Lead Like Ike: Ten Business Strategies from the CEO of D-Day [Hardcover]

Geoff Loftus (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2010

“A novel, intriguing—and more importantly—highly instructive approach enabling us to truly grasp fundamental management principles. In the person of Dwight Eisenhower planning and executing the D-Day landings and the subsequent liberation of Europe, these basic concepts are vividly brought to life. As Loftus rightly observes, no CEO ever faced a more daunting, pressure-filled, obstacle-laden mission than did Ike. Perfect reading for these turbulent times.” —Steve Forbes, Chairman & CEO, Forbes Media

“Geoff Loftus has written an intriguing and highly useful book on Dwight Eisenhower’s extraordinary ability as a leader. If you liked Ike before, you’ll like him even more now. And you’ll be grateful to Geoff Loftus.” —Christopher Buckley, author of Boomsday and Thank You for Smoking

“In Lead Like Ike, Geoff Loftus provides keen insights on management lessons drawn from one of the greatest battlefields in military history. The lessons may appear simple, but it’s the simplest management principles that we often forget: Listen to your people. Set your vision. Be consistent about your message. Let your managers manage.” —Salvatore J. Vitale, Senior Vice President, The Conference Board

Who was the greatest CEO of the 20th century? A persuasive case can be made for General Dwight D. “Ike” Eisenhower, who undertook history’s most harrowing executive assignment: Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe on June 6, 1944. In Lead Like Ike, business journalist and communications guru Geoff Loftus weaves a fly on-the-wall narrative from Ike’s perspective as supreme allied commander overseeing the Normandy invasion. While swept into a gripping story that honors the sacrifice of all who fought and died on D-Day, you’ll also be drawn to a cache of battle-tested strategies and tactics with direct applications to modern-day business leadership.

 

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A novel, intriguing – and more importantly – highly instructive approach enabling us to truly grasp fundamental management principles. In the person of Dwight Eisenhower planning and executing the D-Day landings and the subsequent liberation of Europe, these basic concepts are vividly brought to life. As Loftus rightly observes, no CEO ever face a more daunting, pressure-filled, obstacle-laden mission than did Ike. Perfect reading for these turbulent times.” – Steve Forbes, Chairman & CEO, Forbes Media

“Geoff Loftus has written an intriguing and highly useful book on Dwight Eisenhower’s extraordinary ability as a leader. If you liked Ike before, you’ll like him even more now. And you’ll be grateful to Geoff Loftus.” – Christopher Buckley, author of Boomsday and Thank You for Smoking

“In Lead Like Ike, Geoff Loftus provides keen insights on management lessons drawn from one of the greatest battlefields in military history. The lessons may appear simply, but it’s the simplest management principles that we often forget: Listen to your people. Set your vision. Be consistent about your message. Let your managers manage.” – Salvatore J. Vitale, Senior Vice President, The Conference Board

--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

About the Author

Geoff Loftus, a lifelong history buff, is VP, Communications, of the Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals, Inc. He has been an editor and writer for more than 25 years in print, television, radio and on the Internet.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (June 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595550852
• ISBN-13: 978-1595550859
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 1.1 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,371,218 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm a lifelong history buff and have been an editor and writer for more than 25 years in print, television, radio, and on the Internet. "LEAD LIKE IKE: Ten Business Strategies from the CEO of D-Day" reflects my interests in history and business. "DOUBLE BLIND", a thriller, was my first published novel. Now I've done a new thriller: "ENGAGED TO KILL".

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Extracting leadership lessons from history July 15, 2010

By John Gibbs TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

What leadership lessons can we learn from General Eisenhower's leadership of the Allied forces in Europe at the end of the Second World War? Geoff Loftus outlines what he believes the lessons are in this book. The book tells the story of Eisenhower's time in Europe from June 1942 until May 1945, and leadership principles arising from his conduct and decisions are highlighted as the story progresses.

The ten strategic lessons distilled by the author are: determine your mission; plan for success; stay focused; prioritize; plan to implement; communicate; motivate your people; manage your people; avoid project creep; and be honest. Whenever the book describes an action or decision relevant to one of these lessons, it is highlighted in a text box.

In my view the principles which the author has listed do not amount to a significant contribution to the field of leadership theory, and his portrayal of some of the characters in the story seems a bit limited. For example, Winston Churchill comes across as a time-wasting nuisance and General Montgomery as a pompous incompetent fool. The descriptions of Eisenhower's interactions with such people appear to reflect poorly, and probably unfairly, on his leadership abilities, leaving me thinking that I might not want to "lead like Ike" after all. Notwithstanding these objections, I enjoyed reading the narrative parts of the book, and I think that the idea of seeking leadership lessons from Eisenhower's career is a good one.

Disclosure: I received my copy of the book for free from BookSneeze.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Lead like him January 5, 2011

By Kevin Y. Lee

Format:Hardcover

Reading through this book puts the reader inside the command post of the Allied forces. It is fascinating to see the interaction between the various personalities of WWII. If you enjoy reading history, especially about this pivotal event, then you will enjoy this book. If you are a leader, there are many lessons to be gleaned from observing Eisenhower.

One of the strengths is that not only does Loftus provide us with ten leadership strategies, but he interjects specific applications of theses strategies throughout the narrative. At the end of each chapter, he also provides debriefing notes which focus on the lessons of the story. In so doing the overarching strategies are fleshed out.

