Customer Reviews

Patton on Leadership

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Frankly, I had some reservations as I began to read this book. By now I have become weary of so many books with gimmicky concepts (eg Chicken Soup for Dummies, Caligula on Management) and was pleased to find that Axelrod has skillfully correlated Patton's expressed ideas on leadership with key issues in the contemporary business world. Many of those ideas probably reflect the influence of Sun Tzu and von Clausewitz whom Patton no doubt studied while a student at V.M.I. (for one year) and then the U.S. Military Academy at West Point from which he graduated. In any event, this is a well-written book with solid substance. After a Foreword and Introduction, Axelrod organizes 183 "Strategic Lessons" within ten chapters:

1. What He Did and Who He Was (Patton's Achievement and Background)

2. "A Commander Will Command" (On the Dimensions of Leadership)

3. "Always Attack, Never Surrender" (On Developing a Winning Attitude)

4. "How Do We Know That?" (On Fact Finding, Preparation, and Planning)

5. "Speed -- Simplicity -- Boldness" (On Execution and Opportunity)

6. "The Soldier Is the Army" (On Training, Mentoring, Motivating, and Inspiring)

7. "Letters of Instruction" ((On Communication and Coordination)

8. "Only One Direction -- Forward" (On Creating Efficiency)

9. "Success Is How High You Can Bounce When You Hit Bottom" (On Courage and Character)

10. "Audacity" (On Managing the Impossible)

I provide the chapter titles and subtitles to suggest the specific areas in which Axelrod examines Patton's ideas. Patton remains one of the 20th century's best-known and least-understood military leaders. Mention his name and most people immediately conjure an image of George C. Scott whose inspired portrayal provided an accurate but incomplete representation of Patton. It is worth noting that Patton's strategies minimized casualties of his own troops while maximizing destruction of those whom his troops opposed, that he assembled an extraordinarily talented staff to whom he delegated effectively and whose members remained steadfastly loyal to him, and that under his leadership his troops achieved truly stunning results, often with severely limited resources and under political constraints. There is a great deal to learn from this man...and Axelrod has done a brilliant job of suggesting what that is.

Axelrod includes a Recommended Readings section to which I presume to add Puryear's 19 Stars (A Study in Military Character and Leadership). In it, Puryear examines the careers of George S. Patton, Jr., Dwight D. Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, and George C. Marshall. You may also wish to check out Sun Tzu's The Art of War (Oxford University Press) and von Clausewitz's On War (Penguin).

General George S. Patton, Jr., was a legend in his own time. While known for his coarse language, he was also respected as a brilliant tactician and terrific motivator. Those who served with him weren't just "in the war" or "in the army," they were Patton's men. This hard-driving leader instilled confidence, acted decisively, and excelled under relentless pressure. His army moved at unprecedented speed, always on the attack and not on the defensive.

Patton did not write extensively; he was challenged by dyslexia. But he said a lot, was often quoted, and was written about. Historians have a rich treasure of who this unusual man was and the impact he had on others . . . and ultimately on the world. His approach to his work was clear and direct, making him an excellent case study and role model. Role model? A man who spat profanity in almost every sentence? Ah, look beyond the rough exterior that actually endeared him to his men. Look at how Patton thought, his philosophies. That's where the lessons are.

This book delivers 183 of those lessons in short, tight, bite-size pieces. This is a book you can read cover-to-cover or refer to as an inspirational resource. Each lesson is constructed as a Patton quote, with Axelrod's interpretation of the meaning, the purpose, and the impact of the words. The flavor throughout the book is how Patton's military style and experience applies to management and leadership of today's business organization. Or any organization, for that matter.

The beginning of the book includes an enlightening biographical profile of Patton to understand the context of the man. The volume concludes with some recommended reading and a helpful index.

As a reviewer, I'm tempted to start listing some of the titles of those 183 lessons. I'll resist, because it will be too difficult to present a representative sample. Every page of this book is filled with concise, valuable insights. Thought-provoking as well as inspiring, Patton on Leadership should be read-and applied-by leaders at all levels. Invest a few dollars and some of your reading time. You'll get a good return on your investment with this book.

