What Jared Diamond has said about Leadership

Diamond argues that charisma is not required for leadership and that there are many different ways to be an effective leader.

“There are about 37 ways to be an effective leader of which charisma is one”

Huberman Lab: What Makes Great Leaders & How to Live an Extraordinary Life | Dr. Jared Diamond (Oct 19, 2026) · Listen from 17:33

Diamond assesses Harry Truman as a courageous second-tier president who made unpopular decisions without caring about being loathed.

“a courageous American president who took decisions and didn't care that he was going to be loathed because of his decisions”

Huberman Lab: What Makes Great Leaders & How to Live an Extraordinary Life | Dr. Jared Diamond (Oct 19, 2026) · Listen from 11:55

Diamond found that of 22 major postwar political leaders, only Nelson Mandela and Lee Kuan Yew stepped down voluntarily.

“you are very unlikely to step down voluntarily. Only two out of 22 did it. So that's a generalization that I had not anticipated”

Huberman Lab: What Makes Great Leaders & How to Live an Extraordinary Life | Dr. Jared Diamond (Oct 19, 2026) · Listen from 42:05

Diamond argues John Wooden's greatest strength was treating basketball as a philosophy of life, something that cannot be faked.

“You can fake and you can learn how to train your players to jump higher, but you can't fake a philosophy of life as John Wooden did”

Huberman Lab: What Makes Great Leaders & How to Live an Extraordinary Life | Dr. Jared Diamond (Oct 19, 2026) · Listen from 1:38:23

Diamond reports research finding that leaders with more power, such as prime ministers, dictators and wartime democratic leaders, make more difference.

“dictators make more of a difference than do democratic leaders. Democratic leaders in wartime make more of a difference than the democratic leaders in peacetime”

Huberman Lab: What Makes Great Leaders & How to Live an Extraordinary Life | Dr. Jared Diamond (Oct 19, 2026) · Listen from 1:45:50