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 'Essentialism' Because Less CAN Be Better (Greg McKeown)

I listened to this one as an audio book that I checked out from my local public library (SIDE NOTE: public libraries--one of America’s great treasures).  One one hand I loved the convenience of listening to this tale during my daily commute into DC; on the other hand, audibooks are the worst format if you are a notetaker and chronic highlighter.  So, really the worst format for me, especially considering the fact that you lose access to the book and any quasi bookmarks you made when you check the “book” back into the library.  

All that to say that my audiobook reviews are sure to be much less robust than those I actually read.  

Essentialism is a book for anyone who feels overwhelmed at any level of their life.  The author’s contention is that we all have too much going on in our lives--at work, at play, in our relationships and in our things.  This book gives the reader the tools and philosophical background in order to pare away the excess.  Ultimately, McKeown espouses the expansion of German designer and academic Dieter Ram’s mantra “less but better” (weniger aber besser) into one’s life at every level.  Whether or not one has the courage to actually apply it holistically is another question but I’d argue that we’d all do well to take stock of our lives and see where doing less but better might liberate us.  

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• “LESS BUT BETTER” This is the central point of Essentialism.  Shedding off burdensome layers of your life at all levels (time, mental, physical, etc.) so that you can be and do better by concentrating on what is actually important.
• Just saying “no” (without a qualifier or reason) is okay.  You don’t owe anyone a reason.  
• Focus on where you can contribute most and cut away everything else ruthlessly.
• This book pairs well with the seminal Deep Work by Cal Newport (my review is here).

KEY QUOTES:

• Remember that if you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will.
• “The word priority came into the English language in the 1400s. It was singular. It meant the very first or prior thing. It stayed singular for the next five hundred years. Only in the 1900s did we pluralize the term and start talking about priorities.”
• “Essentialism is not about how to get more things done; it’s about how to get the right things done.
• “Today, technology has lowered the barrier for others to share their opinion about what we should be focusing on. It is not just information overload; it is opinion overload.”
• “the killer question: “If I didn’t already own this, how much would I spend to buy it?”
• “As John Maxwell has written, “You cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything.”

KEY REFERENCES:

Fast Co Interview with Dieter Rams

Dieter Rams 10 Commandments of Good Design

The Last Will and Testament of Senor da Silva Araujo (Cape Verde): Read It for a Melancholy Latin Take on Love in African Cape Verde

The Last Will and Testament of Senor da Silva Araujo (Cape Verde)


Read It Because:
This translated piece of Cape Verdean fiction is beautiful, sad, and meandering as it examines the life of a poor peasant boy made good as a successful business owner.  Senor da Silva's life unfolds in a non-linear, often-dreamlike fashion at times as we follow his life through the reading of his last will and testament.  The strength of this novel lies in its examination of  themes both broad and mundane. The author offers the reader a glimpse into the way in which the independence struggle affected the lives of the ordinary businessmen and local politicians as da Silva struggles to position himself to prosper however the struggle might end up.  Far more interesting, though, is the investigation by da Silva's illegitimate daughter (suprise!) into a mysterious (and perhaps fantastical) love obsession named Adelia.  As the details surrounding Adelia are slowly revealed, a melancholy shadow falls over the life of da Silva as he grapples with love, rejection and loss.   The reader is left to wonder: was Adelia actually real or was she a mad creation by a man unable to find his place in Cape Verdean society and life in general?

*One of my Reading Around the Continent books--the full list is here.

 **See our 2016, 2015 and 2014 Reading Lists.

My notes:

35  political independence struggles
37   identity within the independence struggle//Araujo finds himself changed after traveling abroad
39   positives and negatives of technology
42   dreams of service and global aspirations
80   people's pleasure of cheating the state of its money
84   on the weight of solitude
87-88    idealization of Adelia
91   enough to know you exist
92-3   "life is a naked woman" linked to his fear of impotence
95   no one can live in our pain
96   In Praia Branca--the people are all witches
98-99   'sic transit gloria mundi' --- 'thus passes the glory of the world' or 'worldly things are fleeting' his triumph over Adelia
103   nothing more challenging for a man than making love for the 1st time//also examines the idea of a memory stripping one bare
128   author's thesis on the culture of San Vincente
134   Was Adelia real?  She was never found...
137   Dona Chica denies him ever loving any other women
145   Araujo gets swept up in events and is afraid of his pasts
150   a sad lonely ending for Araujo--in essense, paying for his sins
152   last words: "watch out for the door Adelia"

Kwaheri List of Comoros Posts

Compared to a rather extensive Madagascar summary list, looking back I've written a measly five whole posts specific to Comoros.  I have a couple drafts posts--one on the Comorian tradition of "love shacks"--I need to finish before we depart this November.

