Book description
What essential leadership lessons do we learn by distilling the
actions and ideas of great military commanders such as George
Washington, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Colin Powell? That is the
fundamental question underlying The Art of Command: Military
Leadership from George Washington to Colin Powell. The book
illustrates that great leaders become great through conscious effort
-- a commitment not only to develop vital skills but also to surmount
personal shortcomings. Harry S. Laver, Jeffrey J. Matthews, and the
other contributing authors identify nine core characteristics of
highly effective leadership, such as integrity, determination, vision,
and charisma, and nine significant figures in American military
history whose careers embody those qualities. The Art of Command
examines each figure's strengths and weaknesses and how those
attributes affected their leadership abilities, offering a unique
perspective of military leadership in American history. Laver and
Matthews have assembled a list of contributors from military,
academic, and professional circles, which allows the book to encompass
diverse approaches to the study of leadership.
""Art of Command excels. The reader can follow each
leader from inauspicious beginnings to greatness in the course of a
short story that chronicles the development of a particular quality in
that leader." --Marine Corps University Journal" --
Harry S. Laver is assistant professor of history and political
science at Southeastern Louisiana University. He is the author of
Citizens More Than Soldiers: The Kentucky Militia and Society in the
Early Republic. Jeffrey J. Matthews is associate professor of business
and leadership at the University of Puget Sound. He is the author of
Alanson B. Houghton: Ambassador of the New Era.
