive analysis of what we mean by ‘leadership’. By unpacking the essential personality and psychological qualities needed for ascending to leadership positions and the individual and societal price that one--or all of us--may need to pay for getting there, Aboujaoude uses his great experience in psychology and psychiatry for critical insight into how our own makeups generate behaviors with positive and potentially negative consequences.”—Alan F. Schatzberg, MD, Past President, American Psychiatric Association.

 “Stanford expert Elias Aboujaoude is the perfect person to dissect how the leadership and life coaching industry has given us a new class of narcissistic leaders who model themselves on the master of impulse, Elon Musk. A potent antidote to the notion that anyone can be taught to be a leader, A Leader’s Destiny gives us pioneering insight into the personal, psychological, and situational factors that shape effective leaders.” —Jonathan Taplin, director emeritus, Annenberg Innovation Lab, University of Southern California

"Very engaging right from the beginning, A Leader’s Destiny drew me in and made me read on and on. Everyone who aspires to a leadership role or, very importantly, who is responsible for choosing and developing leaders must read this book. I wish I had read it while I was developing my leadership team."—Dr. John Featherstone, dean emeritus, School of Dentistry, University of California, San Francisco

"Elias Aboujaoude's lively, accessible, and learned critique of the concept and practice of leadership raises interesting and provocative questions that resonate. Can leadership be taught?  What is the role and virtue of executive coaching? How can the tools of the psychologist assist in improving current practice? What is the priority given to emotional intelligence in the training of potential leaders? Aboujaoude's case studies illuminate all these issues, and many others beyond."—Colin B. Bailey Director, The Morgan Library & Museum, New York