What You Do Is Who You Are

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Ben Horowitz, a prominent venture capitalist and management expert, merges historical insights with modern organizational practices to provide executives with practical advice for building resilient cultures. His fascination with history reveals how people's behaviors are often shaped by their upbringing, yet some leaders have the power to influence their times. This exploration focuses on a critical organizational question: how to create and sustain a desired culture. The narrative highlights four leadership models that exemplify culture-building: Toussaint Louverture, the leader of a successful slave revolt in Haiti; the Samurai, who shaped Japanese culture for centuries; Genghis Khan, founder of the world’s largest empire; and Shaka Senghor, an ex-convict who transformed prison culture. Horowitz connects these historical figures to contemporary case studies, illustrating how Louverture's techniques could have been applied by Reed Hastings at Netflix, Travis Kalanick at Uber, and Hillary Clinton. He also draws parallels between Genghis Khan’s cultural inclusiveness and the leadership of Don Thompson at McDonald's and Maggie Wilderotter at Frontier Communications. Ultimately, the book serves as a guide for companies to understand their strategies and cultivate successful cultures, addressing the fundamental question of identity within organizations.