[November 03, 2013] Today, more books that I found especially interesting:
The Spirit to Serve: Marriott’s Way by J.W. Marriott, Jr. and Kathi Ann Brown
A well-written, inspirational, and easy to read book that contains business tenets of the successful Marriott Hotel chain. He talks about how through sheer determination Marriott shot from the small cottage to the big league, the leadership style of Marriott (the younger Marriott that is) who prefers to walk his troops instead of boardroom inertia, lessons in team building, the importance of listening to all the levels of the organization, and codifying past experiences into business philosophies.
The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today by Thomas E. Ricks
An excellent book that has two main arguments: 1) We should fire Generals that do not perform and 2) that the Army only wants one type of leader and the promotion system suppresses the outliers. We do not fire enough because of bureaucracy and careerism, and the system is favored towards cookie-cutter officers because that is what is best for bureaucracy and careerism. Other services have had critical failures since World War II, but the mission of the Army is to fight and win the nation’s wars, so it is completely fair that the Army withstands the worst of the scrutiny and the criticism.
To go to the full Professional Reading list, simply click on this direct link: www.theleadermaker.com/reading-list/