Character in Action: The U.S. Coast Guard on Leadership [Hardcover]

Donald T. Phillips (Author), James M. Loy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2003

How does the U.S. Coast Guard create, instill, and maintain leadership throughout a 40,000 member force spread across the United States? A former Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard and a best-selling author combine their knowledge of the subject to offer a formula for success. Donald T. Phillips, who has written eight books on leadership, asserts that the Coast Guard is a superlative example of an organization with effective leadership, loaded with leaders at all levels. From a guardsman scraping barnacles off buoys in the Gulf of Mexico to the captain of a cutter in the Gulf of Alaska to the Commandant in Washington, they know exactly what leadership is, how it works, and why it is important. This case study in leadership uses the Coast Guard as an example for other organizations who want to imbue leadership to every single one of its members. An effective leadership beacon, the book is replete with tangible examples, vivid anecdotes, and explicit guidelines on how to instill leadership throughout an entire organization. Stories abound on Coast Guard efficiency, innovation, and heroism and many are used to illustrate the service's effectiveness and to engage the reader. From the military and government communities to the business world, a variety of organizations can benefit from this outstanding leadership guide. 5 x 8 inches.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Donald T. Phillips is the author of the bestsellers Lincoln on Leadership and Martin Luther King Jr. on Leadership, and has appeared on leading television and radio programs. Admiral James M. Loy, Commandant of the Coast Guard from 1998 to 2002, was recently appointed Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration, a new federal agency charged with providing security for the nation's transportation system.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 152 pages
• Publisher: United States Naval Inst.; 1 edition (June 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591146720
• ISBN-13: 978-1591146728
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #91,615 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #98 in Books > History > Military > Naval

More About the Author

Best-selling author Don Phillips brings history alive with crisp compelling prose and historical accuracy. His trilogy on American leadership (The Founding Fathers on Leadership, Lincoln on Leadership, Martin Luther King, Jr. on Leadership) continues to win worldwide acclaim. His first book, Lincoln on Leadership, helped pave the way toward the creation of an entire new genre of books on historical leadership. Currently in its 23rd printing, it has been translated into seven languages.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Right book at the right time, July 20, 2005

By 

T. W. Schankweiler III (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Character in Action: The U.S. Coast Guard on Leadership (Hardcover)

I was provided a copy of the book when I became a contractor for the USCG. Having a military background already, I was interested in the military history of the USCG. This book has provided me with a glimpse into the mission of the USCG and its leadership style. There are many heart-warming stories of real life heroes that inspire one to the esprit-de-corp that the military resonates.

If your looking for a turnkey book on leadership this is not it, but if you are looking for ways to inspire people, and to refine your own personal style than this book is definitely what you are looking for. It is food for thought.

Hope you have found this review helpful.

Tom

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you don't like it, re-read it!, February 20, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Character in Action: The U.S. Coast Guard on Leadership (Hardcover)

This is an incredibly good book. If you really did not like it.... Re-read it! You missed something!

If you think it is a primer on leadership, it is not. What it is... is a great book about an organization that serves incredible service to our country with very few people and very little money. Are people in the Coast Guard perfect? NO! And in spite of that, their HONOR, RESPECT, and DEVOTION TO DUTY help them pull together to make things work- often in spite of incredible odds!

Anyone will learn something from this book. Most of us can learn a lot from it, if we are willing to draw the parallels from this agency to our own business. The lesson is Character are compelling. To succeed, we all need to put the right people in the right place at the right time. Seems simple, but in practice, is very hard to do!

The book also provides analysis about today's Coast Guard Missions and their alignment with the purposes of the United States Government's purpose of being, as outlined in the preamble of the Constitution! The match between the two is startling! One can easily see why a Coast Guardsman is soooooo motivated as they are patriots and humantitarianists.

Good read & good sailing!

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Well-oiled machine, but what about conflict management?, January 31, 2005

By 

Christopher Crossley "The Man from Hubei" (Wuhan, Hubei Province, China) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Character in Action: The U.S. Coast Guard on Leadership (Hardcover)

As I read through this book, I did not encounter any case studies of conflict management between U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) personnal that required resolution, though there were the occasional references to "Coasties" who felt that they were really doing unimportant jobs (like looking after a power generator) - until a more senior man comes in and convinces them otherwise.

The USCG prides itself in recruiting talent who can do more than one job and can take command in field situations on their own initiative without waiting for orders from on-high; basically, it has an "act-first-tell-me-later" approach, which appears to have served this two-centuries-old organisation well, including during the terrible events of 9/11.

Yet, though Phillips and Loy, the co-authors, give the impression that the USCG runs like a well-oiled machine, they appear to have avoided any discussion of when it does not. Conflict resolution is part of any big organisation, yet no information appears in this book about it. Since the Coast Guard is a culturally homogeneous entity, there is nothing about any clashes of mentality or management styles or thinking.

Like the other four main branches of the U.S. armed forces, the USCG is a full-time organisation, and all five do have their Reserve units manned by part-timers who have civilian jobs. It is common practice for selected military personnel to be sent on exchanges, not just within their own country, but also to other countries. U.S. Coast Guardsmen must surely be sent on exchanges, too, yet Phillips and Loy mention nothing about this.

I would have liked to have read something about the experience of U.S. Coast Guardsmen temporarily serving in the coast guard of a foreign power, because it could say something useful about the differences in mentalities and in approaches to similar situations, and about any resolutions to disagreements or conflicts. Would the visiting USCG personnel have ideas and suggestions listened to and discussed and implemented - or would they simply be ignored?

Armed forces are not the same as civilian corporations, of course, since they are concerned with national defense and power projection rather than profit-making, yet interaction between, say, western and non-western organisations sometimes results in clashes, and I think it would have served the book better, seeing that Phillips has written books on management, had there been examples of conflict and resolution.