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What Makes Great Leaders & How to Live an Extraordinary Life | Dr. Jared Diamond

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What Makes Great Leaders & How to Live an Extraordinary Life | Dr. Jared Diamond

Dr. Jared Diamond, PhD, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, physiologist, evolutionary biologist and Professor at UCLA. We discuss the surprising and often chance events that shaped human history and leadership in politics, religion, business and athletics. As one of the most influential public-facing scholars of the last 100 years, Dr. Diamond also shares…

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Notes

  1. How Did Hitler Shape Jared Diamond's Life? at 4:35

    Jared Diamond says his life and his wife's life were formed under the shadow of Hitler. Full answer

  2. Why Did Jared Diamond Save a Student From Expulsion? at 24:24

    Jared Diamond talked his department into keeping his second graduate student after the student did poorly on an exam. Full answer

  3. Why Do Powerful Leaders Almost Never Step Down? at 42:25

    Jared Diamond looked at 22 outstanding political leaders from World War II onward and found that only two stepped down voluntarily. Full answer

  4. Why Has Jared Diamond Made Lists Since Age Three? at 51:32

    Jared Diamond has made lists only since age three. Full answer

  5. Why Did a Medical Dean Fund New Guinea Birds? at 1:03:10

    Jared Diamond says the longest serving medical school dean in the United States gave him five thousand dollars every year to keep studying New Guinea birds… Full answer

  6. What Kept Jared Diamond in Miserable New Guinea? at 1:06:26

    Jared Diamond says life in New Guinea is physically miserable most of the time, and still fascinating enough to stay. Full answer

  7. Why Does Jared Diamond Find Birds Easiest to Study? at 1:09:34

    Jared Diamond says birds inform ornithologists about everything. Birds are the easiest of all animals to observe and to understand. Full answer

  8. How Do Vervet Monkey Grunts Act Like Words? at 1:13:27

    Jared Diamond says vervet monkey grunts function as words. Each grunt names a different danger, and the other monkeys answer with a matching move. Full answer

  9. Why Did Jared Diamond Allow One Student's Own Project? at 1:17:25

    Jared Diamond negotiated with his graduate students and postdocs so each project interested both him and the student. Full answer

  10. Why Did Jared Diamond Start Counting Time at 89? at 1:21:16

    Jared Diamond says a sharp sense of time left has not always been part of his life. Turning 80 was not a shock. Full answer

  11. Why Does Firing a Coach Usually Improve the Next Season? at 1:36:25

    Jared Diamond says coaches get fired after a losing season, and CEOs get fired when a company has a poor year and low returns. Full answer

  12. Do Bezos and Zuckerberg Have a Life Philosophy? at 1:41:43

    Jared Diamond says he is not aware of Jeff Bezos or Mark Zuckerberg having a philosophy of life beyond their business. Full answer

  13. What Career Rule Does Jared Diamond Live by? at 1:47:05

    Jared Diamond says perhaps the main advice is to make sure you do something you enjoy, because that is what most people do not do. Full answer

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