Leadership/Military Book reccomendations

19 Stars by Edgar Puryear
American Generalship by Edgar Puryear
Once an Eagle by Anton Myrer
12 O'Clock High by Sy Bartlett & Beirne Lay
Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun by Wes Roberts
Lincoln on Leadership by Donald Phillips


These are just the first few off the top of my head...
 
AZDad2024 said:

mca-marines.org

Commandant's Professional Reading List (Foundational) - MCA

Please note: You are viewing the Foundational Commandant's Reading List, which is comprised of the CPRL as it was before General Berger released his new CPRL.
mca-marines.org mca-marines.org

Check out these two websites. A year or two of good reading for sure.
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When this topic comes up I like to brag about getting two autographed copies for my son of two books on the majors list.

One of the authors is a former CO of mine who lives just a few miles from me.
 
Just finished Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown. The book is based on the all Japanese American 442nd Regimental Combat Team during WWII. It should be added to the CNO and Commandant's reading lists because of its historical and social context of today. This is true history that should not be forgotten.
 
archive.org

The last stand of Fox Company : a true story of U.S. Marines in combat : Drury, Bob : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Includes bibliographical references (p. [331]-334) and index
archive.org

its a decent book that tells a much greater story .

but anyone considering the USMC should read it if just to read about Captain William Barber .

I don’t particularly recommend this book for parents of those considering the USMC

William Barber and what he did with Fox company 1950 is what being a USMC junior officer in combat is all about if the combat leadership is done virtually perfect under the worst possible conditions.

LOL he showed up from the states , clean shaven , with clean pressed clothes , and pulled his new combat weary Fox company together and told them they were lucky because he was really good at this combat stuff :)
 
“This Kind of War” by TR Fehrenbach.
The book is a history of the Korean War but the first half of the book is a critique of the failings of the US Army in the interwar years and a perhaps unintended lesson in leadership.
During WWII many parents complained about the difficult training their drafted sons were subjected to during the war. In addition, with the dawn of the nuclear age it was assumed land armies would have little function in a future, and assumed nuclear war. Training was neglected as their was little money. Discipline became very poor. Armament was not modernized.
The result was going to war “with the Army we had, not the Army we needed” and culminated in Task Force Smith, an abject fiasco. US soldiers dropped their weapons and fled at the first shot leaving officers and NCOs to fend for themselves. One US General was even captured as he was trying to knock out North Korean tanks.
So, especially as we enter an “interwar” period in the military I highly recommend “This Kind of War” and charge every leader to have the same mantra I had as a commander- “No more Task Force Smith”. I swore an oath, that even with budget cuts and cancelled training I would find a way to train my company so I would never be on a C-5 heading off somewhere looking at an aircraft full of ill prepared soldiers.
 
At work, we are reading and discussing Extreme Ownership: How Navy SEALs Lead and Win. Great application to work and personal life.
 
I recommend looking at the DOD Reads website, with various military reading lists, as well as listening to their podcasts, which features interviews with well-known people and very senior people and book reviews. It is a private website started by a USNA grad, and very well regarded.
www.dodreads.com

- DODReads

I'm John Laney, a guy who nearly failed his Command Selecton Board when he could not come with a good answer to "What are you Reading?" Four years later I'm running the largest military reading website; come join me on the journy.
www.dodreads.com www.dodreads.com

Anything written by ADM (Ret) USN James Stavridis. Also any choice from his “The Leader’s Bookshelf.”

GEN (Ret) USMC James Mattis’ reading lists.
radicalreads.com

General James Mattis' Reading List for Leaders - Radical Reads

A list of books on wartime leadership recommended by former US Secretary of Defense James 'Mad Dog' Mattis.
radicalreads.com radicalreads.com
 
I'd go with Capt MJ's recommendations above but add "Along the Way, Leadership Lessons to My Son" which was put together and privately published by a Navy Captain for his newly commissioned son. I was honored to be one of the authors and have a copy but it is not commercially available.

There are also a lot of valuable Leadership resources through the Stockdale Center at USNA.
 
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Full Disclosure: My USNA Class donates a lot to the Stockdale center and the first director, Col Art Athens USMC (Former Commandant of USMMA)
is a classmate as are top Staffers RADM "Blues" Baker CHC RET, LtGen John Wissler USMC and Mr. Mike Sears. I'm a big believer in what they are doing.
 
Chortling at the use of "brah".
 
I'll just say this . . . reading about leadership is great and something that everyone who ever expects to be in a leadership position -- civilian or military -- should do. But reading is no substitute for doing.

The best way to learn to lead is first learning to follow (and what it means to be a follower) while observing the good and bad traits of your leaders. Then, you have to do it. Get out there and lead. Most of us make mistakes along the way. We learn from them and come out the other side as better leaders. Each person also has to develop his / her leadership style. There was Patton and there was Eisenhower. There was Halsey and there was Nimitz. All great leaders -- all very different approaches.

That's one reason the SAs exist -- to help prepare leaders. You sort of hope that folks make their leadership "mistakes" there and learn from them before hitting the fleet. Not everyone does.

I remember our leadership courses at USNA. It all seemed so simple. The triangle of "Accountability, Authority and Responsibility." And all the other stuff we read. Not a problem. Right. :rolleyes: Didn't really figure it out until the end of my first tour when I (finally) got a great Chief.

Definitely read what is suggested above -- but keep in mind that leadership is individual, partly innate, and mostly learned.
 
usna1985 said:
That's one reason the SAs exist -- to help prepare leaders.
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+1 to @usna1985. You can only read so much about leadership. For many years, I worked for a F200 company that emphasized leadership. In that time, I saw that the best way to learn it is by studying great leaders around you. Find someone who does it well and figure out why. Then see how those behaviors match your own personality and perspective, and refine to make the style authentically your own.

Big distinction there: Do not just copy a great leader. That leads to inauthenticity, which leads to poor leadership. Instead, see how they do things well and practice those things in your own way. There’s trial and error involved — the great ones never stop improving. But in the end, less reading and more practicing.
 
MidCakePa said:
+1 to @usna1985. You can only read so much about leadership. For many years, I worked for a F200 company that emphasized leadership. In that time, I saw that the best way to learn it is by studying great leaders around you. Find someone who does it well and figure out why. Then see how those behaviors match your own personality and perspective, and refine to make the style authentically your own.

Big distinction there: Do not just copy a great leader. That leads to inauthenticity, which leads to poor leadership. Instead, see how they do things well and practice those things in your own way. There’s trial and error involved — the great ones never stop improving. But in the end, less reading and more practicing.
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You can also learn a lot from bad leaders! I had one that was a micro-manager, the type that asked you about progress on an assigned project incessantly, when it was clear there hadn’t been time for anything to happen yet, which makes someone feel untrusted, pressured, uncommunicative and resentful, poison in the workplace. I swore to not do that to people, but to discuss upfront and mutually agree on status update intervals, and stick to them on my part, but also let the person know if they hit a bump, I would be available to listen and help as needed.
 
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