The Three Meter Zone: Common Sense Leadership for NCOs (Paperback)

CSM Pendry focuses first on the leader, and explains how he developed his own leadership style. He shows how he changed many of his opinions over the years, and how he critically examined his values to develop a solid foundation for his leadership style. He includes an interesting discussion on the need for counseling of the battalion CSM by the battalion commander, which can be read with profit by every NCO who intends to become a "command team" member. He relates that it was crucial to his own development to simply sit down and write out what the Army values mean to him (he includes, but goes beyond LDRSHIP). It was not easy for him to do, but when finished, he had his position, he knew where he was going, and he knew how he planned to get there. Another concept he found useful was the "personal battle focus," his own mission essential tasks, means of assessing where he was, and a plan to get where he wanted to be. CSM Pendry emphasizes the critical importance of being the example of what we want our soldiers to be - never easy, but absolutely essential to success within the three-meter zone.

In the second half of his book, CSM Pendry focuses on standards and discipline for soldiers - knowing them, respecting and rewarding them, motivating them, training them, and physically training them. The longest and most important of these sections covers "knowing them." Here, CSM Pendry emphasizes that different styles must be used for different people, with the goal of moving the soldier out of the three-meter zone of constant supervision and detailed instructions, into the "fifty" or "one-hundred meter" zones of increased responsibility and autonomy. Readers will find his comments on the need to know and be partners with civilian employees, on the need to welcome newly promoted NCOs into the corps, and on the need to communicate with and participate in low-profile events with soldiers to be very thought provoking.

Finally, every leader should read his comments concerning how too many NCOs and company grade officers have "willed" the Single Soldier Initiatives for Quality of Life to fail; he correctly indicts many leaders for willfully failing to support the program and our own soldiers as the best of them try to improve their style of life.

CSM Pendry has no magical formulas for leaders. He has thought critically about how he leads; he has improved as a leader by applying his insights. Read this book, take up his challenge to critically examine ourselves and our styles. We can become masters of the "three-meter zone" as well. The entire Army will benefit.

Although I have a military background (USMC, late 60s - early 70s), I spent my career in law enforcement. I retired a couple of years ago after almost 29 years, to include time as a "first line supervisor and commander in Patrol Operations and police tactical operations (SWAT).

I found it to be very refreshing that this book was oriented "primarily" towards the first-line supervisor level. Although the principles and concepts outlined in the book were clearly applicable toward supervisory and management positions above that first line level, the thrust of its direction was somewhat unique in the direct approach towards first line supervision.

Additionally, the use of "war stories" to demonstrate specific examples of conceptual thoughts of principle allowed the reader a glimpse of practical applications of the various principles.

It was quite strange that while this book was an easy read - easy to follow, well written, and by no means conceptually "hazy" - I found it hard to finish! And that was only because I found myself reading a section, putting the book down and mulling over what I just read (and sometimes mulling it over off-and-on for hours), going back and re-reading it, etc. before going on to the next section. As a result, it took me quite a bit longer to finish the book that I had first imagined!

This book rates an "A+" for no other reason that the author's identification of one of the key problems facing supervision AND management today: "The Three Ps" (I won't ruin the surprise for future readers by identifying them).

In fact, in my opinion, in today's area of supervision and management - as I know from first hand observation in the law enforcement field and otherwise see both in the corporate world and in the military - the "Three Ps" are THE biggest problems of leadership today. Until the cultural climate adjustments occur that effect the necessary changes in this area, I see no hope for true positive outcomes within those troubled organizations.