Buy This Book! - "Take Command - Lessons in Leadership: How to Be a First Responder in Business" by Jake Wood, Co-Founder of Team Rubicon
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
What is it that allows military types to manage the chaos of combat or disaster zones and succeed? And how can leaders in any organization or business learn from those lessons?
To provide full disclosure, I first met Jake Wood via his military blog "Badger Jake" and later got to know him personally through my work to support him and Will McNulty as they headed to Haiti after a devastating earthquake on January 10th, 2010. Together, they formed Team Rubicon which many, many of you have supported.
There have been thousands of books about leadership. So what makes Jake's book different?
First, Jake Wood takes his experiences as a collegiate athlete, a Marine sniper, an entrepreneur, and as the leader of a disaster relief organization and effectively distills the recipe for, not just managing the chaos, but rising from the worst of circumstances and succeeding... that is truly what we all look to our leaders to do. Jake writes:
...But what I didn't know until after I left the Marines was how valuable the leadership skills I learned there would be off the battlefield...
Jake's recipe goes beyond the usual military leadership style book and is appropriate anywhere - business, government, hospitals, non-profits...you name it. Anyone in any situation can apply these simple principles and shape a successful outcome. So what are they?
Take Command - the methods/principles - are broken down into 4 parts: Prepare, Analyze, Decide, and Act. Each part is illustrated with high-energy examples and succinct lessons and is capped with a "mission brief" (for non-military types, it's a kind of a review of critical points). For example, in the Prepare Section, there are lessons on preparing your mind and body, building a high impact team, and being transparent and accountable (up and down).
Take Command - Lessons in Leadership: How to Be a First Responder in Business is a highly effective guide for any leader or anyone aspiring to become a leader. The lessons are both timely and timeless, effective, energetic and succinct. It is worthy of your hard earned dollars and time.