Leadership porn, a subset of competence porn
October 15, 2019 9:56 AM Subscribe
Some books I've read have featured characters who are really good at delegating tasks to the right people, figuring out what makes people tick in such a way as to best encourage/empower them, having honor/integrity as a leader in a way that inspires people to follow them, etc. Being really competent at leading/managing.
Turns out I love this and want more!
(....tbh the example coming most prominently to mind right now is an astolat transformers fanfic, although there's also some of this in leckie's ancillary series and I know I had more examples they're just all escaping me at the moment.)
anyway, gimme your books/media with this, I don't care about genre, medium, or fiction/non-fiction status as long as someone is being a ridiculously good leader in a detailed nonhandwavey way.
intimate look into their personnel-handling thinking process? A++
specific detailed anecdotes of their taking responsibility effectively? fantastic
coming up with creative solutions to thorny management problems? beautiful
other characters or the narrative constantly talking about them being a wonderful leader but no specific demonstration of such? not an example of this trope...
(i have a special softness for the leader in question being a little oblivious to how good at this they are because they take it for granted, but that's totally not needed it just happens to be a cherry on top for me)
(....tbh the example coming most prominently to mind right now is an astolat transformers fanfic, although there's also some of this in leckie's ancillary series and I know I had more examples they're just all escaping me at the moment.)
anyway, gimme your books/media with this, I don't care about genre, medium, or fiction/non-fiction status as long as someone is being a ridiculously good leader in a detailed nonhandwavey way.
intimate look into their personnel-handling thinking process? A++
specific detailed anecdotes of their taking responsibility effectively? fantastic
coming up with creative solutions to thorny management problems? beautiful
other characters or the narrative constantly talking about them being a wonderful leader but no specific demonstration of such? not an example of this trope...
(i have a special softness for the leader in question being a little oblivious to how good at this they are because they take it for granted, but that's totally not needed it just happens to be a cherry on top for me)
A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers is all over this. Almost everyone* is extremely competent (especially Ashby, but everyone leads in their own way); I found it very soothing for that reason.
The rest of the Wayfarers series is kinda? mostly? like this, but it just didn't hit me in the same way. YMMV.
*One exception, but it improves.
posted by minsies at 10:14 AM on October 15, 2019 [4 favorites]
The rest of the Wayfarers series is kinda? mostly? like this, but it just didn't hit me in the same way. YMMV.
*One exception, but it improves.
posted by minsies at 10:14 AM on October 15, 2019 [4 favorites]
Garnet in Steven Universe is basically the embodiment of this, both as a positive quality and as a weird kind of fault.
posted by nebulawindphone at 10:29 AM on October 15, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by nebulawindphone at 10:29 AM on October 15, 2019 [5 favorites]
Watership Down! One of my favorite bloggers did a series of posts about the specific topic of leadership in this book.
posted by gideonfrog at 10:34 AM on October 15, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by gideonfrog at 10:34 AM on October 15, 2019 [6 favorites]
This is a somewhat more complicated rec, but I think this is what at least some of his fans like about Thrawn, who's the star of multiple novels in the Star Wars universe. Complicated because he's a very senior leader in the Empire, so he's always in a situation where he's using his good leadership instincts to accomplish really nasty stuff. But he's clearly written as that rare Imperial officer who has an eye for talent where other people aren't looking for it and puts good people in a place where they're able to live up to potential they didn't know they had, and is thinking a few steps ahead of both enemies and allies, noticing the details others aren't, and aware of the resources he has at his disposal and how he'll use them. Seeing how that guy works in the context of having a lot of power in a very evil, generally very racist (well, speciest, but that's sci fi for you) and sexist regime that generally doesn't take women or aliens seriously as leaders (Thrawn is not human) is super interesting and fun. But if you're open to reading about a generally-excellent leader with a few major blind spots who uses his powers for evil, boy, Thrawn is your villain.
