A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership by James Comey (Flatiron Books, 2018, 290 pages, $29.99)
Not a Teaser
Don’t you just hate teasers – a headline promising a solution, so you click on it, only to have to read a sub-headline reiterating the same fantastic prophecy (“Just wait! It’s coming! Keep reading!”) that they haven’t disclosed yet so you scroll down and have to read through a paragraph or three of background information about how serious the problem is when you want to quickly get to the solution. Then you have to scroll down through the history of the problem. Then, well, the more they can get you to scroll down, the more ads they can show you.
This is not that kind of opening.
I will be upfront about this book: it’s great.
Fast-reading, like a mystery book (even though it’s non-fiction and we all know how it ends) and inspiring. (I read that Comey went to the College of William and Mary, and I was familiar with the name but being from the West Coast know only that I should look it up on Wikipedia – and I did. I also looked up James Comey again.)
So I Read A Higher Loyalty
I wanted to learn more about the Clinton emails and the firing of Jim Comey even though I have highly respected the man for a long time and had diligently followed the events in the news. My view of him has not changed, except possibly for the better.
So, imagine my disappointment (at first) when I discovered I had to wade through Comey’s chapters about being bullied, about moving from NY to Jersey (a world away), about bullying someone else in college, about his work in NYC as an attorney, about. . . .
“But Wait! There’s More!”
It was fascinating!
And interspersed throughout A Higher Loyalty was his view of leadership – a definition, a couple of role models who were not famous but helped make him the leader he is today. Comey is soft-spoken and strong, supportive and challenging at the same time, a leader who has the best balance of self-confidence and humility.
The subtitle of A Higher Loyalty is Truth, Lies, and Leadership. Comey’s book is primarily about leadership but is also a source that now uses the word, lies, in talking about our current president, something that has come about slowly in the media.
As a matter of fact, it’s all about leadership. And I believe I would follow Comey anywhere because I share his ethics.
Just Came Out
It’s June and the book came out in May. I had been on a short waiting list at my public library and now will view his recent interviews with the media.
Proud to be Fired
I would be proud to be fired if I were the wise James Comey and the person firing me was the current president (note that I did not say Leader – of the Free World). It would mean that there is something higher, better than the current state of the world today – or the country – or its ‘leaders.’
Next
Next on my reading list is Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump Whitehouse and Born Trump: Inside America’s First Family.
Final Word
I sincerely hope A Higher Loyalty becomes required reading in leadership courses at our military academies. It is that good and will stand the test of time.
And More: Update
James Comey has been interviewed recently by everyone (it seems) in the media and come across as very ethical, however, some negative points have arisen, true or not (or perhaps a function of several people using their subconscious biases to see what they see). Stay tuned to the media to see how it all turns out in the long run. We have nearly reached our saturation point on this subject but realize we have a responsibility to learn all the facts.
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