Gautum Mukunda, Harvard professor and author of Indispensable: When Leaders Really Matter, reveals the paradox at the heart of leadership selection: the more effort you put into picking a leader, the less it matters who you pick. Drawing from decades of presidential history, Mukunda introduces the concept of filtered versus unfiltered leaders—George H.W. Bush represents the filtered ideal with 44 years in government before becoming president, while Barack Obama exemplifies the unfiltered wildcard with only three years in the Senate. Filtered leaders are predictably competent; unfiltered leaders are remarkable for better or worse, usually worse, because there are far more ways to fail than succeed. Mukunda argues that America picks unfiltered presidents half the time, more than any other major democracy, which explains both George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt at moments of crisis and spectacular failures in between. He warns that winning Russian roulette doesn't mean you should keep playing and explores why Indian American identity, immigrant narratives, and cultural preservation matter in an era when the president said his community's success damages America.
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