Why a Liberal Arts Perspective is So Important for Future Engineering Leaders

From a review of a book by Richard Branson in the WSJ today:

"Perhaps instead of reading books that purport to instruct on leadership - offering up more cliche' that wisdom - would-be leaders would do betters to delve into books about the individuals who have grappled with the challenges and ordeals of guiding an army, a nation or a daring enterprise.  Literatue brims with such portaits.  Think only of the "Odyssey" or Shakepeare's "Henry V."  Tenacity is important in a leader, but what happens when tenacity becomes obsession?  Herman Melville will tell you all about it in "Moby-Dick."

If you prefer to learn leadership through the experiences of real people, how about Eliot Cohen's "Supreme Command" (2002), about four civilian leaders (Lincoln, Clemenceau, Churchill, and Ben-Gurion) who steered their countries through wars far too important to leave to mere generals?  For that matter, try any good book on Ernest Shackleton, who led his Antarrctic team to resue through almost unimaginable hardships.  If you really must have the self-help version, forget business books and get yourself a copy of "The Prince."  Machiavelli's advice to 16th-century Florentine heads of state may not seem suitable betime reading for modern "servant leaders," as exemplars of the contemporary ideal are piously known, but ignore his cynical realpolitik at their peril."