The Leadership Lessons of the U.S. Navy SEALS : Battle-Tested Strategies for Creating Successful Organizations and Inspiring Extraordinary Results

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Summary: Insightful!
Review: If you've declared war on your company's lackluster performance, this book will help you launch an all-out assault. Leadership Lessons of the Navy Seals demonstrates through the experiences of this elite military unit of Sea, Air and Land commandos that combat lessons can apply to the corporate world. The book provides examples of SEAL tactics and missions, along with their corporate applications, particularly in strong team building. Authors Jeff Cannon and Lt. Cmdr. Jon Cannon combine their experience in business and the U.S. Navy in a no-nonsense, practical guide. They zero in on setting goals and commanding your troops with deadly accuracy. While their problem-solving text gets straight to the point, it isn't novel and they repeat lessons under different titles. The book is a laundry list, a useful approach in allowing you to choose what you need. We from getAbstract found that the Cannons fire off a good how-to book for corporate strategists who want to develop battle plans for improving their teams and organizations.

Rating:
Summary: SEAL examples make this book standout
Review: This book clearly sets itself apart from othe management books with its many Navy Seal examples and how they can be applied to business world situations. Those who have any interest in how the military functions will enjoy Leadership Lessons.

Rating:
Summary: Must read for aspiring leaders.
Review: This book is the most accessible leadership book i've read recently. It is presented as a case by case basis (The Misson) with lessons learned from it (The Take Away), albeit in a corny way.

Those who are military buffs will surely enjoy this book, however, the corporate world is a far different outfit. The best example from the book would be the case where the officers of the same rank were placed together to pitch a tent in the dark. Due to that, everyone was barking orders to each other in order to stand out and appear superior.

It is almost impossible to reprimand your subordinates without risking a resignation and the balance between enforcing your right as a superior and eliciting favours is a fine line. My philosophy of leadership is fairly simple. Lay down the expectations from day one, and hire those who can accept those expectations, never force someone to do something that they are not willing to do (Chapter 4, Lesson 1). You cannot trim down your troops through attrition in the corporate organization (no boot camps here) by piling so much work that your employees quit and only the best remain. There's just not enough time and not enough people to complete any project implementation. Only a handful of organizations can do that ie. Nordstrom via psychological preasure rather than physical.

Chapter 3 focuses on building leadership, while chapter 4 focuses on being a grunt. 2 sides of the coin which are highly important. In summary, a must read. (Highly recommend, Built to Last)

Rating:
Summary: Compelling, effective, and unpretentious study
Review: This was a surprising find. The authors filled Leadership Lessons with plenty of accounts of commando operations, but this is actually an effective guide to business and leadership. Compelling commando examples were chosen for their relevance to actual business situations. Each chapter is made up of a SEAL mission and a counterpart civilian situation -- no fluff. It works where other books have failed. Great, solid commando stories applied to situations you can relate with. The two authors -- a SEAL and businessman --pulled it off very well.