No US President served longer or under more trying circumstances that Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) who was elected in 1932 and died shortly into his fourth term at the end of World War II in April 1945. He led the country during its greatest economic crisis “The Great Depression” of the 1930s and through World War II, the most destructive conflict in world History.
FDR was in office too long and dealt with too many challenges for his success to have been simple luck. (And be reminded that FDR was also coping with the challenge of polio that he had contracted a decade before being elected).
For a great overview of FDR’s leadership legacy, Vistage Chair and Speaker Greg Bustin offers an executive summary of “5 Leadership Lessons from FDR that Inspire Reinvention During Times of Change.” (On the Vistage site, but available to non-members as well).
Mr. Bustin has spoken to Vistage Groups over 500 times on the lessons of history that CEOs need to absorb and has authored “How Leaders Decide: A Timeless Guide to Making Tough Choices”; a compendium of short leadership lessons (3 to 4 pages each) from great (and not so great) leaders that should be on every executive’s desk.
