Leadership Is Worthless...But Leading Is Priceless: What I Learned from 9/11, the NFL, and Ukraine - Softcover

Thom Mayer MD

Softcover

ISBN 13: 9798890571946

Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2026

Synopsis

These leadership lessons work for leaders at every level when everything goes wrong, from the doctor who saved lives after the 9/11 attacks, in war-torn Ukraine, and on the NFL sidelines.

Dr. Thom Mayer doesn’t just talk about leadership: he lives it in the world’s most high-stakes situations. From commanding the 9/11 Pentagon rescue operation to rushing onto NFL fields during medical emergencies to training doctors in war-torn Ukraine, Mayer has learned that leadership isn’t about titles or positions. It’s about action.

In this practical guide, Mayer reveals eleven provocative principles that flip conventional leadership wisdom: “Leadership is worthless . . . but leading is priceless.” “Power is worthless . . . but influence is priceless.” “Success is worthless . . . but failure is priceless.” Through gripping stories from the Pentagon’s smoking corridors, NFL sidelines, and Ukrainian hospitals, he shows how real leaders emerge not from corner offices but from moments of crisis when someone must step up and act.

Whether readers are managing a team, raising a family, or facing a crossroads, Mayer’s hard-won insights will transform how readers think about influence, teamwork, and making decisions under pressure. This isn’t theoretical leadership. Mayer offers battle-tested wisdom from someone who has led when lives hung in the balance.

About this title

About the Author

Thom Mayer, MD, serves as medical director for the National Football League Players Association and founded Best Practices Inc. A clinical professor of emergency medicine at George Washington University and senior lecturing fellow at Duke University, he led medical operations during the 9/11 Pentagon attack and has commanded emergency response teams for over three decades. Dr. Mayer speaks at forty to fifty conferences annually on crisis leadership, emergency medicine, and organizational resilience. He was the physician who treated Damar Hamlin during his on-field cardiac arrest and currently trains medical personnel in Ukraine’s war zones.

Edition details

• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 13: 9798890571946
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208