Customer Reviews

The U.S. Army Leadership Field Manual

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is very cheap. Just about the cheapest leadership book you can buy. But its valuable knowledge far exceeds its price. There is a reason why this book is used for mandatory leadership curriculum at West Point and virtually all military leadership training schools. It teaches soldier to 1)Be of strong ethical and moral character (loyalty, integrity, discipline) 2)Know valuable skills and knowledge (technical and personal) 3)Do utilize the leadership skills to make a difference.

There is a best selling book "Be, Know, Do" which relies heavily from this book as a source. I recommend buying this book instead because it is much cheaper and contains virtually all the information contained in that one.

I wish this book was thicker with even more useful information. The book could have expounded far more in detail, especially things related to interpersonal skills (communication and motivation). I know there is a wealth of psychological research on the subject of leadership which the book could have used for further enlightenment. But the book limits its focus only on its history and military leaders as a source.

Leadership is a deep and complex subject because it requires one to deeply understand oneself and the others. This book provides a solid basis.

As the army's touchstone for leadership, The U.S. Army Leadership Field Manual stresses ethics, high moral character and the honorable refusal to obey unlawful orders. This volume makes you ask, "How could the prison abuse incidents in Iraq in 2004 have happened?" American army training repeatedly emphasizes moral leadership, character and integrity, as seen in this primary field manual of leadership, which is used by soldiers and officers everywhere. Read the principles that helped shape such leaders such as Marshall, Eisenhower, Schwarzkopf and Powell. You can employ many of their lessons of moral courage and determination in the corporate boardroom.
We highly recommend this very readable book for those who seek to put current events into clearer context and to make use of their lessons.

This manual has evolved over the years, and while it extrapolates from the theories of Transformational/Transactional Leadership, it gets down to where the "rubber meets the road." This is leadership 101 in practical application with many real world examples inserted in key places to demonstrate that this is not just "hot air" to pump up some author's ego blimp. While this may be a military focused book, with a clear sense of situations (while not life threatening) one can interpolate the stressful leadership issues in a civilian context that can have dire personal economic consequences. This book will "Git 'er done!"

I'm highly dissappointed about this book. It makes good reference to all leadership issues and is of course a good recopilation of theories and practical recommendations about leader's behavior and the expectations he must fulfill, but sends the reader with high frequency to "Appendix C", which is not included in the book.
I feel like I got a fragment of the publication at the complete price.
The worst of my purchases.

Very good book, very strightforward in its concepts and with usefull real examples. I recommend it for those who are looking for ideas on how to handle difficult situations at work because there is a lot of parallelism between military examples and corporate-stressful situations.

An excellent book on leadership the US Army way! Great explanations of why the Army operates they way they do.

A good book that clearly delivers what its supposed to... The book although covering many things that one should know just by being in the military also expands on numerous other finer points. The book is especially useful once you advance to become an NCO or go to OCS somewhere in your career. I would also recommend this book to anybody currently in ROTC or thinking about a career as an officer.

Since I am a former graduate of the US Army's Jungle Warfare School (Panama), a grad of the NCO Academy (PLDC - Primary Leadership Development Course), and a former Drill Sergeant candidate, and found that training to be far and above anything taught in the civilian field of leadership Primarily because of their helpfulness in teaching me and others how to lead themselves, and others, that I searched around for the field manuals relating to them. - I came across this "businessified" version.

Some who know me well, know that I teach far more than innovation methods, I emphasize more on technical competence and for individual to lead in their fields of endeavor.

As one student put it to me, "Richard you don't teach innovation, you teach leadership".

This book epitomizes that standard and methods that I have employed successfully to drive individuals and organizations to a higher standards and levels of performance.


Richard Platt
(former) Intel - Global Innovation Program Manager and Senior Instructor for Innovation Methods

For anyone going into the Military , or making the Military A Career
this is A great companion.

Reads just like the Army manuel we received in the military but in laymans terms.