The New Art of the Leader

There are generals and then there are generals. There are PhDs and there are PhDs. When you see a book by a retired Air Force major general who has a PhD, you pay attention. Maybe there will be something interesting here. Indeed!In fifteen chapters, Cohen covers a wide range of leadership topics. Understandably, there's a lot of the military model here, but it will surprise you. You'll read about tactics and you'll learn about caring. You'll learn about accountability and you'll read about morale. Several of the chapters are organized with three steps, four tactics, seven actions. Yes, this may be a military sort of model, but it's also good writing and reading. The book is filled with anecdotes, practical stuff that you can sink your teeth into. The examples, mostly from the military environment, effectively illustrate the numerous points Cohen makes. The military examples are from present day and historical lessons, and they're combined with a good selection of civilian stories. Leaders and prospective leaders, both military and civilian, will enjoy the book for its lessons and for its high level of readability. The stories make the teaching points come alive. Yes, this is a leadership book. But it practically reads like a novel. You'll get caught up in the reading to the point where you might even forget that you're reading a practical guide to getting people to follow you. The New Art of the Leader is very appropriate for airplane reading, but have your pen and highlighter handy!Good index and notes for research and follow-up reading.

Net, this book is very practical. In every chapter, you pick 3 or a few points what you should be careful to achieve effective leadership. By following the tips, you can expect to attract followship, direct or indirect influence others, etc. The book also provides lots of stories, anecdotes to make the points clear.I'll recommend this book to newly promoted/mid-level leaders.

Over the past three years I've been reading everything on leadership and management that I can get my hands on, the stimulis was a unexpected (and unbidden) move (promotion?)into a management position.To my suprise I quickly learned that more than 20 years of leading motivated,professional ground and air crews around wildfires had not adequetely prepared me for what I was getting myself into this time. I'm office bound these days where motivation isn't as common as it once was. Feeling a bit overwelmed at the time I consider it to be a stroke of divine luck to have stumbled across Mr. Cohen's book when and where I did. I think the best thing I can say about it is that for a "management" book it's actually a fun read, which is something you can't say very often. Being a bit of a history buff I really liked the liberal use of stories. For instance his use of General Lee's dressing down of Jeb Stuart as an example of how to reprimand staff is excellent! For all intents and purposes the guy just lost the battle of Gettysburg, not only does Lee manage to keep his cool but based on past preformance lets Stuart keep his job. I read that a couple of times, then watched Martin Sheen do it a couple more, then I read it again. The book is just packed full of these historic records and a lot of his own experences, unlike books based largely on theroy it has a kind of been there, done that feel to it. When I read a reference book, I study it, I underline passages and make margin notes of anything I feel is noteworthy and/or important. After my third trip thru this one there isn't a page left that isn't crammed full of notes and scribbles of some kind. If you wanna (or gotta) take charge, read this book.