A guide to sage leadership and a political thriller rolled into one, Swordless Samurai is a must-read for anyone trying to steer their organization down the right path. The pages brim with lessons on how to inspire loyalty, mitigate weaknesses, and build trust-tactics used by the legendary Toyotomi Hideyoshi to unite feudal Japan's warring clans.

But this is also a cautionary tale about the pitfalls of hubris, the downfall of empires and corporations alike. Hideyoshi's story, with its rollicking accounts of bloody battles and ingenious subterfuge, reveals how leaders can accomplish the seemingly impossible, and how they can avoid the darker consequences of success.

--Brendan I. Koerner, contributing editor, Wired

By peeling back the curtain on one of Japan's most famous leaders, Tim Clark has given English language readers insight into one of the country's most widely admired and imitated heroes. Hideyoshi is no typical business guru, but his lessons have inspired generations of executives. I spent more than a decade in Japan, and The Swordless Samurai is valuable reading for anyone doing business there or looking for a deeper understanding of timeless leadership principles.

--Ken Belson of The New York Times

The wisdom of this sixteenth-century century samurai is astonishingly prescient and pertinent for twenty-first century leaders. Practical wisdom at its best.

--Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Business, USC, and author of On Becoming a Leader

In a time of endless chaos and bloodshed, when the only law was the law of the sword, a peasant boy named Hideyoshi dreamed of becoming a samurai. Despite his lack of strength and size, he learned to outthink and outmaneuver every foe to become not just a samurai, but one of the greatest military and civic leaders Japan has ever known.  Hideyoshi’s timeless leadership secrets offer effective strategies for succeeding in business, con?ict, and life, and are destined to take their place beside such classics as The Book of Five Rings and The Art of War.