Leadership

Great leaders master details and history to drive informed, strategic decisions.

Elon Musk favors biographies and historical study as a training ground for leadership and strategy, using lessons from other great leaders to inform his decisions and mental models.

Founders || #399 How Elon Works

There’s a video of Donald Trump pointing out uneven pavers to the groundskeeper at Mar a Lago.

he says he does the same with at the White House

Elon Musk learned to “know your business from A to Z,” surprising experts by recalling deep technical details about parts and costs in other people’s specialties.

Elon Musk devoured whole libraries on subjects he wanted to master, reading every available book and technical manual until he understood the field from first principles.

Founders || #399 How Elon Works

Ron DeSantis vigorously absorbs large volumes of information when formulating policy or preparing for leadership meetings.

Margaret Thatcher used her recall of details to dominate her colleagues.

Encounter in Rendlesham Forest

Margaret Thatcher was said to read every word of her reports rather than just the executive summaries.

And she had excellent recall of details.

Encounter in Rendlesham Forest

Great leaders are voracious readers