Book Review — The Four Hats of Leadership

The Four Hats of Leadership: : Be Who Your People Need You To Be — by Drake E Taylor

Publisher: New Insights Press

Pages: 116

Price: Rs. 1225 INR(Paperback), Rs. 70 INR (Kindle Edition)

ISBN: 978–0999580196

Buy here: https://amzn.to/31U6V2y

How You Lead Depends On You!Putting the humanity back into leading: If you’re seeking to take your leadership abilities to new heights that are effective and respected, this is the book for you! This book was written with the reader in mind. The author wanted to put out a clear and concise book on leadership that was a easy ready where the reader could comprehend the information in a relatively short time. Drake Taylor has failed time and time again as a leader; yet never gave up and is now sharing his lessons with you. In this book he brings in his 15 years of experience in the United States Air Force and the difficulties he faced along the way and how he was able to remedy each situation through the use of one of his “Four Hats”. In the Four Hats You will learn: — How setting the right environment for your subordinates/ team is crucial. — How to draw out the best from your people. — That tough love is a must, but how it is applied is more important! — How you connect with your subordinates makes all the difference. — Ensure you remember to take care of yourself.

About the author:

Drake Taylor was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio where the foundation of his leadership journey began. After graduating high school and taking a small sabbatical from school, he enlisted in the United States Air Force as an Information Manager. He returned to school at the end his four-year enlistment, attending the University of Cincinnati where he majored in Criminal Justice. There he also obtained his Officer’s commission. While attending the university, he developed his ideas on “the hats of leadership” that became the foundation of this book. Drake is currently a United States Air Force Officer.

His goals in life are to raise the best children he can because that is the true legacy that men and women leave the world. He has had a strong passion for leadership from an early age and wants people to go through life accomplishing their dreams.

You can follow him on Facebook at the Telescope and Instagram “thefourhatsofleadership.” You can also contact him at Draketaylor28@gmail.com with your comments and feedback.

My take on the book:

The Four Hats of Leadership is written Drake Taylor based on his own experience in taking up and successfully navigating through leadership roles from a very young age, in the United States Air Force. The four hats are symbolic to the roles a leader should be playing to be effective in his role and responsibilities. The four hats as enlisted by Drake are The Farmer’s Hat, The Military Drill Instructor Hat, The Psychologist Hat, and The Self-Care Hat.

The Farmer Hat is synonymous to the entire life cycle of a farmer from the selection of crop/seeds to harvesting the crop, which is similar to how a leader selects the people to mentor/groom starting from their selection to helping them grow into better individuals and leaders themselves. The author explains how raising a crop is similar to leading teams and how leaders can learn from a farmer’s life.

The Military Drill Instructor Hat is a complicated one as a military drill instructor means discipline, strict action and tough punishments as times. As the author notes, wearing this hat entirely may not be relevant in certain businesses today, but a leader can learn few characteristics from a drill instructor and use them only when the circumstances force them to do so.

The Psychologist hat is of compassion, understanding and giving that affirmation to the people whom you lead that they can open and confide in their leader their woes and issues.

The Self-care hat is the most important and mandatory one for leaders as they often try to portray a perfect view of themselves to people around them, ultimately coming under excessive stress and pressure. For a leader to be successful in the long term without burning out themselves, it is most critical to understand when and how to effectively wear the Self-care hat.

The author pens down all the concepts based on his own experiences in multiple leadership roles and the challenges he faced over the years. The analogies outlined are very interesting and the advice offered is practical to implement. Also, there are interesting anecdotes from global leaders. For those aspiring to be future leaders and are skeptical about taking up such roles, this book is a great start. For those already in leadership roles, this is a good refresher. Highly recommended.

My rating:

4.5/5.