Although Eisenhower successfully fulfilled his mission using these strategies, the reader does get to see the times that this General failed. The reader is able to learn from these failures as well as from the successes.

I was left with a greater appreciation for Eisenhower. The manner in which he thought and felt about his soldiers is lesson enough for any leader.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Learn From Ike- To Lead Like Ike November 22, 2010

By James Gallen VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Did you ever wonder what management principles go into the prosecution of a war, what business lessons can be earned from its study? "Lead Like Ike" provides a good case study of the management lessons to be learned from the greatest martial enterprise of all time, D-Day, Inc.'s assault on its German competition. This book is part history, part management case study and always attention grasping.

Author Geoff Loftus follows Dwight Eisenhower's leadership from his assignment as Commander of Overlord through to Victory in Europe, periodically interrupting the narrative with sidebars to emphasize the management principles employed by Ike and drawing comparisons to similar steps taken by business leaders.

Loftus takes the reader through ten strategies for success and shows how Ike succeeded and, in some instances, failed, in each of them.

Strategy No. 1: Determine Your Mission- D-Day, Inc.'s mission, "unconditional surrender," was determined by its chairman of the board- Franklin D. Roosevelt. Ike achieved that out without an eloquent mission statement, but with incessant concern for his workers who would carry the mission to a successful conclusion.

Strategy No. 2: Plan for Success-Ike asked the question of whether D-Day, Inc. could have survived without Overlord and correctly concluded that it could, but could not afford continued operations if it did not take a chance on Overlord. He then made his plans accordingly. Loftus compares that to the Japanese companies who, when they needed to set up plants in the U.S., assured that those plants would maintain their companies' reputations for quality. He contrasts then to GM and Chrysler who failed to plan for success by not designing and building fuel-efficient cars.

Strategy No.... 3: Stay Focused-Recognizing the need for a port to support the build-up, Ike stayed focused when he placed the western-most beach of Overlord, Utah, within reach of Cherbourg. He lost his focus when he let Montgomery pursue Market-Garden while ignoring the need for the port of Antwerp. Loftus then brings up the examples of two profitable companies, Enron and Arthur Anderson, that let the pursuit of more profits distract their focus to the companies' destruction.
Strategy No. 4: Prioritize- Ike knew that he needed the strategic air forces for the Transportation Plan preparatory to D-Day and risked his job to get it. He got what he needed, and it worked.

Strategy No. 5: Plan to Implement-Ike laid out the plans; Who-Hundreds of thousands of men who would be trained for their missions; What- five divisions that would assault the beaches; Where- Normandy, close enough to England bur far enough from Calais to create surprise; When- When light, tides weather and moonlight were right; How-A million details.

Strategy No. 6: Communicate- Ike communicated with his board, primarily Roosevelt and Churchill, to keep them on board with the program and to maintain support for what D-Day, Inc. needed. He also communicated with his generals by letting them know what was expected and with his men by visiting them, sometime with the result that they cheered him up. His one failure to communicate was evidenced by the incessant bickering with Montgomery.

Strategy No. 7: Motivate your People-Make sure that the enlisted men have the same access to jeeps for recreation as the officers and that captured wine would be shared equally. Compare that to Henry Ford who made sure that his early workers could afford the cars that they built.

Strategy No. 8: Manage Your People-Ike put his personal feelings aside and employed his people to the greatest advantage, whether that meant putting up with Patton's antics, Montgomery's insubordination or promoting a quiet performer like Bradley.
Strategy No. 9: Avoid Project Creep-An early failure when Overlord became Torch (North Africa), which became Husky (Sicily) which became Avalanche (Italy). A wiser Ike avoided Project Creep when he rebuffed attempts to capture Berlin at the expense of the mission of destruction of the German Army.

Strategy No. 10: Be Honest- Ike recognized his mistakes in North Africa, leveled with the press about Patton's slapping a soldier and was ready to accept responsibility had Overlord failed. What businessman could do more?

There you have it, ten steps to success in business or war. Whether you are a business person, a history buff or a combination of the two, "Lead Like Ike" is a book that you will enjoy and from which you will profit. Read more ›

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fresh Take October 1, 2010

By B. Derrick

Format:Hardcover

I had very incorrect expectations when I picked up this book. Having been exposed to a great deal of writing related to WW II as well as many films on this amazing era in the world's history, I have been influenced (as most my age have) by the most common images and language used in its description rather than living through it. We can only know about the past that which is shown to us. This is a very different approach to this topic than I have seen previously. I am not a CEO so much of the business language in the book did not resonate with me. However, what I was captured by was the human relational element that was present at the topmost leadership level during the many, many decisions that had to take place for the world's offensive against the Nazis. Sure, this book is mostly about IKE and the unparalleled way in which he took on the largest and most critical task of our time. I would inform future readers that this book also has within it an ability to make one examine ANY relationship. It isn't just about being a CEO or a military commander. It is about what it means to be faced with odds that for all practical purposes are impossible and rise to the challenge. No matter the cost. It also points out very clearly that if IKE was not surrounded by men of equal stature his task would have been impossible. It takes more than one. It takes many. A very inspiring book.... an even more inspiring era where many different types of people came together for the common good and prevailed. May these lessons not too quickly be forgotten.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their [...] book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.... I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 [...] : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising." Read more ›