When people think of George Patton, they tend to think of the larger than life character portrayed in the movie. While colorful, Patton was above all a superb manager who knew how to motivate people to accomplish the seemingly impossible. This book takes what made Patton a successful manager and analyzes it in detail so that the average person can apply to his or her own field of endeavor. I suggest you read the book and then, after each section, close it and think about how what you've just read can be applied to your own situation. Patton's intense focus on what he wanted to accomplish, and his no nonsense way of communicating his vision, are valuable lessons for managers in any field. Few can emulate Patton, but we can all learn from him.

I had seen this book in an airport bookstore, but wasn't sold until I saw Patton: the movie on TV and was entranced by George C. Scott's portrayal of the WWII General.

General George S. Patton commanded the Third Army in Europe during WWII. Although I had never realized it before, Patton really managed a giant corporation, an army of over 400,000 soldiers which built almost 2500 bridges, shipped over 2,000,000 tons of supplies, and inflicted hundreds of thousands of casualties on the enemy.

After a short preface by George Steinbrenner (Red Sox fans will start on pg. 3), Axelrod begins with a short description of Patton's history and life philosophy. Patton was certainly a fascinating character, with compelling qualities and outrageous flaws.

The format of the book proceeds as follows: Axelrod uses a quote or anecdote from Patton's life to convey and support Patton's philosophy on leadership. Although the subjects are grouped together (Chapter 3:Always attack. Never Surrender and Chapter 5:Speed-simplicity-boldness), the book does not refer back to any previous section.

Fans of the movie will recognize many parts of the book, but those who know nothing about Patton will also find it an easy yet exciting read. I found it to be quite valuable.

This book is certainly not a whitewash of Patton's career, but Axelrod does a fantastic job of sifting through his life and finding the kernels of Patton's success. I recommend this book to anybody interested in leadership (coaches), those in business, and those with an interest in military affairs.

What a truly great reader this book turned out to be. Easy to pick up, difficult to put down, and filled with inspiration. While a small percentage of war techniques do not transfer to the business world; Axelrod pulls concise information and quidance from a library of the General's quotes. Wars are won by making the enemy die for his country. Always move forward. When in doubt, attack. The soldier is the army. Gather accurate information and make decisions quickly. And take the high ground.

My only complaint is with the author's desire to open the book with political-correctness and apologies for Patton's frank language.

This book will spark you up and fill you with pride, boldness, and audacity! I have found my Covey books and Minute Mangers have collected dust where "Patton on Leadership" is starting to look like a well worn Bible.

This is a fine book to read on an airplane, or waiting room. One can open this book on any page and find interesting advice. You might not agree with Patton's ideas in this politically correct world, but his methods seem to work.

This ia a great book, full of insight and practical information. I just completed reading a borrowed copy and decided to buy a copy for my personal library for future reference. The book is easy to read and hard to put down until it is finished.

This book basically translates Patton's notecards to himself into paragraph form then summarizes them, is fairly informative. Some of the Axelrod's summaries made me think and inspired me, some left me thinking "Doesn't everybody know that?" however it did reinforce some lessons my dad had taught me. I did notice some contradictions between several passages with either Patton's own words or Axelrod's briefs. I would suggest purchasing this book, since it reinforces some habits that you have learned along the way or will make you think "outside the box."

This book should be studied by anyone that supervises others. It's content is not limited to military personnel, but would be appropriate for anyone in a leadership role.

INTRODUCTION
This review will touch on what I (personally) FEEL the values that this book offer, than focusing too much on a chapter by chapter summary of what it's about. This book in short is about how to get your guys to deliver.


BACKGROUND (Optional)
Too often, leadership books nowadays focus heavily on motivation through sweet-talk and being nice. They focus on building wonderful Visions, Strategies and Communication Skills so that a leader can be successful and well-loved.

