Leadership and Self-Deception Fourth Edition

Twenty-five years. Over three million copies. Translated into thirty-plus languages. And completely rewritten from the ground up.

This launch event celebrates the fourth edition of Leadership and Self-Deception—not by talking about the book, but by letting the people whose lives it transformed tell the story. Tom DiDonato, who's read it at least ten times over twenty years, explains why he's never left a towel on the floor since reading it (and what that has to do with organizational culture). Scott Decker discovered he was treating his eight-year-old son like an API—input a command, expect "yes sir" as output—and watched that realization transform not just his parenting but his relationship with a difficult coworker. Victoria Trammel thought the book would teach her how to fix her leaders; instead, she realized she was the biggest problem on her team, disguised as "the kind of leader who loved her people."

Steve Young shares the twenty-minute bus ride conversation with Charles Haley—a teammate he'd spent years avoiding—that changed everything. And the story of Reggie White, the only competitor who could sack him at full intensity and then, in the same moment, ask "How are you doing?" while making sure he didn't get hurt.

But this edition isn't just updated—it's expanded. Over seventy contributors. New characters including Theo and Anna. And for the first time, deep exploration of the "worse than" experience of self-deception—the imposter syndrome, the need to be seen as capable, the beloved leader whose protection of their team was actually holding everyone back.

Ray Smith, who helped rewrite the book, captures it: "I liked the first version, but I didn't see any of me and people like me in the book itself. This new version paints a picture of a broader scope of people and experiences."

The through-line across every story: Culture isn't prescribed behavior. Culture is how people see.