Leadership Reading Recommendations

Good thread. I have a DS at USAFA Prep, but he has a 16 year old sister interested in government and leadership. Anyone have any recommendations for good books on leadership written by women? TIA
 
Jess7655 said:
This has nothing to do with the military, but offers insights into business and healthcare leadership. “If Disney ran your hospital”. It is a great read.
I especially liked the part about empowering your staff with the ability to say yes. I was a Disney college summer intern. For example, let’s say a bird pooped on a guest’s shirt. As a 19 year old summer temp, I had the authority to go to the nearest gift shop and give the guest a new shirt. No supervisor permission needed. Any employee has the ability, and is encouraged, to see a problem and fix that problem. The ability to tell a guest yes. Imagine a hospital with that level of customer service.
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Disney is one of the best at what some call “Frontline Leadership.” This is the thought that every person in the organization is a leader, especially in the eyes of the customer. When something goes awry at Disney they don’t blame Bob Iger or any number of other high level executives, they blame the worker on the front line. I actually teach a class on this exact topic to Physiscians-in-training at my hospital.

We don’t go this in depth in that lecture; however, in the U.S. healthcare system the problem is that there is significant blurring of who the actual customer is. A patient believes they are the customer, but unless they are paying cash that is incorrect. Most of the time in the civilian healthcare system the insurance company is the actual customer.

In the military healthcare system the customer is actually the Line (aka the Combatant Commander or higher) and not the actual patient. Now day to day the reality is the patient is usually treated as the customer; however, the overarching reason military medicine exists is to return a Service Member to the fight as quick as possible. This could, at times, be opposed to doing what is “right” for the patient, but thankfully this has not been put to the test in any recent history.
 
Capt MJ said:
I mentioned GEN Dunwoody’s book in my post.

It shouldn’t really matter about the gender of the writer. But that’s in a perfect world.
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No, you are correct, of course. But my 16 year old is all girl-power right now, so I was hoping for something inspirational for her. She's applying for Girls State soon, just getting her pumped up. Thank you!
 
Capt MJ said:
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Any of VADM James Stockdale’s books, but I always liked “Thoughts of a Philosophical Fighter Pilot” best. He was an admirer of Epictetus and Stoicism, and used that to lead and survive during his POW experience.

Anything by GEN Colin Powell, but my favorites include “It Worked For Me.”

By Gen Ann Dunwoody, first female 4-star, “A Higher Standard.”

“Reflections of a Servant Leader,” Major General Alfred Flowers. I had never heard of him until I was given this book. I enjoyed it tremendously.

Chief of Naval Operations pro reading:
https://www.navy.mil/ah_online/cno-readingprogram/
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Certainly agree with Capt MJ's recommendation of any of VADM Stockdale's books. My favorite is "In Love and War" by Jim & Sybil Stockdale.

Two other books come to mind when thinking about leadership:
1. "American Generalship, Character is Everything: The Art of Command" by Edgar F. Puryear, Jr.
2. "MARSHALL: Hero For Our Times" by Leonard Mosley
 
"Passion of Command" by Col B. P. McCoy, USMC. $4 for Kindle edition. You can read it in a day. Draws on Colonel McCoy's personal experience, general philosophy, and the 'science' of combat/stress.
 
+1 to @kp2001. It’s easy to think of leadership in purely military terms and contexts, which is overly narrow. Truly great leaders read across genres and industries and beyond simple boundaries. Gen. Mattis’s list is case in point.

+1 on the reco of “Endurance.” Shackelton’s epic voyage has to go down as one of the greatest displays of leadership known to man. Simply brilliant what he did, and he was a civilian.
 