It's also a complicated rec because at this point there's "canon Thrawn" (who can be further subdivided now into "books Thrawn" and "Rebels Thrawn", if you really want to split hairs) and "legends Thrawn" and despite protestations on the part of Timothy Zahn they are actually not that similar personality-wise in many ways. I like all of the above, but they're definitely different guys that hit at different parts of the "leadership porn" spectrum for me.
posted by potrzebie at 10:39 AM on October 15, 2019
It's also a complicated rec because at this point there's "canon Thrawn" (who can be further subdivided now into "books Thrawn" and "Rebels Thrawn", if you really want to split hairs) and "legends Thrawn" and despite protestations on the part of Timothy Zahn they are actually not that similar personality-wise in many ways. I like all of the above, but they're definitely different guys that hit at different parts of the "leadership porn" spectrum for me.
posted by potrzebie at 10:39 AM on October 15, 2019
Jack Aubrey grows into an exceptional leader over the course of the 20-book Aubrey-Maturin saga. Katherine Addison's beautiful The Goblin Emperor exemplifies this trope.
posted by rdc at 10:40 AM on October 15, 2019 [11 favorites]
posted by rdc at 10:40 AM on October 15, 2019 [11 favorites]
If you are interested in a real life biography/autobiography of someone in who was like this; look into Andy Grove of INTEL. Especially High Output Management.
posted by indianbadger1 at 11:04 AM on October 15, 2019
posted by indianbadger1 at 11:04 AM on October 15, 2019
Worm the webnovel is very long and pretty full of this, especially in the intimate and detailed sense, but i think the best examples of leadership happen in the first third. it's a superpower story and the main character, taylor, has control over all bugs in a wide area which makes her get really good at delegating and managing complex tasks. these skills transfer a little to people and after her town gets destroyed by a godzilla-type monster, she leads logistic efforts in getting things set back up, and it feels satisfying to read for me in the way you talk about.
i think there's a lot of this in one of his other works, Twig, also, but it's very heavy on the social group side of leadership and gets way deep into manipulation and in general is dark in a way the beginning of worm is not, so i wouldn't start here unless you're into that.
barbara gordon as oracle in dc comics might also hit this. she's the original batgirl and she becomes oracle after becoming disabled and takes a background leader role in starting both Suicide Squad (villains) and Birds of Prey (heroes, mainly women). she handpicks all of her team members and leads+supports missions from home via fancy tech. she also usually runs background support for the whole batfamily in this time period and does something similar to taylor in the No Man's Land run where she stays behind when gotham is hit by earthquake and cut off from power and the country and she keeps her neighborhood organized and running cooperatively even without her tech, just with her management skills. can't remember off-hand how in-depth the leadership portrayal is but it's there.
posted by gaybobbie at 11:52 AM on October 15, 2019 [2 favorites]
i think there's a lot of this in one of his other works, Twig, also, but it's very heavy on the social group side of leadership and gets way deep into manipulation and in general is dark in a way the beginning of worm is not, so i wouldn't start here unless you're into that.
barbara gordon as oracle in dc comics might also hit this. she's the original batgirl and she becomes oracle after becoming disabled and takes a background leader role in starting both Suicide Squad (villains) and Birds of Prey (heroes, mainly women). she handpicks all of her team members and leads+supports missions from home via fancy tech. she also usually runs background support for the whole batfamily in this time period and does something similar to taylor in the No Man's Land run where she stays behind when gotham is hit by earthquake and cut off from power and the country and she keeps her neighborhood organized and running cooperatively even without her tech, just with her management skills. can't remember off-hand how in-depth the leadership portrayal is but it's there.
posted by gaybobbie at 11:52 AM on October 15, 2019 [2 favorites]
Band of Brothers the TV miniseries contrasts effective and ineffective leadership throughout but mostly good. It focuses how some people keep their values in a chaotic situation and others don't and how good leaders make all the difference. I really enjoyed it and war movies aren't really my thing.
posted by fshgrl at 12:28 PM on October 15, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by fshgrl at 12:28 PM on October 15, 2019 [5 favorites]
This is basically Patrick Lencioni's "Business Fable" schtick - check out The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.
He's written lots of books that are essentially "Fictional business has an issue - see how Joe Leader uses management insight to solve the problem and make the company successful."
posted by matrixclown at 1:03 PM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
He's written lots of books that are essentially "Fictional business has an issue - see how Joe Leader uses management insight to solve the problem and make the company successful."
posted by matrixclown at 1:03 PM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
Cold Comfort Farm might work very well for you. Flora Poste is rather over the top successful in reorganizing and improving the lives of everyone on Cold Comfort Farm, but it is humour and extremely satisfying.
posted by Jane the Brown at 1:39 PM on October 15, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by Jane the Brown at 1:39 PM on October 15, 2019 [6 favorites]
Tanya Huff's Confederation books, starring (Space) Marine Sergeant Torin Kerr (whose rank and situation changes over the books, but who is always super competent at leading people). Torin's great.
posted by current resident at 2:40 PM on October 15, 2019
posted by current resident at 2:40 PM on October 15, 2019
I used to watch Star Trek TNG for this purpose.
posted by armoir from antproof case at 3:22 PM on October 15, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by armoir from antproof case at 3:22 PM on October 15, 2019 [6 favorites]
I came in to say Miles Vorkosigan.
