Kruse's Keys: Read "The Leader's Bookshelf" If You Aspire to Leadership in Any FIeld

Jim Staviridis’ gift to bookavores everywhere, The Leader’s Bookshelf is a difficult one on which to provide notes because it is so packed with great and essential material.  What Stavridis and former Navy PAO R. Ancell have done is put together a Top 50 reading list for military leaders--they accomplished this feat by surveying hundreds of senior military leaders.  The final list, though, only took into account the inputs of the more than 200 4-star officers surveyed.  The authors then compiled the most frequently cited titles and ranked them by frequency of citation.

I’ve only read about 12 of the 50 which lean a little too heavily toward the Civil War (5 of the 50, not including three on Lincoln).  Each of the 50 books includes a prelude on its importance written by one of the surveyed 4 star officers.

The distribution of preludes by service follows:
6 Air Force
16 Navy
9 Marine Corps
18 Army
1 Coast Guard

He also devotes a chapter to an unofficial survey of junior officers and provides a short summaries of the titles that are most often listed. One of the strengths of this book is that it provides a framework to analyze future books.  The author’s systematic approach to reading provides a useful framework for anyone desiring to better digest and use what they read.  In particular, Stavridis notes the Marine Corps methodology in setting the standard in creating tiered reading lists.

As a FAO, I enjoyed Staviridis’ analyses that repeatedly noted the need for regional expertise (across the spectrum of history and literature) to better inform national strategic decision-making.

Key Quotes:

• “To be a good soldier you must love the army.  To be a good commander, you must be willing to order the death of the thing you love.”  -Robert E. Lee (16)
• There are certain wicked people in the world that you can’t deal with except by force.” -John Keegan (39)
• “The Americans have all the watches, but we have all the time.”  -Taliban saying (45)
• “Military operations alone cannot defeat an insurgency because only economic development and political action can address most sources of disaffection.” -H.R. McMaster (48)
• “What constitutes defeats?  The conquest of his whole territory is not always necessary, and total occupation of his territory may not be enough.” -Carl von Clausewitz (52)
• “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” -Dwight D. Eisenhower (67)
• “In the military services...the main rewards go to him who can make other men feel toughened as well as elevated.”  -S.L.A. Marshall (71)
• “Politics is the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year. And to have the ability to explain why it didn’t happen.” -Winston Churchill (78)
• “The buck stops here.” -Plaque on President Truman’s Oval Office desk (81)
• “In a man-to-man fight, the winner is he who has one more round in his magazine.” -Erwin Rommel (83)
• “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” -Stephen R. Covey (86)
• “Let no officer keep to himself or his brother officers, but circulate daylong among his men.” -King Leonidas of Sparta (109)
• If there is no work, make it up...action, on the other hand, produces the appetite for more action.”  -King Leonidas of Sparta (109)
• “A king does not expend his substance to enslave men, but by his conduct and example makes them free.” -King Leonidas of Sparta (111)
• “The opposite of fear is not courage--it is love [of a fellow soldier].”  -King Leonidas of Sparta (111)
• “Molon labe”--”Come and take them.” -King Leonidas in response to Xerxes call to lay down his arms (111).
• “My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.” -Abraham Lincoln (113)
• “My best friend is a person who will give me a book I have not read.” -Abraham Lincoln (116)
• “Be with a leader when he is right, stay with him when he is still right, but leave him when he is wrong.” -Abraham Lincoln (116)
• “Every man’s happiness is his own responsibility.”  -Abraham Lincoln (116)
• “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” -Abraham Lincoln (117)
• “The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.” -Abraham Lincoln (117)
• “The best to predict your future is to create it.” -Abraham Lincoln (117)
• “Preparation equals performance.” -Admiral James Loy, USCG Commandant
• “Outside solutions unanchored by an understanding of a given regional system are almost always doomed to fail.” -Admiral Jim Stavridis, commenting on A Peace to End all Peace.
• “In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him.  I think it’s impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves.  And then, in that very moment when I love them...I destroy them.” -Ender Wiggins in Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game (174).
• “[Matterhorn] is a novel about a young man learning compassion in the middle of a war.” -LtCol Ralph Peters (176).
• “Matterhorn... is the first great [novel about the Vietnam War] and I doubt it will ever be surpassed.” - Mark Bowdren, author of Blackhawk Down (177).
• Attack rapidly, ruthlessly, viciously, without rest, however tired and hungry you may be.  The enemy will be most tired, and more hungry.  Keep punching.” -Patton (182)
• “No good decision was ever made in a swivel chair.” -Patton (182)

Key Takeaways:

