The Leadership Crisis and the Free Market Cure: Why the Future of Business Depends on the Return to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

Hailed by Forbes magazine as “one of the most important books of the year,” John Allison’s breakout bestseller The Financial Crisis and the Free Market Cure came as a much-needed wake-up call at a time when capitalism itself was under fire. Now the award-winning CEO applies his vast experience and insight to unlocking the key to our long-term economic and societal well-being: true leadership.

If you are serious about pursuing your personal happiness, this book provides powerful insights.

If you want to be a stronger, more effective leader, this book will show you how.

If you believe in a healthy free market, one that’s driven by individuals with new ideas, leaders with real vision, and employees with a clear sense of purpose, this book will give you the tools to make it happen.

If you think the concepts of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” should motivate individual decision making, empower organizations, and drive public policy, this book will reaffirm your commitment to our nation’s core values.

Combining practical hands-on strategies with keen insights into public policy and business, John Allison reveals the fundamental principles he sees as critical to the success of any leader, to all organizations, and to the United States. He shows you how to create a vision of what your organization can be, how to inspire your employees with a purpose-driven mission, and how to develop strategies to make these goals a reality. He shares his personal story of growing BB&T into the tenth largest financial services holding company in the U.S. He demonstrates how the principles which lead to individual happiness are the foundation for organizational and societal well-being.

Most importantly, Allison gives you the time-honored keys to self-leadership―the ability to lead yourself―the most valuable skill you will ever have.

This is how true leaders lead. With vision, purpose, and values. With life and liberty. Are you ready to take the lead?

Praise for The Leadership Crisis and the Free Market Cure

“This thoughtful book by seminal thinker John Allison is a masterpiece. Our Founders would be impressed.”
Steve Forbes, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Media, and bestselling author of Money

“Libertarianism has a reputation for being coldly rational. John Allison heats things up. The Leadership Crisis and the Free Market Cure approaches reason not with chilly abstraction but with 98.6 degrees of human warmth. John gives us principles of logical thinking that take emotion, psychology, and virtue into full account. And he gives us charming personal anecdotes showing how logical thinking turns us into leaders―of businesses, institutions, and, most important, our own lives. Not reading The Leadership Crisis and the Free Market Cure would be irrational.”
P.J. O’Rourke, author, political satirist, and correspondent for The Weekly Standard and The Daily Beast

“An invaluable guide for all those who believe that the surest path to happiness is following your own vision.”
John Mackey, Co-CEO, Whole Foods Market, and coauthor of Conscious Capitalism

“John Allison makes a compelling case for the values necessary for individuals, leaders, and societies to achieve real human happiness.”
Charles Koch, Chairman and CEO, Koch Industries, Inc.

“Every serious thinker about the future of America will benefit by reading The Leadership Crisis and the Free Market Cure!”
James Maynard, Chairman, Golden Corral Corporation

“John Allison understands business and what it takes to be successful. He also understands people and what makes them happy. He brings together this knowledge and insight to effectively argue that we should return to the principles that made America great.”
James M. Kilts, Partner, Centerview Capital Holdings, and former CEO, The Gillette Company

“Compelling and proven ethical leadership principles that provide the foundation for dealing with the economic challenges of our society presented by one of the most successful business leaders of our time.”
Steve Reinemund, Retired Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo

“Nobody better exemplifies a great leader than John Allison―a brilliantly successful businessman and intellectual activist. Anyone interested in both succeeding in business and living a productive and prosperous life, should read this book.”
Yaron Brook, President and Executive Director, The Ayn Rand Institute

“Allison aptly delivers thought-provoking insights by applying libertarianism to leadership. This book is a worthwhile addition to the literature on both leadership and free enterprise.”
Charles Iacovou, Dean, Wake Forest University School of Business

“I have observed first-hand John Allison's successful application of the values and principles covered in this book. What he writes isn't theoretical. He has done it with influence and impact and received much admiration and appreciation from so many. This is a substantive and stimulating read.”
Nido Qubein, President, High Point University; Chairman, Great Harvest Bread; author and speaker

“Blending philosophy and business acumen, John Allison details how the values and principles he used to lead BB&T have wide applicability for individuals, organizations and society.”
Douglas A. Shackelford, Dean and Meade H. Willis Distinguished Professor of Taxation, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School

“If you want to succeed in running a Fortune 500 company, a small mom-and-pop store, or a lemonade stand, then you must read this book. It will help you to develop a code of moral leadership that is sorely lacking in American business today. Dozens of books are published every year on how to succeed in business, but this is by far the best.”
Brad Thompson, Executive Director, Clemson Institute for the Study of Capitalism

John A. Allison is President and CEO of the Cato Institute. Previously he served for twenty years as Chairman and CEO of BB&T, one of the largest financial institutions in America. Allison is a former Distinguished Professor of Practice at Wake Forest University. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from American Banker, was named one of the decade’s top 100 most successful CEOs in the world by Harvard Business Review, and is the recipient of six honorary doctorate degrees.