Raoden and to some extent the other two main characters in Elantris by Brandon Sanderson. Probably Kaladin and Dalinar in the Stormlight Archive books by Sanderson too.
posted by bananacabana at 3:35 PM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
Raoden and to some extent the other two main characters in Elantris by Brandon Sanderson. Probably Kaladin and Dalinar in the Stormlight Archive books by Sanderson too.
posted by bananacabana at 3:35 PM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone has this, but it's sci-fi that reads more like fantasy due to extremely advanced technology (for example there is one character that gets around by flying through space, complete with reentry burn and craters when she lands).
posted by hermanubis at 4:32 PM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by hermanubis at 4:32 PM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
The Six of Crows duology might scratch that itch. It's basically heist fantasy—like, a heist movie in fantasy novel form—and involves a crew of mightily competent individuals all under the leadership of a man who is not exactly a nice person but inspires fierce loyalty.
posted by babelfish at 5:44 PM on October 15, 2019
posted by babelfish at 5:44 PM on October 15, 2019
Aubrey in the Master and Commander novels.
And +1 to Jean Luc Picard. The picardtips Twitter account is good if you don’t have time for the show.
posted by caek at 6:39 PM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
And +1 to Jean Luc Picard. The picardtips Twitter account is good if you don’t have time for the show.
posted by caek at 6:39 PM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
I can think of a few characters in Pratchett's Discworld who display this trait in various ways, even if they may doubt themselves that they have it, and even if it wouldn't be obvious to the people being led. Commander Vimes of the Night Watch. Moist von Lipwig of the Post Office. And definitely Lord Vetinari, in a Byzantine sort of way.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:37 PM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:37 PM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
Another vote for Katherine Addison's The Goblin Emperor. I love that book so much.
Also the series "Protector of the Small" by Tamora Pierce. First Test, Page, Squire, and Lady Knight. The entire series is great, but in the later books Keladry, the heroine, really starts coming into her own as a leader.
Both of these examples are of leaders who prioritise justice as well as kindness, and sometimes struggle to find the balance between those two ideals.
These books give me hope because they show people being effective, practical leaders who do good in the world. Too often we have the idea that goodness is also rather ineffectual.
posted by Zumbador at 11:03 PM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
Also the series "Protector of the Small" by Tamora Pierce. First Test, Page, Squire, and Lady Knight. The entire series is great, but in the later books Keladry, the heroine, really starts coming into her own as a leader.
Both of these examples are of leaders who prioritise justice as well as kindness, and sometimes struggle to find the balance between those two ideals.
These books give me hope because they show people being effective, practical leaders who do good in the world. Too often we have the idea that goodness is also rather ineffectual.
posted by Zumbador at 11:03 PM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
Play the Mass Effect trilogy as a pure Paragon Shepard (i.e. make the "good" moral choices). Mass Effect 2 in particular is great for this because the survival of your squad members in the final mission depends on whether you gained their loyalty, how well you prepared the ship for the assault on the enemy base, and how well you select squad members for dangerous specialized tasks. The cutscene you get at the end of the game if everyone survives the final mission is immensely gratifying, as your squad members, even the most badly damaged and antisocial among them, give their commander a nod of respect.
posted by J.K. Seazer at 11:52 PM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by J.K. Seazer at 11:52 PM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
They're kinda dumb comedy sci/fi but the Robert Aspirin Phule's Company books might be of interest.
It features a leader turning around a company of rejects by playing to their strengths (also it helps that he's stupendously rich). They are not unproblematic, but might be entertaining?
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 4:38 AM on October 16, 2019
It features a leader turning around a company of rejects by playing to their strengths (also it helps that he's stupendously rich). They are not unproblematic, but might be entertaining?
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 4:38 AM on October 16, 2019
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