• The best leaders are forged through practice--both heredity and environment matters (1)
• Central value to reading lies in one’s ability to live vicariously through others’ experiences and evaluate ourselves and how we would react to their challenges (3).
• In reading about our heroes we are able to ID their leadership traits and replicate them (4).
• A carefully crafted daily routine is a key enabler to productivity.  Stavridis recounts his as he runs through what he reads and does over his first two cups of coffee everyday.  You’ll find the power of a routine centrally cited by productivity gurus from Tim Ferris to Cal Newport (you can read more about Newport’s amazing Deep Work here) (8)
• Nimitz’ transformative belief in second chances is especially relevant today in a zero-defect military promotion system (59).
• Rommel: Leaders are good observers first (85).
• Repeat back what you hear to make sure you understand (87).
• Creative solution-making and cultural understanding are inexorably linked (Key FAO Trait) (93).
• Mark Twain: Leaders duty to challenge “tradition”...what are the ancient and incorrect traditions today in the Navy and FAO community? (135).
• Leaders bring order from chaos (155).
• “[Matterhorn] is a novel about a young man learning compassion in the middle of a war.” -LtCol Ralph Peters (176).
• I combined all the leadership principles and lessons from the various noted books below:

1. Give offense to no one
2. Take personal responsibility
3. Develop real human relationships
4. Know when to delegate
5. Keep your enemy off balance
6. Intelligence is vital
7. Keys to victory
8. Confidence as force multiplier
9. Simplicity matters when plans are assembled
10. Lead as servant and protector
11. Dream
12. Good leaders can never rest of their laurels
13. Leaders reach for the stars
14. Delegation is crucial
15. Focus on the objective
16. Leaders must be determined
17. Be proactive
18. Begin with the end in mind
19. Put first things first
20. Think win/win
21. Seek first to understand
22. Synergize--getting the mix right
23. Sharpen the saw--constant improvement
24. Do the Right Thing (integrity)
25. Master the Situation (action)
26. Serve the greater good (selflessness)
27. Speak your mind (principle of candor)
28. Lay the Groundwork (be prepared)
29. Share knowledge (share to make others better)
30. Choose and reward the right people (principle of fairness)
31. Focus on the big picture (delegate at the next level, i.e., operational or tactical)
32. Support the troops (principle of caring)
33. Carve out time to read
34. Find the time to think after you read
35. Speak and write with simplicity and precision
36. Be humble and use humor often
37. Focus and prioritize
38. Stay physically fit
39. Be your own spokesperson
40. Spend the most time on personnel matters
41. Have a relaxing weekend routine
42. Don’t lunge at the ball
43. Details matter but think big thoughts
44. Understand the process (before you criticize it)
45. Look at the law or regulation for yourself
46. Organize yourself
47. Make mentorship a priority
48. Avoid refusing to delegate
49. Avoid losing patience with people
50. Avoid obsessing over little things that don’t matter in the long run
51. Avoid working to exhaustion
52. Give the right people second chances
53. Act with honor, hope and generosity
54. Listen first, then speak
55. You have a duty to challenge “tradition”

Key References (for further study):

• Beirut known as the “Paris of the East” (91)
• Stoic Greek philosophers (97)
• Marshall Biography (125)
• Middle East good book combo:  Beirut to Jerusalem and (140)
• Balkan Ghosts: book to read for Albania and Croatia (149)
• LeMay a 4-star at 44 years old! (165)
• Patton and past lives--very weird (181)
• Good book to read: Commander in Chief: FDR (203)
• Tiered FAO Reading List (211-16)
• U.S. Naval Institute “Young Leaders” Group  led or started by now RADM Fred Kacher  (226)
• Generalship, Its Diseases and Their cures  (243)
• Scipio Africanus: Greater Than Napoleon (246-7)
• Question for Mattis: What are the great American West books that you have read (249)
• Sailing to Ithaca Poem (264)

Key Notes:

8 Incorporate daily reading of Le Figaro into my routine: http://www.lefigaro.fr/
10 Stavridis as avid consumer of poetry and Proceedings
11 Becoming a better leader requires reading books
25 Leaders must act with honor, hope and generosity--apart from circumstances
34 Lincoln’s 4 Principles:

1. Give offense to no one
2. Take personal responsibility
3. Develop real human relationships
4. Know when to delegate

38 Sun Tzu’s central lessons:

1. Keep your enemy off balance
2. Intelligence is vital
3. Keys to victory
4. Confidence as force multiplier
5. Simplicity matters when plans are assembled
6. Lead as servant and protector
7. Dream

47 Logistics matter--must constantly be aware of the flow of resources
51 Leaders must cultivate the shared sense of a common objective
56-7 Clausewitz’s 5 lessons:

1. Good leaders can never rest of their laurels
2. Leaders reach for the stars
3. Delegation is crucial
4. Focus on the objective
5. Leaders must be determined

59 Nimitz’ transformative belief in second chances
60 Japan made three mistakes at Pearl Harbor:

1. Attacking on Sunday morning when most sailors were ashore on leave
2. Not destroying dry docks that we used for ship repair
3. Not attacking fuel storage tanks located five miles away

61 Nimitz: Innovate to succeed and go straight at your opponent
66 Grant’s keys: Determination to succeed, delegate, and humility
70 Eisenhower: Good leaders build teams
74 Small unit leadership is the heart of all leadership
81 Truman: Leaders don’t please everyone
81 Truman: Role of pragmatism in leadership
83 Rommel: importance of reconnaissance and boldness in war
85 Rommel: Leaders are good observers first
87-88 7 habits:

