Eisenhower on Leadership: Ike's Enduring Lessons in Total Victory Management

by Alan Axelrod, Peter Georgescu

Overview

Based on the findings in recently released archive papers and letters, as well as extensive library and historical resources, Alan Axelrod offers a compelling profile of the remarkable leadership discipline of a general often called a "military CEO." In fascinating detail, Axelrod reveals that Ike was more than a great military leader; he was also a great executive who could—and did—write a reassuring letter to the mother of a solider one moment and make decisions impacting millions of lives the next.

Follow Ike's path as Supreme Commander from the invasion of North Africa to victory in Europe and learn the lessons of great leadership along the way, including:

• The nature of leadership
• Managing detail without sacrificing the “big picture”
• Ensuring follow-through to execution
• Building a team
• Converting conflict into common cause
• Getting the facts and making plans
• Mentoring, motivating, and inspiring

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780470626917
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	05/25/2006
Series:	Jossey-Bass Leadership Series , #382
Pages:	306
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 2.70(d)

About the Author

Alan Axelrod is author of numerous business and management books, including two BusinessWeek best-sellers: Patton on Leadership and Elizabeth I, CEO. He is a popular speaker on leadership and has delivered speeches at venues as diverse as the Florida City and County Management Association in Orlando and the Excellence in Government Conference in Washington, D.C. He has been featured in Fortune, BusinessWeek, and Inc. and is a frequent guest on news programs.

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Table of Contents

Foreword (Peter Georgescu).

Introduction: The Soldier as CEO.

1. Time of Trial: Ike and America Enter the War

2. From African Victory to Sicilian Conquest.

3. Supreme Commander.

4. From Crisis to Victory.

Afterword (Lieutenant General Daniel Christman, USA (ret.)).

The Author.

Index.

Editorial Reviews

While Osama Bin Laden on Leadership has not yet turned up, it seems every other historical figure has graced the title of a management self-help book. Veteran business writer Axelrod (Patton on Leadership) follows the genre's common pattern, delivering a brief, adulatory biography of his hero before moving chronologically through WWII. Plucking passages from Eisenhower's writings, he offers short homilies on effective management. Readers will learn that they must "Refuse to Consider Failure," "Use Human Resources Wisely," "Preach Simplicity," "Practice Simplicity" and "Look Beyond Ego to Focus on Issues." Learning from mistakes is not one of the messages because, in Axelrod's account, Eisenhower never made one. The author never attempts the incisive analysis that management authorities like Peter Drucker do, but his lessons ring true, and he dispenses them in lively, cheerful prose. (June) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Dwight D. Eisenhower was attentive to details, logistics, strategy, personnel, and communication and, as such, is a good model for today's managers. In this retrospective, timed to coincide with annual D-day remembrances, Axelrod (Patton: A Biography) reveals and examines the 34th President's leadership style and discipline. Relying on major sources such as Eisenhower's own Crusade in Europe as well as The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower: The War Years and recently released archival records, Axelrod enumerates 232 lessons drawing on events, issues, and decisions that formed Eisenhower's leadership strategy in the early 1940s. These include Lesson 15, "Invest in People: I try to pick bright boys who learn rapidly," and Lesson 93, "Hold No Grudge: An offense once committed and punished is, so far as I am concerned, forgotten." These sound bites of Eisenhower's wisdom are a highlight of the book, which includes a foreword by Peter Georgescu (chairman emeritus, Young & Rubicam). Libraries should purchase for businesses and managers who want to build productive teams and to bring out the best in all employees.-Susan C. Awe, Univ. of New Mexico Lib., Albuquerque Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

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