Field Marshal William Joseph Slim, 1st Viscount Slim, KG, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, DSO, MC, KStJ (6 August 1891 – 14 December 1970), usually known as Bill Slim, was a British military commander and the 13th Governor-General of Australia.

Slim saw active service in both the First and Second World Wars and was wounded in action three times. During the Second World War he led the 14th Army, the so-called "forgotten army" in the Burma campaign. After the war he became the first British officer who had served in the Indian Army to be appointed Chief of the Imperial General Staff. From 1953 to 1959 he was Governor-General of Australia and is regarded by many Australians as an authentic war hero who had fought with the Anzacs at Gallipoli.

Lieutenant General Sir John Kiszely has recommended Slim's memoirs (Defeat into Victory) (1956) describing Slim as "perhaps the Greatest Commander of the 20th Century" and commenting on Slim's "self-deprecating style". Military historian Max Hastings stated:

In contrast to almost every other outstanding commander of the war, Slim was a disarmingly normal human being, possessed of notable self-knowledge. He was without pretension, devoted to his wife, Aileen, their family and the Indian Army. His calm, robust style of leadership and concern for the interests of his men won the admiration of all who served under him ... His blunt honesty, lack of bombast and unwillingness to play courtier did him few favours in the corridors of power. Only his soldiers never wavered in their devotion.

Source: Wikipedia

Slim's life and career is not without controversy, and allegations of sexual abuse of children raise important questions about his leadership in light of alleged moral and criminal breaches of trust, allegations that are yet to be proven and were not answered before his death in 1970. 

Join Lee Baines, Sedgil Wartermberg and Greg Dea as they discuss Slim's position as Lee's favourite military leader of the 20th Century.

Three years as President of the USA, a Naval Reserve Officer, a war hero. Despite coming from a wealthy family, JFK pushed for a new frontier, to push Americans to be better, to take people out of poverty, to provide more opportunity, to improve the economy to make it better for everyone. Asking individuals to contribute to the country he served, he developed the Peace Corp to push soft power and support developing countries. Like most leaders, he made mistakes and yet was renown for being a great crisis manager. 
Join Lee and Greg as they hear Sedgil's arguments for why JFK is his favourite political leader of the 20th Century and what we can learn from his character and ways. 

The three wise men use the topic of their favourite leaders within a specific field of human endeavour to tease out what great leaders did in the 20th Century and what we can learn to understand leaders today. Are our choices fallible? Should we accept their foibles because of the great things they did? What makes a great leader? Join us for part 1 of 3, where we discuss Sir Alex Ferguson.