Books


Lessons in Courage and Leadership


Communications guru Robert Dilenschneider reveals secrets of history’s greatest leaders.


S BY MARISA HERMAN


ome of history’s most influential figures share a trait that defined their lega- cies as leaders: character.


With examples ranging from U.K.


Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Dwight D. Eisenhower to entrepreneurs Steve Jobs and Walt Disney, it’s a theme that public rela- tions and communications guru Rob- ert Dilenschneider explores in his new book, Character: Life Lessons in Cour- age, Integrity, and Leadership. Realizing that so many people sim-


ply “rush” to achieve their goal rather than take the time to do the “right thing,” the bestselling author set out to showcase how the most successful politicians, business executives, and leaders share an “extraordinary degree of character” that he believes we can all learn from. Dilenschneider breaks down his


character vignettes into chapters that include leadership, innovation, resil- ience, breaking barriers, courage, loy- alty, integrity, transparency, and tran- scendence. He hopes to impart valu- able lessons that future leaders can act on in both their personal and profes- sional decisions and interactions. While Dilenschneider has touched


many through his successful career leading The Dilenschneider Group, which provides strategic advice and counsel to Fortune 500 companies and other influential people globally, he started writing books to bring his prin- ciples to a wider audience. “I had to find a way for my own


persona to speak out on issues impor- tant to me and important to society,” he said. His biggest hope for this book is


42 NEWSMAX | MAY 2025


that readers will decide to incorpo- rate into their own lives some of the character traits that the leaders he highlights possess. The book is filled with stories of determination — whether it’s Eisen- hower’s “unbelievable” ability to recog- nize the importance of moving forward with D-Day, despite knowing that thousands of Americans were going


A tidbit from a section on Florence Nightingale and Edith Cavell states, “Heroism often arises from simple humanity.”


Dilenschneider enjoys leaving a


copy of the book in Central Park and watching to see who picks it up. He believes that this book was pub-


lished at a critical time in our nation’s history — when people are afraid to lead with character. “We’re in a situation in America,


and in the world, where people with character need to stand up and be counted,” he said. “People need to put aside personal gain and do the right thing.” He contends the way the country


came together to rebuild as a commu- nity after World War II was an example of “one person working with another to make things happen.” That trend shifted in the 1980s with


a new generation of people who Dilen- schneider argues “wanted to focus on themselves, and not on a larger whole.” His goal is for people to get back to


“People with character need to stand up and be


counted.” — Robert Dilenschneider


to die as they stormed the beaches of Normandy, or the tenacity that French politician Valery Giscard d’Estaing demonstrated after his defeat, inspir- ing him to serve in a different capacity in the European Parliament. At the end of each person’s history, Dilenschneider shares “lessons” that can be learned from that particular individual. From Nelson Mandela, one takeaway is “never give up when your cause is just.”


working together. As a result, he hopes that one plus one doesn’t just equal two when people join forces. He hopes the equation results in a solu- tion that ultimately affects three or even more people. There is no shortage


of recognizable names in the book — others fea- tured include Arthur Ashe, Stephen Hawking, and Julia Child. But for Dilen-


schneider, the word character always reminds him of one person in particu- lar — his father. “He did the right thing at every


turn,” he said. While Character focuses on many components, there is one major con- cept that Dilenschneider is reserving for his next book — respect. “People need to find a way to respect themselves and other people around them and other things around them, so character and respect are going to be a one-two punch,” he said.


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