How History’s Awesome Twentysomethings Got It Together

Prepare to be enlightened, fascinated and inspired by the stories of some of history’s iconic men and women that show where they were at near the age of 25. And how they overcame obstacles, defied their critics and forged ahead to attain success.

Author Robert L. Dilenschneider tells these stories of 25 men and women from around the globe who shaped the world in his new book, Nailing It.

You’ll learn how these individuals:

Came from modest means and went on to help change the world.
Went on to do what put them in the history books.
Used their unique personal traits to enable them to beat all odds and persevere.

The stories offer some perspective on what young people are experience now. The pandemic has turned young adulthood upside-down. For millions of millennials, what should be a key transformation period, full of adventure, freedom, and self-exploration, has been temporarily halted. Key life events have been put on hold, delayed, or outright cancelled. Now they have even more challenges ahead of them in figuring out their life paths.

Fortunately, history shows, and Nailing It reveals, inspiring examples of successful people who experienced delayed progress in their 20s, forced to take circuitous paths to their life callings, even overcoming tragic starts.

Nailing It includes the stories of:

Maya Angelou
Albert Einstein
Steve Jobs
Sally Ride
Mary Shelley
Jackie Robinson
…and 19 more

Robert L. Dilenschneider

Today, Dilenschneider shares these added insights with us:

Question: How many of the 25 people you profiled in your book were on your original list of landmark figures you planned to profile? If your original list changed, why did it change?

Dilenschneider: We had well over 100 people on the original list. We whittled it down to get to those who were cited based on what they had to offer to readers.

The idea is to inspire young people and help them recognize that they can make a difference. For the more mature this book offers a snapshot of history in the making.

Question: Who might have been the few additional people you would have profiled in your book if you had gone beyond 25?

Dilenschneider: There are dozens of individuals from the world of politics, business and social services that could be profiled, including Nelson Mandela, Tony Blair and Mao Tse Tung. There are many who fit into this category.

Question: Among the 25 iconic individuals profiled, what were the couple common themes that made them all awesome?

Dilenschneider: They had a determination and a focus for what they did. And they had a plan, and they worked the plan. They kept their head down and they did not deviate from their plan.

In almost every case these men and women took prudent risks, were oblivious to criticism, and exercised a laser-like focus on their objectives.

My hope is that knowing where these people were in their lives at that age—whether their acts were together, or not— will be informative and encouraging. Their stories offer some perspective on what young people are experiencing now.

Question: Of the 25, which one has impressed you the most and why?

Dilenschneider: I like Honoré Daumier because he not only offered criticisms of the art establishment in France, but provided on a regular basis serious look into the politics of what was taking place – almost as good as a newspaper. He immediately grasped the implication of combining the relatively new art form of lithography with political satire.

There was another aspect to Daumier’s long career. He eventually developed into a prolific portrait, landscape, and genre painter. He produced around five hundred oils and watercolors that garnered little or no attention from the public during his lifetime, to his disappointment. Posthumously, though, critics saw in this work a foretaste of impressionism, the art movement that had just appeared on the horizon, and appreciation rose.

Every era in history has needed artists, writers, comedians, graphic designers, commentators, pundits, and others to pull the curtain aside, à la Dorothy’s dog Toto in The Wizard of Oz, and show us what’s really going on. Every era has had such people, and Daumier occupies a notable place in the long line of political and social satirists.

Dilenschneider is founder of The Dilenschneider Group. Headquartered in New York and Chicago, the Firm provides strategic advice and counsel to Fortune 500 companies and leading families and individuals around the world, with experience in fields ranging from mergers and acquisitions and crisis communications to marketing, government affairs and international media.

Dilenschneider has authored 14 books, including Decisions: Practical Advice from 23 Men and Women Who Shaped the World; A Briefing for Leaders; On Power, The Critical 14 Years of Your Professional Life; 50 Plus!—Critical Career Decisions for the Rest of Your Life, and Power and Influence: The Rules Have Changed.

Thank you to the book’s publisher for sending me a copy of the book.

Comments

How To Become A Catalyst CEO

Catalyst leaders are individuals who accelerate decision-making, empower teams, and spark innovation. To improve your catalyst leadership skills, you’ll want to read the new book by Constantine G. Alexandrakis , which provides a hands-on guide for building leadership teams and cultures that ignite business transformation. The book is The Catalyst CEO: Why CEOs Can’t Lead Transformation Alone―And What The Best Do Instead . Drawing on decades of experience advising world-leading companies, Alexandrakis challenges the cult of the hero CEO and offers a powerful new paradigm on what it truly takes to make business transformation happen―and stick. Alexandrakis defines transformation as more than change. “It’s a deliberate reinvention of how a company creates value through its people, its business model, and its place in the world.” He adds that “Real transformation depends on teams that are willing to argue clearly, and directly, while still finding a way to decide and move ...

Proven Strategies For Keeping Teams Focused During Times Of Uncertainty

“Crisis leadership is not only about operational efficiency—it is fundamentally human-centered. Leaders who communicate openly, prioritize safety, listen empathetically, and empower teams can sustain trust, engagement, and performance, even in life-threatening circumstances. Organizations that maintain this balance are not only surviving—they are building for the future,” explain the authors of the new book Against The Storm: How True Leaders Prevail When The World Shakes . The authors and leadership experts Tom Kolditz and Mariana Khomitska share in their book a practical framework that can be applied across industries and roles. “One of the primary purposes of our book is to pass along leadership tools for crisis management,” explain the authors. “Effective crisis management is fundamentally about reducing uncertainty to restore a sense of control and stability." Key strategies focusing on minimizing the effects of uncertainty a...

