Leadership in My Rearview Mirror

Book excerpt: With wit and wisdom, this book shares insights of a man who rose from being a reluctant draftee sent to fight in Vietnam to later becoming a colonel and an architect of the Department of Behavioral Sciences at West Point, and who currently works to develop IBM’s senior leaders. This book does not describe the view from the heights of leadership; rather, it identifies the attributes and behaviors needed to make the climb and explains how to develop them in ourselves and in others. It emphasizes creation of organizational climates with 360 degrees of trust and deep engagement; explains the importance of intrinsic motivation; explores principle-based leadership; introduces The 5 Trust Vital Signs; promotes collective leadership; and concludes with a statement of concise tenets of the author's leadership philosophy.