Book] Leadership | Typhoon – Joseph Conrad

Hi All,

"What book do you re-read?"

I asked this to a few CEOs and senior leaders over the years. Most cite business classics — Good to Great, The Innovator's Dilemma, maybe Meditations. But one answer kept coming up: Typhoon by Joseph Conrad.

Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, reportedly keeps it on his bedside table and has read it multiple times. I've heard similar recommendations from fund managers, diplomats, and university presidents — people steering massive institutions through chaos. At first, I didn't get it. A 100-page novella about a steamship in a storm? What does that have to do with running Netflix?

But after being introduced to the world of sailing, I understood. Anyone who has crossed the ocean on a sailing boat (without heavily relying on the power engine) would understand this feeling. You are not in control. The ocean — the water and the wind — tests your resilience, surrender, and strategy.

Then I read it again. And I got it.

It is a short novel about a ship captain who sails straight into a storm and what that tells us about command under pressure.

At just over 100 pages, it doesn't give you a manual. It gives you Captain MacWhirr — a man whose quiet resolve during a brutal storm tells you more about leadership than most business books.

The setup is simple: a merchant steamship, Nan-Shan, sails straight into a catastrophic storm in the South China Sea. Captain MacWhirr, unremarkable to everyone around him, makes the call to proceed — and holds steady. The storm reveals character.

What It's About

Typhoon is about:

• Staying calm under pressure
• Making decisions when instinct and optics don't align
• How ordinary leadership can yield extraordinary outcomes

MacWhirr doesn't inspire anyone. He doesn't give speeches. He doesn't explain himself. But he survives the storm — and brings everyone through. That's it.

How This Maps to Today

In markets: When volatility hits, teams don't want brilliance. They want steadiness. The best PMs and CIOs absorb fear, not amplify it.

In policy: During crises, the leaders who react least often make the best decisions.

In firms: In high-stakes environments, boring leaders — those who move without ego or panic — keep institutions intact.

Key Takeaways: Hard Leadership Lessons

• Silence is a tool: MacWhirr doesn't waste words. He doesn't over-explain or justify. When you're certain, speak once. Execute.
• Boring beats brilliant in crisis: The flashy first mate panics. MacWhirr doesn't. Steadiness outlasts cleverness when stakes are high.
• Decide, then commit. Once MacWhirr chooses to sail through, he doesn't second-guess. Wavering spreads. Conviction holds teams.
• Integrity in small moments matters: MacWhirr's fairness to the Chinese coolies — returning their silver after chaos — cements his authority. Leadership isn't just crisis management. It's doing right when no one's looking.
• Don't debate the inevitable: MacWhirr doesn't philosophize about the typhoon. He accepts it and moves. Some leaders get paralyzed analyzing. The best ones absorb reality and navigate.
• Trust comes from follow-through, not charm: No one likes MacWhirr. Everyone trusts him. That's the trade worth making.

The Leadership Framework

• Emotional control: MacWhirr doesn't dramatize. Calm leadership isn't loud. It's consistent.
• Not likable, but trusted: He's not admired. But he's trusted. In real crisis, that's what matters.
• Full commitment: Once he decides, he doesn't waver. Changing course mid-storm kills morale and outcomes.
• Execution over thinking: He doesn't intellectualize. He acts. Clarity beats cleverness.
• No ego: He doesn't manipulate or moralize. Leadership without ego works.
• Face problems head-on: He sails into the storm while others would dodge it. Some challenges can't be avoided.

What This Book Shows That Business Books Don't

MacWhirr is not inspirational. He's not "visionary." He's functional. That's the point.

No pep talk. No strategy session. Just doing the job — all the way through.

A leader who doesn't need recognition to be effective.

Evidence-Based Principles

• Emotional control beats emotional expression in crisis
• Action without ego outperforms performative intelligence
• Conviction in simplicity anchors institutions when everything else breaks
• Trust forms in hindsight, not speeches

Why This Matters Now

Most leaders today are rewarded for visibility. Typhoon shows that endurance is built quietly — in how you hold the wheel when no one's watching. In decisions that look wrong in the moment but prove right over time.

This applies to:

Financial markets: Calm allocators outperform reactive ones

Policy & diplomacy: The real decisions happen invisibly

Organizations: Not all leadership is public — sometimes it's showing up every day with integrity

Closing Reflection

Some storms are unavoidable.

What defines you isn't whether you predict them — it's how you act inside them.

MacWhirr didn't have vision. He had ballast.

Maybe that's what the world needs more of.

📚 For those steering institutions through volatility, Typhoon isn't literature — it's a playbook.