MidCakePa said:
+1 to @kp2001.
+1 on the reco of “Endurance.” Shackelton’s epic voyage has to go down as one of the greatest displays of leadership known to man. Simply brilliant what he did, and he was a civilian.
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Interestingly Sinek in Start with Why discusses one of the reasons why Shackleton was able to do what he did and Sinek argues that it was because Shackleton knew his “why” and not just his “what”(expedition). His evidence is the advertisement Shackleton took out which looked for people who shared his why and not just looking for other adventurers. He was looking for people who were willing to put up with terrible conditions and this, Sinek argues, is why his men were willing to follow him even in the worst of times (or at least one reason).

The ad reads:
“Men Wanted for hazardous journey, small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful, honor and recognition in case of success.”

He didn’t even mention what they were actually going to do, he just wanted men who had a similar take on the world.
 
Duty as well as A Passion For Leadership by Dr. Robert M. Gates. Both great reads and insight into different leadership styles needed to serve.
 
kp2001 said:
He was looking for people who were willing to put up with terrible conditions and this, Sinek argues, is why his men were willing to follow him even in the worst of times (or at least one reason).

The ad reads:
“Men Wanted for hazardous journey, small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful, honor and recognition in case of success.”

He didn’t even mention what they were actually going to do, he just wanted men who had a similar take on the world.
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I see that compared to this iconic ad:

upload_2019-1-7_3-47-50.jpeg
 
kp2001 said:
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For practical advice: many of the books I and others have suggested are available free via either ebook or audio book download to those on active duty (and possibly Reserves, ROTC, etc I’m just not 100% sure on that) through the Navy Digital Library program. Once you sign up via CAC you can login without CAC from anywhere. One of the included programs also includes digital access to what seems to be every magazine out there. Highly recommend signing up for an account. Can’t beat free!
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https://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=104662

Navy MWR Online Library. Mids should be able to access. Most of CNO Reading List is there.
 
Not exactly leadership but should be required reading for any man going into a career with life and death situations and decisions

On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace - Lt Col Dave Grossman
 
@Old Navy BGO and @Devil Doc - I agree with the comments regarding the commercialization of anything "Navy Seals" recently.

@charlestonmom5 : your daughter may like "Leading from the Front - No excuse leadership tactics for women." This book was written by two Marine Captains who became business consultants. It is an easy read built around the Marine Corps' leadership principles and told from a female's perspective.
 
I recently completed a fairly extensive training program for law enforcement supervisors, where we read several great books on leadership, including Endurance and The Five dysfunctions of a Team and I will second (or third) those recommendations. Another I will highly recommend is Emotional Survival for Law Enforcement by Dr. Kevin Gilmartin. While this is written for law enforcement officers, I believe many of the the principles would apply well to a military member or anywhere a person is working in an environment where stress levels fluctuate widely. It's an easy read and quite enlightening. My wife read it as well and it gave her some great perspective of why I am certain ways. Here are some other readings from the course that I would recommend:
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl- Frankl was a psychiatrist and prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp. From his experiences he writes about how people need a person WHY to survive difficult experiences, not just a how.
The Ten Golden Rules of Leadership by Soupios and Mourdoukoutas
Leadership and Self-Deception- by The Arbinger Institute
How Good People Make Tough Choices- by Rushworth M. Kidder
The Leadership Challenge- by Kouzes and Posner
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People- by Stephen Covey
 
I'd also suggest finding some reading on the subject of groupthink. We spent a good portion of a session on this topic; what leads to it; the dangers of it; how to recognize it; how to avoid falling into it, etc. There were a couple interesting videos that went along with it, including one on how groupthink contributed to the space shuttle Challenger disaster. We also dissected how groupthink played a role in an incident where four police officers were killed.
 
USMCGrunt said:
@Old Navy BGO and @Devil Doc - I agree with the comments regarding the commercialization of anything "Navy Seals" recently.

@charlestonmom5 : your daughter may like "Leading from the Front - No excuse leadership tactics for women." This book was written by two Marine Captains who became business consultants. It is an easy read built around the Marine Corps' leadership principles and told from a female's perspective...
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...in crayon? :D
 
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