I probably only traveled in Comoros about ten times the last three years so I didn't have as much experience there but it was a fascinating country with amazingly warm and kind people.

Now that the Peace Corps has returned to Comoros--I'd definitely recommend doing a search for some of the PCV blogs--that's my favorite place to start to learn about a new country.  Additionally, the Peace Corps staff there has put together some great youtube videos here on the language.

Homesick reminisces for my daughters while flying high above the Indian Ocean

What it's like to drive in Comoros: A Matador, A Bull, or the Cape

Voyage Aux Comores: Comoros Has Grown On Me

The Kafir of Khartala- (Comoros) -The Only Comorian Novel Ever Published?

'A movie in the making in Comoros' or 'Marooned in Moroni'

Till Bacteria Do Us Part (FAO Pro-Tip #4)

Ode to VapoRub (FAO Pro-Tip #1)

You're Only a Handshake Away (FAO Pro-Tip #2)

What it's like to drive in Comoros: A Matador, A Bull, or the Cape

From Jack:

Comoros: A land of near misses

    I  traveled recently to Comoros--specifically Grand Comores (there are actually 3 islands that make up the state of Comoros: Grand Comores, Anjouan and Moheli--many Comorans claim Mayotte as part of the nation but currently it is an overseas department of France)--for work.

A billboard proclaims/admonishes along the coastline of Moroni:

"Mayotte is part of Comoros and always will be"

 I spent a week in its capital city Moroni, only venturing to the northern side of the island once.  Most of the week I had a driver (in Comoros and Madagascar, your rental car comes with a driver whether you desire one or not) but on a few days I had the opportunity to drive myself.  There's a plethora of things that one can write about the island and people of Comoros but for today I will discuss what it's like to drive in Comoros.  

Comoros is a country of near misses—if you are driving that is. 

You know how sometimes you can be driving somewhere in the US and you suddenly arrive at your destination with no recollection of how you got there?

This probably never happens to Comorans and certainly not to Americans driving there.

One cannot blithely drive down the roads in Comoros—zoned out and soaking in the lush green scenery (and the scenery is breath-taking--think north-side Kauai jungle).  By and large, the concept of a two-lane road is one that is foreign to Comoros. Sidewalks fall into that same category.  There are no shoulders, or drainage ditches in Comoros (with the exception of a FEW well-heeled neighborhoods perched in the high part of the city).

Driving anywhere in town is less an exercise in driving than in automotive hop-scotch—a constant series of dodges, accelerations, decelerations, stops, feints, and sphincter-puckering squeezes.   Your brain must be constantly calculating mental trigonomery to determine whether your vehicle or the one approaching will first reach the section of road only passable by one car at a time.  Another variable in this are the ubiquitous pedestrians (most Comorans don't own a vehicle) that are traveling down the same roads.   Finally add in the myriad potholes (some sections of road are less roads than long stretches of loosely connected potholes and craters) and heavy rainshowers and you have mathmatical calculations that exceed far beyond that of this English major.  All that said, the Comoran drivers that would zip past my slowly lumbering Toyota Prado were smoking butts and chatting distractedly as they nimbly navigated their vehicles centimers past mine with nary a furrowed brow.

As I parked the Prado in the hotel parking lot after my first jauunt, I thought of the person who would make the perfect driver in Comoros--the skilled, thrill-seeking matador.

For one must bravely face each oncoming car while calculating the exact time to pull back one's cape (i.e. veer to your right).  But I would venture that, drive long enough in Comoros, and sometimes you are instead the bull.  Matador, bull or cape--it is a decision you must make  hundreds of times during every two mile drive in Comoros.