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A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness by Nassir Ghaemi New York: Penguin Press, 2011 340 pages $16.00
The title of the book bends the quip about an iconic American leader, President Theodore Roosevelt, who was described as "having a second-rate mind, but a first-rate temperament." Teddy Roosevelt, even with his quirkiness, seemed to have the right presence of mind to lead the nation into the changing environment and uncertainties of the dawning twentieth century. The author, Dr. Ghaemi, offers a provocative premise-individuals who experience mental illness are better suited to lead organizations, societies, and nations more so than "normal" people. He presents a counter proposition that individuals who are mentally healthy can be successful leaders in times of stability and certainty but fail during times of crisis.
The author has substantial credentials as practicing psychiatrist and director of the Mood Disorders Program at Tufts Medical Center, teaching faculty member at Harvard Medical School, and writer of numerous articles and books on mental illness. His charter seems an attempt to validate the approach that combines psychiatry with history (so-called psychohistory). The "hook" of the book and his approach are the links to the examination of senior leadership and discerning the traits of successful leaders. In this very readable work, the author effectively integrated his academic experience-in history, philosophy, medicine, and psychiatry-with a pragmatic application in an effort to identify leadership potential.
As is common in most texts in the...