The F.I.R.E.D. Leader
The F.I.R.E.D. Leader reveals why today’s leadership systems keep recycling yesterday’s thinking — and shows how to cultivate the kind of leaders who can thrive amid disruption, challenge convention with purpose, and regenerate the future of leadership itself
‘The world doesn’t need yet another leadership book. It needs an honest conversation about how to prepare for the future of leadership.’
The F.I.R.E.D. Leadership Qualities
The F.I.R.E.D. Leadership framework is a practical tool to support and guide leaders, leadership teams, and organizations in integrating the F.I.R.E.D. Leadership qualities into their existing approaches to leadership identification, recruitment, onboarding, and development.
Praise for The F.I.R.E.D. Leader
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Step aside, ego-driven leadership. The F.I.R.E.D. Leader is a bold, necessary shake-up for how we lead. McCarthy exposes the dysfunction of traditional leadership and offers a fresh, practical path forward - empowering, innovative, and inclusive. A must-read for leaders ready to ignite real, sustainable change.
Kyle Roed
CHRO & Co-Founder, Rebel Human Resources Podcast
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F.I.R.E.D. is a great book to read if you want to examine your core beliefs about what leadership should look like today and what it needs to look like tomorrow. It’s not a book trying to sell you a methodology, it’s trying to persuade you that your philosophy around leadership needs a nudge sideways into a different paradigm.
Andy Prince
COO, The Empowerists
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“McCarthy writes like a frank, fearless truth-teller—and backs it with research. The F.I.R.E.D. Leader invites fresh thinking, rigorous inquiry, and the honest, challenging conversations we avoid. It’s a practical blueprint for upgrading leadership—balancing candour with compassion—and a catalyst for the culture change we keep postponing.”
Zoe Routh
Leadership Futurist
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The F.I.R.E.D. Leader is a refreshing departure from the usual leadership rhetoric. In a landscape cluttered with complex theories, this book offers a straightforward yet profound approach to leadership. Rather than drowning readers in buzzwords and jargon, it presents five fundamental qualities that should underpin leadership.
Dr. Marshall Goldsmith
Thinkers50 #1 Executive Coach and New York Times bestselling author of The Earned Life, Triggers, and What Got You Here Won’t Get You There.
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I had the opportunity to pre-read this book before it was released. This is a guidebook for every leader everywhere. It’s a truth telling impactful look at everything wrong with leadership today and how to fix it.
Loren Sanders
Former Learning Leader (Enterprise Learning, Development & Performance) for CVS Health
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The F.I.R.E.D. Leader is the spark Learning and Development has needed. Paul McCarthy exposes why our leadership systems are stuck in the past and shows how to ignite potential by embracing tomorrow’s leaders today.
Gerod Strothenke
Senior Learning and Development Specialist
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For anyone who has felt the sting of dismissal, "Paul McCarthy's The F.I.R.E.D. Leader poses a thought-provoking question–––What if you were let go because you were doing your job well? This book challenges us to reframe firing not as a failure, but a possible sign of disruptive leadership potential. For anyone wanting to lead bravely, F.I.R.E.D. is a necessary read.
Whitney Johnson
CEO of Disruption Advisors, a Thinkers50 Top 10 Management Thinker, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author
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In The F.I.R.E.D. Leader, Paul McCarthy challenges the embedded habits of leadership. It’s packed with learning moments that will stretch your thinking—good stuff!
Garry Ridge
Former CEO, WD-40 Company
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Few people are as bold as Paul McCarthy in exposing the systemic failures of leadership development—and in proposing a simple, radical alternative. Anyone who cares about the future of leadership should read this book.
Professor Gary Hamel
London Business School
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It is challenging to write in just a few sentences how important and impactful this book is. Leadership is broken and we must find a way to fix it. Fortunately, Paul McCarthy has the answer. His F.I.R.E.D. framework is precisely what is required to create the new generation of leaders our world so desperately needs. If you want to be successful as a leader, you must read this book.
John Spence
One of the top business and leadership experts in the world.
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The F.I.R.E.D. Leader is a beacon for the future of leadership—bold, nonlinear, and deeply relevant in a world of constant change. McCarthy offers a roadmap for leaders ready to think differently and lead with flexibility, empathy, and courage.
Perry Knoppert
Founder of the Octopus Movement
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“The F.I.R.E.D. Leader is a much-needed wake-up call. Paul McCarthy challenges outdated leadership systems and offers a practical, actionable blueprint to prepare leaders for tomorrow—not just the demands of yesterday.”
Learning & Development Leader
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McCarthy turns ‘getting fired’ on its head—a sharp wake-up call for both leaders and organizations. For leaders, it’s emboldening; for companies, it’s a mirror—if they’re brave enough to look.
Former MD
Talent & Leadership Development
