It is Wise to Read Biographies

I've heard that chief executive officers have a fondness for biographies.

If so, that is understandable. A good biography often contains more lessons than a shelf of self-help books. You might have to read between the lines, but that's a wise practice at all times. 

A few that I've particularly enjoyed:

• The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Path to Power by Robert Caro
• The Imperial Rockefeller by Joseph Persico
• The General: Charles De Gaulle and the France He Saved by Jonathan Fenby
• John Adams by David McCullough
• Donald J. Trump by Conrad Black
• Abraham Lincoln by Lord Charnwood
• Cicero by Anthony Everett
• "There is No Alternative": Why Margaret Thatcher Matters by Claire Berlinski
• Ulysses S. Grant: The Unlikely Hero by Michael Korda
• George S. Kaufman: An Intimate Portrait by Howard Teichmann
• Stalin: Breaker of Nations by Robert Conquest