How About Never?: And Other Essential Questions for Leadership and Life
About this audiobook
A transformational guide to the seven essential questions that will sharpen your judgment, deepen your integrity, and change the way you lead, at every level and in every arena, by the New York Times bestselling author and Senior Fellow at the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School
The best leaders don't have all the answers; they know which questions to ask.
In this compact and accessible guidebook, seasoned leader and bestselling author James Ryan distills decades of experience into seven essential questions every leader—and future leader—must ask themselves and the people around them, whether they are leading a campus organization, a community initiative, or a Fortune 500 company.
Ryan's framework is intentionally simple, because the best leadership tools are the ones you actually remember. Moving from foundational questions of identity and purpose to the operational challenges of decision-making, communication, and knowing when to change course, each question cuts to the heart of what separates good leaders from truly great ones.
Work through the seven questions that define exceptional leadership:
- Who are you? — Know your values, your blind spots, and what you stand for before you ask anyone to follow you
- What's the point? — Anchor every decision in the mission and purpose of your organization
- How's it going? — Develop the habit of honest, courageous assessment
- What would you do? — Cultivate the judgment to act decisively under pressure
- How about never? — Recognize the boundaries that should never be crossed
- What can I say? — Master the art of communication that builds trust and moves people
- Why not? — Stay open to bold ideas and the transformational power of possibility
How About Never? also includes the text of Ryan's inspiring University of Virginia keynote speech on how to "do the right thing, always."
Grounded in the conviction that true leadership means putting the interests of your organization above your own, this is a book for anyone ready to lead with clarity, courage, and integrity.
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About the author
James E. Ryan has served as the president of the University of Virginia, the dean of the Harvard Graduate Education School, and as a law professor. An expert on law and education, Ryan graduated summa cum laude from Yale and was first in his class at the University of Virginia Law School. He is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School, has clerked for Chief Justice Rehnquist, and has also argued before the Supreme Court. He is the author of Five Miles Away, A World Apart and the New York Times bestseller Wait, What? And Life’s Other Essential Questions, based on his viral Harvard Commencement speech. A life-long athlete, Ryan played rugby in college and recently completed his fifteenth consecutive Boston Marathon. Ryan and his wife, Katie, who was a classmate at the University of Virginia Law School, have four grown children—Will, Sam, Ben, and Phebe.