Anther buzzword of course is Delegation. On that note, George W. Bush probably offers the worst delegation model in the Iraq war; by delegating based on faith than facts and without regards to the result as a feedback. Point 174 from the book aptly pointed out, the importance on the swiftness of Accountability.

So generally while those new-age leadership books probably make nice readings, they do not always offer good guides for execution in the real world. Therefore, no point for a leader to have the loftiest vision or intention if one is unable to translate it in reality. Similarly for strategies, no point having the more exotic strategies when your guys cannot deliver. (In any case, some dim-wit leaders cannot even come up with good strategies to start with).

What is commonly missed out is the least glamorous and most basic component of a plan: The Ability To Deliver. In other words, how to get your guys to deliver (and see that they do). End of the day, you can have a simple strategy, but if its well-delivered, you still have a working product (somewhat parallel Point 19 in the book). Anyway, not every leader is born to exceptional strategist. But at least they can see that their product is delivered the way they want, by putting in sufficient efforts and monitoring.

I am no military buff. But a good example would be during the Battle of Bulge, Patton had his army essentially warm up in the cold winter, waiting to execute the various types of orders that might be tasked to them from HQ. This was opposed to waiting passively for the orders then the preparations began.


MESSAGE OF THE BOOK
So for this book covering Patton's style, I feel that its mantra is:

a) Ask your men to do it
b) Provide them whatever they need
c) Follow up on the result to make sure that they do it right!

In the meantime, discipline is instilled so that when you are not watching or when it becomes too chaotic, the discipline is there as a key contributing (fear and pride) factor such that the job will be done by those tasked to do it. If need be, let the drills (that comes from countless practices) take over. One good example one the effects of instilling discipline was in the II Corps when he took over the Africa Theater (Point 121 and Point 122).

To those who have lead teams before, the above may sound like good old simple truth,. However, to those who are new to leadership or has never know the value of being "harsh and strict", this book may help to impact some simple truths about leading efficiently.


SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS
There are simply too many useful stories and points to summarise. It also covers a wide range of considerations (from values, physiology to welfare). The following are some key points, which is have edited:

Point 9: Pick the man who can get others to get the job done, as the leader.

Point 11: A general who got to contemplate 48 hours to decide on the suitability of his posting is not suitable to lead, as such decision involve core values.

Point 26: Strategy is an overall big-picture plan, including a set of goals.
Tactics include objectives that must blend-in flexibility in reaching these objectives.

Point 28: In doubt, attack. Being defensive is psychologically bad to the soldier, where they may think the enemy is more dangerous than they usually were.

Point 42: To DEMAND difference in opinions. No one is thinking if everyone is thinking alike.

Point 89: Victory in war depends on EXECUTION not PLANS.

Point 107: Staff officers of INHARMONIOUS disposition, respective of their ability, must be removed.

Point 118: After asking for an inspection, inspect the unit thoroughly.
Be punctual, as the soldiers who had taken to the trouble to get ready, deserve the compliment.

Point 122: The effect of discipline. A tough discipline was enforced on II Corps after Patton took over, compelling the men to behave in every respect like a soldier.

Point 130: Don't just rely on map. Get a feel of the real situation.
(An armored division was stuck from crossing a river, as HQ was studying on its depth and the possible enemy fire from across. Patton performed a personal recon and found that its only 2 feet deep and has only 1 machine gun guarding. He ordered the division to cross successfully).

Point 160: In battle, troops get temperamental and ask for things which they really do not need. However, where humanly possible, their requests, no matter how unreasonable, should be answered.

Point 170: Lack of orders is no excuse for inaction.

Point 174: Demand Accountability. He questioned, how long did it take for one to get burn after touching a burning torch. It's instantaneous. That's how mother nature works and that' how the war works.


CONCLUSION
What more is there to say? It's a book with neat examples showing simple and effective ways on how to strategise and deliver the plan. If you have this book, you will have the benefits of reading it again and again as refresher to absorb it values.

I gave the book 4 stars, as all good things can be improved. But it's as good as it can get.