How have people managed extraordinary things to escape the shackles of their circumstances? Can success be taught, or does it depend on personal talent alone – is it nature or nurture? Does luck have a part to play?

This book finds common threads across different disciplines – sport, business, war and politics. A consistent set of leadership attributes emerges, around personal organisation and dedication, maintaining attention to detail while keeping an eye on clear and realisable long-term goals, assiduous planning and careful prioritisation, building a team that delivers institutional capacity and personal support, compiling experience and building skills, focusing on changing yourself rather than others, taking a long view, and thinking things through to the finish. All these factors contribute to the achievement of success over different eras, in diverse settings, in public life as well as private business, in conflict and in the sporting arena.

The book’s overall message is one of empowerment, whatever the level of your potential. Just as Sir Chris Hoy told the authors, ‘The only person you have to beat is yourself, yesterday.’