No Room for Small Dreams

The story of Israel is inspiring. And this is a story by Shimon Peres, one of the founding fathers of the country, so to say. After getting a recommendation on reading this book, it waited on my shelf for its turn to arrive.

The book itself is worth a read. More importantly, here are my takeaways on what it means to be a leader from this book.

For one, A reader must prepare hard. Work hard. In different situations.
Be Prepared for any opportunity that might cross her way.
Listen; listen well; listen actively...
Take risk: it is only after we see failure that we will know if we misjudged the risk.
Open new possibilities
Optimism and naivete are not one and the same...
Make the hard decisions that leadership demands (and therein lies one of the most important tenets - as a leader you cannot escape facing and making tough decisions. If all one had to do was to take easy decisions, one does not need leaders.)
Standing still is not an option, despite many successes
Seek and have a mentor with whom you can discuss when you feel 'alone'
Innovation is always an uphill climb. Go after an 'impossible' dream. Austerity cannot be an obstacle for audacity. We need to set our gaze higher than our temporary limitations.

And Israel having been a victim of terrorism for long, this is a line I really loved: Leaders would be wise to remember that when there is a gun to you head, you are not the negotiator, you are the hostage. Holding firm to such a position demands a willingness to make dangerous and difficult choices.

Sidenote: The book is written in an unassuming manner, almost prosaic. I wish it had a little more 'Israel' in it.