OUTLIERS: THE STORY OF SUCCESS

I'm a huge fan of Malcolm Gladwell, and I'm absolutely fascinated by leadership, so I was eager to grab his new book, Outliers: The Story of Success. I know it got trashed by some critics, but ignore them. It's a fascinating study that sets out to debunk the cowboy notion of "self-made men" -- and explores the factors that have come into play to create successful people.

Gladwell concludes that everything from when you are born (for example, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were both born in 1955, so they were young adults at a critical time in cyber-history), and how much time you invest (it takes just about 10,000 hours to perfect any craft), and what type of social/family/cultural  structure you were raised with, can sharply influence your ability to succeed.

Gladwell studies a cross section of powerful, successful people, from Gates/Jobs, the Beatles, Canadian hockey players, to Joseph Flom -- the first associate at  Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. And he looks at how his theories played out with Gladwell's own family. His observations are fascinating and encouraging.

And do buy the audiobook -- Gladwell reads his own book, and he's a perfect storyteller, none better.