Leadership: The Warrior's Art

An anthology of essays written by some of the greatest soldiers and scholars of the last 50 years. Covering the psychology and practice of leadership in the US Army as well as looking back to the Greek, Roman and classical eras. A must read for the Army officer.

You don't need to be a veteran or in the service to understand the principals of this book. This is my favorite book on Leadership; I have recommended it for years and have bought several copies as promotion gifts. My copy is tabbed out and is overly worn as a result of my routine re-reading. This book provides common sense approaches to improving moral, understanding influence, motivation and gives techniques to improve both. The use history to bring the points home is just an added bonus.

Leadership is a subject with several points of view and examples of leaders abound throughout the history. Maj Kolenda did a fine selection of all of them in LEADERSHIP: THE WARRIOR'S ART. Do not look for the right answer or the right attitude in this book since it has no conclusions on how to be a better leader. But better yet, Maj Kolenda's collection on leadership provides us with a wide knowledge base in order for us to discover the leadership within. So, why four stars? Because it looks like leadership is just an Army issue. Nevertheless, it is an excellent book on a difficult issue.

The compilation of essays on military leadership edited by Mr. Kolenda ought to be among the "essential reading" books on the shelves of anyone aspiring to leadership in any form, in any walk of life. "Warrior" in the title deceives, even though warriors have practiced the art through millennia, and many became its masters. Civilians would gain substantially by learning from those who never perused a "how-to" treatise on leadership, and often paid for lessons with their own blood rather than the declined value of corporate shares. Kolenda's book contains a series of such lessons, and the price is cheap: one evening spent on excellent reading, and not a drop of blood spilled. Yet, every "Boardroom Warrior" will discover a lot of highly practical wisdom in this unassuming volume. Maybe, then, the "Warrior" in the title does not deceive after all.

Christopher Kolenda's "Leadership: The Warrior's Art" is a very good collection of essays on leadership, written by military practitioners, and for a military audience. Colonel Kolenda served as the editor and author of the three of the essays. The contributors include senior generals, other current and retired Army officers, and military professors. The essays range the entire gamut of issues from attempts to define leadership (based largely on classical definitions) to historical treatments to in-depth discussions of how to recruit Special Forces soldiers or implementing unit training plans. Some of the essays are excellent and others aren't very interesting, useful, or instructive; and there is no enduring definition of leadership or pervasive theme - they are all stand-alone pieces. These essays have a very good mix of perspectives and insights. Because of the diverse approaches to leadership, these essays show why it truly is an "art" and not a science that can be mastered simply through formula and study. While anyone in a management or leadership role could learn from many of the essays, because of the military focus, these are most useful to military leaders or those who study them. The essays in this book would be great discussion points for an ROTC class, and this book should be on the bookshelf of any leader in today's military.