James G. Ellis Shares The Leadership Lessons Behind A Lasting Legacy

In his new book, James G. Ellis shares the lessons he learned throughout his career as an entrepreneur, CEO, professor, mentor, and one of the nation’s most respected business school leaders. He is the former Dean of the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business. For aspiring leaders, educators, and entrepreneurs, A Journey of Insights: Lessons In Leadership And Legacy , offers a roadmap to success grounded in real-world experience, with a focus on humility, listening, and building strong, collaborative environments. The book is both a personal memoir and a strategic guide for those aiming to leave a lasting legacy in business. At the core of his message is the central theme that listening to voices around you throughout life is the key to success. “In essence, ears can speak louder than voices,” shares Ellis. The book also explores pivotal moments that helped define Ellis’ understanding of leadership, including encounters with Pres...

How To Rewire Your Mind To Build Your Adaptability Quotient

Alec Litowitz argues that the most valuable skill of the next decade isn't IQ or even EQ (Emotional Intelligence). It's AQ: your Adaptability Quotient, the ability to question assumptions, update beliefs, and respond effectively when reality changes. Litowitz is the author of the forthcoming book (releasing on September 15, 2026) The Adaptability Quotient: Rewiring Your Mind For Success In The Next Human Era . And he shares that “AQ is a learnable way of using your mind like a high-performance machine: to model risk, absorb feedback, make faster corrections, and create repeatable advantages in conditions where most people stall out—or drown.” In short, it’s all about how to move from “making the right decision” to “making decisions right.” “As artificial intelligence, media, and scientific advances reshape the cognitive landscape, adaptability becomes the essential discipline for reclaiming human agency,” adds Litowitz. “And a s AI resha...

How To Become Your Best-Self Leader Everyday

“By focusing in specific ways on five key leadership elements— Purpose, Process, People, Presence, and Peace —you can increase your time, capacity, energy, and ultimately your leadership impact,” explains Amy Jen Su , author of the book, The Leader You Want To Be: Five Essential Principles for Bringing Out Your Best Self—Every Day . Su shares both Western management thinking and Eastern philosophy to provide a holistic yet hands-on approach to becoming a more effective leader with less stress and more equanimity. She draws on rich and instructive stories of clients, leaders, artists, and athletes. And, she focuses on three foundational tenets: s elf-care, self-awareness, and personal agency . Most important, Su explores in depth, chapter-by-chapter the Five Ps : Purpose – Staying grounded in your passions and contributions, doing your highest and best work that has meaning and is making a difference. Process – Relying on daily practices and routines that honor your natural energy rhyt...

How To Be A Tough Enough Leader

Tomorrow brings a compelling and timely book about how tough enough you need to be as a leader to lead your team to greatness without being a jerk. The book is Tough Enough , by leadership coaches John Baird and Matt Hunter . The authors explain that building a high-performing team requires a new form of toughness―not based on bullying and bravado, but rather pushing for exceptional results in a way that is firm, fair, and respectful. Drawing on decades of coaching top CEOs, elite founders, and ambitious leaders, Baird and Hunter break down seven specific habits that define the strongest, most effective leaders, from being clear about the company culture to strategically unleashing emotional thunder. They set the record straight on when to prioritize understanding and empathy, when it’s time to be direct―and, most importantly, how to do both at the same time. Their no-nonsense approach gives readers the tools to calibrate their toughness and compassion in a ...

How To Transform The Influences Of Your Childhood Into Your Unique And Most Effective Leadership Style

The most significant predictor (up to 80 percent) of how someone shows up in their interpersonal interactions as a leader, and as a human, is their childhood, claims Pam Manfredo Curtis, PhD , author of the new book, The Origins Of A Leader: Transforming Family Patterns Into Leadership Power . Grounded in decades of psychological analysis, executive coaching, and behavioral data, Curtis elaborates that how leaders perform today is dramatically influenced by their childhood, with patterns formed early in life continuing to shape behavior, decision-making, and relationships at the highest levels. “When you know your why , you can change your how ,” says Curtis. “Put another way, when you understand the influential factors of your life, you can choose how they affect you. Curtis encourages you to explore specific childhood environments and discover how they shaped your strengths, communication patterns, and hidden limitations. Regarding the implications o...

40 Timeless Lessons From Southwest Airlines

A few years ago, Southwest Airlines celebrated its 40th year and was kind enough to share in its in-flight magazine 40 lessons it learned since 1971. The lessons provide good tips for business leaders. If you missed the full list, here are some of the highlights of timeless lessons: Invent your own culture and put a top person in charge of it . A crisis can contain the germ of a big idea . Simplicity has value . For Southwest, simplicity means using 737s for most of its fleet, which makes maintenance more cost-effective and allows more efficient training for flight crews and ground crews. Remember your chief mission . Take your business, not yourself, seriously. Put the worker first . For Southwest, that meant being the first U.S. airline to offer a profit-sharing plan, in 1974. Employees now own 13 percent of the airline. The web ain't cool, it's a tool . Southwest was the first U.S. airline to establish a home page. By 2010, ...

A Roadmap For Next Generation Of Leaders Driving Culture-First Change

The transformative success of everything today’s leaders are driving – including AI (Artificial Intelligence) – will be determined not by whether they are “good” or “bad,” but by whether their organization’s culture embraces them. Decades of failed efforts prove that successful change can’t be mandated. That’s what Phil Gilbert believes and professes. “Change is a product, not a mandate,” says Gilbert. “Transform your initiative into a desirable offering that teams choose to adopt rather than an edict they’re forced to follow. Your organization is the market, and every project team is a potential customer who must be convinced that your approach will solve their problems better than the status quo. This product-centered mindset creates voluntary adoption that spreads organically.” This proven approach to making transformations is something people run toward, not away from. You’ll learn how this happens in Gilbert’s new book, Irresistible Change: A Bluep...

Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

Search This Blog