Robert E. Lee on Leadership : Executive Lessons in Character, Courage, and Vision

Robert E. Lee on Leadership : Executive Lessons in Character, Courage, and Vision | H. W. Crocker III | Excellent insight into the man

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Robert E. Lee on L...

	Robert E. Lee on Leadership : Executive Lessons in Character, Courage, and Vision H. W. Crocker III Three Rivers Press, 2000 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 61 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Robert E. Lee was a leader for the ages. The man heralded by Winston Churchill as "one of the noblest Americans who ever lived" inspired an out-manned, out-gunned army to achieve greatness on the battlefield. He was a brilliant strategist and a man of unyielding courage who, in the face of insurmountable odds, nearly changed forever the course of history.

"A masterpiece?the best work of its kind I have ever read. Crocker's Lee is a Lee for all leaders to study; and to work, quite deliberately, to emulate." ? Major General Josiah Bunting III, superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute

In this remarkable book, you'll learn the keys to Lee's greatness as a man and a leader. You'll find a general whose standards for personal excellence was second to none, whose leadership was founded on the highest moral principles, and whose character was made of steel. You'll see how he remade a rag-tag bunch of men into one of the most impressive fighting forces history has ever known. You'll also discover other sides of Lee?the businessman who inherited the debt-ridden Arlington plantation and streamlined its operations, the teacher who took a backwater college and made it into a prestigious university, and the motivator who inspired those he led to achieve more than they ever dreamed possible. Each chapter concludes with the extraordinary lessons learned, which can be applied not only to your professional life, but also to your private life as well.

Today's business world requires leaders of uncommon excellence who can overcome the cold brutality of constant change. Robert E. Lee was such a leader. He triumphed over challenges people in business face every day. Guided by his magnificent example, so can you.

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The Great American - R E Lee

Not at all a Marble Man, Robert E. Lee was a true leader. This book does him justice and puts his leadership skills and abilities into a modern context useful for anyone in a leadership role. It's much more a character study than a business book. The author clearly is a great fan of the great man.

Business lessons are nicely extrapolated from both true historical events and how Lee handled adversaries in blue, adversaries on his staff, and adverse events in the field. Lee's brilliance at taking risks and making the most out of less is strongly shown-- especially in The Seven Days Battles and during Chancellorsville-- his finest hour.

The author is particularly harsh on General Longstreet at Gettysburg, suggesting most strongly that Longstreet was insubordinate, disobedient to orders, and undermined Lee's strategies during that cataclysmic struggle. This is a very readable and approachable introduction to Lee for the modern reader and a pleasant review for students of the Civil War who don't mind Lee's lessons put into a more modern frame.

While Lee is the great spirit of the "Lost Cause", his greatness or lack of it is not due to his victories or defeats, but rather on the very elegant and superb quality of his character. War often brings lesser men to the forefront of history and thrusts gargantuan tasks and responsibilities upon them. But it also gives superb men their moments-- often at great cost to themselves and others. Without Lee, one could make the argument that the Confederate cause would have failed long before it actually did.

The idea that "the man and the hour have met", popular during the inauguration of Jefferson Davis, is far more appropriate for Lee and his elevation to command of the Army of Northern Virginia. Lee is certainly one of the great Americans with a character and demeanor from which we can still learn valuable lessons today. Ever the gentleman and man of kindness and forgiveness, Lee would turn a silent gaze on the failure of Stuart at Gettysburg and even forgive Longstreet. One might say that these were mistakes on Lee's part, but he had to work with what he had available to him and there were few commanders in Lee's opinion who could replace either man. Even those few independent thinkers such as Stonewall Jackson-- who could be trusted with independent action and great responsibility while fulfilling the wishes of the commander-- could fail as did Stonewall during the Seven Days fighting around Richmond. But Lee would give them other chances and they would do their utmost to regain the trust and respect of their Marse Robert. This is an excellent book and quite a treat, too!

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Excellent insight into the man

Very well written. Lee's use of talent and limited resources reflect his brilliance as a leader.

Very Good but Keep in Mind ....

Robert E. Lee is probably second only to Benjamin Franklin in terms of a famous American non-president around whom an almost larger than life mythology has formed.

This book does an outstanding job of presenting Robert E. Lee as a leader and gives a tremendous amount of good information and insight that makes it well worth the read. In the end, however, the book falls prey to that mythology and goes beyond simply presenting Lee's leadership qualities and enters into defending Lee against some of the historical criticisms that have been debated among historians particularly where it comes to his handling of his army at Gettysburg and the relationship between himself and General Longstreet.

It was inevitable that some of these elements had to be touched upon as this is afterall, a biographical and historical examination of Lee which then seeks to understand what it was about Lee that commanded such fervent devotion and seemingly enthusiatic willingness among impoverished and underequipped men. Certainly a great deal of it had to do with Lee's personal characteristics. However, a great deal of it had to do as well with Lee's being personified in the context of the cause they were fighting for and it is this element, in my opinion, that is understated by the author and as a result, the need to defend Lee personally against all criticism is elevated beyond what it needs to be.

This is a non-technical book in the sense that it doesn't use the terminology that is becoming common parlance in the study of leadership. It it were, it would be clearly stated and shown, that Lee had both a servant-leader as well as a transformational leadership style. Also of importance would be a recognition of the context of the day and culture where the south heavily romanticized and idealized both the man and the cause to a degree that would be difficult to understand and relate to in the context of our experience, especially when it comes to political and military leaders.

It should strongly appeal to military leaders today who no doubt long for the elements of such a leader in the context of today. There are some perhaps contemporary in the persons of Powell and Schwartzkopf but not to the national enshrinement that still surrounds Lee in the minds of many, even if they aren't as familiar with the history surrouding him. Business CEO's will resonate with a great deal of this as well and no doubt benefit from it.

Read this entertaining book and enjoy the insights it offers, but keep in mind as well, that some of the elements presented are difficult to distinguish as purely leadership principles applicable for today and some tie to a larger than life figure who even in this book, tends to be presented in the context of the popular mythology that surrounds him than a purely objective understanding of the man himself.

4 Stars.

Bart Breen

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Leadership Personified

I am always a bit distrustful of books that claim to provide leadership lessons for business. In my opinion, leadership is a universal concept that transcends a particular setting and applying leadership lessons so narrowly always ends in somewhat stretched examples to fit the narrow definition. Better is the approach of conveying leadership skills for life or for character. The author rightly points out in his introduction that everybody plays a leadership at some time in their lives. That alone is reason enough to look for heroes we might emulate. And in that we find Robert E. Lee.

The bottom line is, Lee was a great leader because he had a well-formed character. Mr. Crocker is wise to continually return us to that fact again and again in this work. Mr. Crocker is also wise to identify the primary role model in Lee's life - Jesus Christ. Lee's deep abiding faith was the furnace that forged the human epitome of a servant leader. Servant leadership is probably the most antithetical form of leadership to the business world. Mr. Crocker recognizes that as well and perhaps that is why he attempts to force the issue in order to prove the point against the tide of conventional thinking. But even with those stretched points, Mr. Crocker conveys the importance of servant leadership in everyday life. A good leader is not simply the person identified to play the role of leader - a good leader is one who has earned the respect required to lead and who inspires others to follow.

Short of the New Testament, you will not find a more perfect example of servant leadership of this type than you find in Robert E. Lee. Mr. Crocker has chosen his example well and correctly applied the lessons to a life of character. Leaders of all persuasions, and not just business, will find leadership personified in these pages.

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