Company Command has done a survey of Army officers about what they read and then published the top fifty. They call it Read2Lead. I've always thought that when a leader isn't doing his job, he ought to be learning how to do it better. I was blessed to have a Command Sergeant Major in Germany who believed that an NCO should read through all of the same reading lists as the officers he serves under. He would assign reading at each NCO development session, and expected us to be able to discuss the contents of each of them, the lessons to be learned, and how they applied to us as Intelligence professionals.
Here's the list from Read2Lead, with ones I've read in bold and my notes:
(Links to Amazon if you want to get your own copy will also drop a few shekels in Uncle's gun fund.)
- Once an Eagle - Read it, reread it, made my son read it. My daughter will also read it, and so will Boo when he gets old enough. It's a morality play about the selfless warrior played against the self-interested careerist, but you have to have ideals to strive for, and this one provides them with sprinkles on top. The lessons in this one apply to anyone, military or not.
- We Were Soldiers Once…and Young - Excellent telling of the story of one of the first big fights in Vietnam. Also gave me background information when I learned who Rick Rescorla was.
- Platoon Leader: A Memoir of Command in Combat
- Taking the Guidon: Exceptional Leadership at the Company Level
- Black Hearts: One Platoon’s Descent into Madness in Iraq’s Triangle
- Small Unit Leadership: A Commonsense Approach
- On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society - I've read some excerpts from this, and I need to read the whole thing.
- Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest - Another one that I've read and reread. Also gave to my sons to read, and will give to the daughter when she's old enough.
- Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
- Infantry Attacks - Read all of it in English and then reread parts of it in German. There is a difference in content.
- A Message to Garcia
- NIV Study Bible
- The Prince
- On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace - I've read some excerpts from this, and I need to read the whole thing.
- The Good Soldiers
- Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae
- About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior - Read it initially as a young PFC. Reread it every couple of years since. If half of what Hackworth says about his career is true, he was as hard as chicken lips.
- The Leadership Lessons of Jesus: A Timeless Model for Today’s Leaders
- Principle-Centered Leadership
- The Defence of Duffer’s Drift
- The Heights of Courage: A Tank Leader’s War on the Golan
- How to Win Friends and Influence People - Believe it or not, I've read this one. One of my former employers thought I needed "people skills".
- Team Yankee - Great novel. A little dated now, but the leadership shown by the main character still shines.
- The Forgotten Soldier
- East of Chosin: Entrapment and Breakout In Korea, 1950
- Leadership and Training for the Fight: A Few Thoughts on Leadership and Training from a Former Special Operations Soldier
- The Places In Between
- Steel My Soldiers’ Hearts: The Hopeless to Hardcore Transformation of 4th Battalion, 39th Infantry, United States Army, Vietnam - Another great one by Hackworth. He expands on something from his first book and discusses how he took a broken down battalion and turned them into fighters.
- Street Without Joy - I used to think this was kind of dated, but considering how Iraq and Afghanistan are going, I know now that I was wrong.
- Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap … and Others Don’t
- The Village
- First Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently
- Passion of Command: The Moral Imperative of Leadership
- Company Commander: The Classic Infantry Memoir of World War II
- Leadership: The Warrior’s Art
- Company Command: The Bottom Line
- Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters
- The Defense of Jisr al-Doreaa
- Infantry in Battle
- The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
- Shackleton’s Way: Leadership Lessons from the Great Antarctic Explorer
- Words for Warriors: A Professional Soldier’s Notebook
- The Arab Mind
- Cigars, Whiskey and Winning: Leadership Lessonsfrom General Ulysses S. Grant
- It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy
- Muddy Boots Leadership: Real Life Stories and Personal Examples of Good, Bad, and Unexpected Results
- The Soldier and the State: The Theory and Politics of Civil-Military Relations
- This Kind of War: The Classic Korean War History
- The 360 Degree Leader: Developing Your Influence from Anywhere in the Organization
- The Mission, the Men, and Me: Lessons from a Former Delta Force Commander
I think I need to read more. I haven't read too many books on the list that have been published since I got out. How about the rest of y'all?
3 comments:
"This Kind of War" is a great history of the Korean War. I recommend it to everyone, military or not.
Two more:
Starship Troopers (Don't judge it by the movie, the book is on the West Point reading list)
Ender's Game - really a lesson on how NOT to train officers but a good read none the less
@Anon 11:51: I agree that the conduct of the teachers/brass in Ender's Game is best used as a negative example, but Ender's own leadership and innovation thinking are IMNSHO a valuable example to follow for *any* leader.
Post a Comment