1. Be proactive
2. Begin with the end in mind
3. Put first things first
4. Think win/win
5. Seek first to understand
6. Synergize--getting the mix right
7. Sharpen the saw--constant improvement

87 Repeat back what you hear to make sure you understand
89 “trust account”--built up through cooperation and bridges
89 Listen first--then speak
93 Creative solution-making and cultural understanding are inexorably linked--FAO
103 Logistics lost the battle at Dien Bien Phu
108 Lee: Build depth, don’t depend on any one subordinate too much--this was part
of Lee’s downfall
115 Lincoln used MWBA--management by wandering around (75% of time spent
meeting with people)
120 Lincoln’s excellence was in team building: “harnessing” brilliant people
127-8 Marshall: 9 principles

1. Do the Right Thing (integrity)
2. Master the Situation (action)
3. Serve the greater good (selflessness)
4. Speak your mind (principle of candor)
5. Lay the Groundwork (be prepared)
6. Share knowledge (share to make others better)
7. Choose and reward the right people (principle of fairness)
8. Focus on the big picture (delegate at the next level, i.e., operational or tactical)
9. Support the troops (principle of caring)

135 Mark Twain: Leaders duty to challenge “tradition”
143 Bottom up solutions are the best
148 Wicked problems--sometimes requires more than just a military OR a civil-military
solution
151 study past but don’t be imprisoned by it
155 Leaders bring order from chaos
157 Focus on 1 key objective and hammer at it relentlessly
158 360 degree relationship management
245 Every one of Mattis’ boss had a reading list for his subordinates
250 Stavridis' key lessons for senior leaders

1. Carve out time to read
2. Find the time to think after you read
3. Speak and write with simplicity and precision
4. Be humble and use humor often
5. Focus and prioritize
6. Stay physically fit
7. Be your own spokesperson
8. Spend the most time on personnel matters
9. Have a relaxing weekend routine
10. Don’t lunge at the ball
11. Details matter but think big thoughts
12. Understand the process (before you criticize it)
13. Look at the law or regulation for yourself
14. Organize yourself
15. Make mentorship a priority
16. Avoid refusing to delegate
17. Avoid losing patience with people
18. Avoid obsessing over little things that don’t matter in the long run
19. Avoid working to exhaustion

Kruse's Keys: Read "American Rust" To Feel the Decline of American Steel-Making (in your very bones)

NOTE: I listened to this novel as an audiobook during my daily commute so I don’t have as many notes as I'd like to.

I first encountered Meyer’s writing back in 2015 by way of S.C. Gwynne’s incredible Empire of the Summer Moon. His story of Quanah Parker, the offspring of a kidnapped white woman and a Comanche, who went on to become one to become one of the greatest native American warriors of all time led me to Meyer’s The Son (now an AMC mini-series).  Meyer’s well-researched piece of Texas history (well, historical fiction) has a central character that is kidnapped by Indians as a child.

All that to say, The Son was so well written that I was eager to read anything else written by Meyer.  That led me to Meyer’s first novel, American Rust,  which reads like a sorrowful swan song to the American rust belt.  The story brings to light the consequences of the steel industry’s death as the reader is drawn into the lives of several families and their struggle to love, survive, and escape.  The narrative centers in on the plight of Billy Poe, a driftless, could-have-been, washed up former high school football star, and Isaac, an unmoored genius who struggles to escape the gravity of his impoverished circumstances.  Throw in a little murder and a love triangle and you have a story you won’t soon forget.  My only critique is that I wished Meyer had wrapped up the story a little more neatly but we can leave that for the eventual movie version.

Key Quotes:

• You ought to be able to grow up in a place and not have to get the hell out of it when you turn eighteen.”
• “this is what it means to get old, you don’t look forward to pleasure so much as easing pain.”
• “Same as what they taught you as a lifeguard- you have to save yourself before you can save anyone else. ”
• “And one day...there would be no record, nothing left standing, to show that anything had ever been built in America. It was going to cause big problems, he didn't know how but he felt it. You could not have a country, not this big, that didn't make things for itself. There would be ramifications eventually.”

Key Takeaways:

• Lee English is the one character that escapes the gravity of the town and graduates from Yale University, later marrying into a wealthy family. In commenting on her cohort of acquaintances in colleges she comments that most of them will never experience the feeling on wanting something and never getting it. She views this as a weakness but it's also seeded in the bitterness of her own background where that's the central feeling that most people experience (Chapter 5, 33:08 in the audiobook).
• The soul and society crushing reality of losing a skilled steel-making job and no longer having something that you're good at (Chapter 14, 06:16).
• The idea that rich people view the world the same way as someone with brain damage--they don't understand the realities of life (Chapter 20, 18:55).

Key References:

New Yorker Interview with Meyer

Philipp Meyer: An Obsessed Novelist's Extreme Research WSJ article on Meyer

What You Do Out Here When You're Alone: short story by Philipp Meyer

Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee by Dee Brown

Empire of the Summer: Quanah Parker and the rise and fall of the Comanches by S.C. Gwynne

2015 Reading List
2017 Reading List