Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead

Here's the short version of this review. I expected great things from Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead and it exceeded my expectations. Details follow.Unless you've been living under a rock for the last decade or so, you know who Jim Mattis is. He's the Marine general with the nicknames "Mad Dog" and "The Warrior Monk." He's known for his blunt statements and his extensive reading. You may not know who Bing West is. He’s a Marine combat veteran who has written several books. I've read two, The March Up and The Village. They were both excellent. The two men make a great team. Call Sign Chaos isn't a leadership textbook or a treatise on leadership development. It's the story of Jim Mattis developing from a “carefree” young man to a seasoned and savvy leader. Here’s his statement of the book’s purpose. "My purpose in writing this book is to convey the lessons I learned for those who might benefit, whether in the military or in civilian life."The book is divided into three parts. The first is called "Direct Leadership." Next is "Executive Leadership." And, finally, there is "Strategic Leadership."Direct Leadership is about leading face-to-face. It's the kind of leadership where you know all the people you're leading. In business direct leadership is first-line supervision and most of middle-management. The second section is Executive Leadership. That's leadership when it's no longer possible to know every person under your leadership umbrella. For me, that occurred when I was promoted from being the manager of a regional service center to the manager of all my company's service centers. If you want to be an effective executive leader, you must change the way you lead. If I'd had a book like this, I would have known that I needed to make a transition and learned what I needed to do differently. You can't know every individual person under your umbrella. You must learn to lead them all through the limited number of leaders you encounter on a regular basis. You must also develop independent sources of information and stay in touch with the men and women on the front line. Business leaders make this transition when they move into general management.The third section is about strategic leadership. Mattis describes his challenges as a military leader with civilian bosses. He describes how political concerns are as important as operational ones. There's no real analogy to this for most business leaders. It's interesting to read. There are insights scattered throughout. But this will probably not be part of your learning environment until/unless you reach the top of a large corporation.Be prepared to make lots of notes. Make sure you're well-stocked with highlighters and sticky notes. There is a lot of wisdom scattered through the book, as well as pointers to other resources. Movie directors talk about "through-lines." This book has lots of "through-lessons." Here are three that stood out to me. Reading really is fundamental. Leaders really are readers. They don't call him the Warrior Monk for nothing. There are two things in the book about leadership and reading that will make a difference for you. First, there is the example. You will witness Mattis pulling books out of his rucksack to study, check a fact, or make a point.  You'll also get pointers to lots of individual reading resources that are relevant for you, even if you aren’t a military leader. One of the things I learned in the Marine Corps was the purpose and practice of the after-action review. That's another lesson that runs through the book. Jim Mattis describes his personal after-action reviews for situations that didn't work out as he'd hoped. Instead of blaming others, he focuses on his actions and what he could have done differently. The lesson is excellent, and it's repeated several times.It's all about the front line. My friend, Mel Kleiman, likes to say, "Without the front line, there is no bottom line." Mattis expresses the same thought in different words. He says that if you can't talk to the people at the very front line, you're out of touch. He stresses the importance of concentrating on doing things that will help those front-line folks. Here's how he puts it on one occasion. "Much of what I carried with me was summed up in a handwritten card that lay on my Pentagon desk these past few years, the desk where I signed deployment orders, sending troops overseas. It read, ‘Will this commitment contribute sufficiently to the wellbeing of the American people to justify putting our troops in a position to die?’”In A NutshellCall Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead is an excellent book about one man's leadership development. Whether you're in the military or in business, there are lots of lessons for you. You'll learn that direct leadership is different than executive leadership, what to do in each case, and how to adapt from one to the other. You'll come away with dozens of notes, pithy quotes about leadership and life, and pointers to a boatload of resources. If you are serious about leadership, you must read this book.

Superb book, that brings forth the humanity behind our armed forces and how our national values are linked to the core capability of our men and women in the military, linked by great and thoughtful leaders like Mattis. Even if you are not interested in military culture, this is really a must read as a primer on leadership.

This book was thoroughly enjoyable. It’s essentially a combination of great leadership advice and an enjoyable narrative. Bing West has a writing style that is easy to follow and moves quickly.The overall book is segregated into three parts; Direct Leadership, Executive Leadership, and Strategic Leadership. As a memoir, the book first covers General Mattis’ time in Iraq to include insights drawn from his combat experience. The latter half of the book focuses on his time in more senior leadership assignments, such as Central Command. His fights with the bureaucracy are as fascinating as his combat stories.Probably the most appealing part of this book is that it is full of quotes by famous people throughout history. General Mattis frequently quotes them to make a point. I actually wrote down many of these quotes for my own reference. The result is that this book is chock full of leadership pearls of wisdom. The author also drives home the point that one should never stop reading or learning. Reading allows one to learn from someone else’s mistakes.Bottom line: this is a powerful combination of Mr. West’s easy to read narrative and the priceless, practical, and inspiration leadership advice of General Mattis. This is a must read for every leader.

Great unfiltered insight regarding the mindset of one of the most accomplished Marine Corps leaders. Marines are famous for “telling it how it is”. I was a career Marine officer who shared GEN Mattis’s leadership approach. I finished my working career as a NATO International Civilian at Allied Command Transformation where the affects of GEN Mattis are still felt. Semper fi Mon General!

The book takes us through his rise from enlisted man to General, explaining the lessons he learned along the way in clear, firm prose. Mattis shows us how he learned to lead -- whether it was leading men into battle, or leading them into the halls of Congress. Mattis is careful not to oversell his exploits or to under-estimate how much he has gained from others (including the countless books he has read and mastered). As Mattis says, if you only learn from your own experience, rather than learning from others by reading their books, you and the people with whom you are a unit will pay a very heavy price. Mattis is aware of his limitations and frankly admits them; in fact, he uses them to force himself to learn from others. He says: "My aim was to create a restlessness in my commanders and make the learning environment contagious. I wanted them all to be asking, every day, 'What have I overlooked?'" Mattis also remarks, "It was already my habit, at the close of staff meetings and even chance encounters, to push my Marines by insisting they put me on the spot with one hard question before we finished our conversation. I wanted to know what bothered them at night." (p. 81) Who wouldn't fight hard for a leader like Mattis? (By the way, if you are interested in how Osama bin Laden managed to escape Tora Bora in 2001, read Chapter 5, where Mattis shows how the Marines might have concluded the Afghanistan battle successfully, if they had not been impeded by some foolish decisions by Army General Tommy Franks.)

Intelligent,articulate,professional and a warrior to his very corps. Being a marine I had heard of him, my son,also a marine met him in Ramadi. He is a living legend to all marines and a hero to our great nation. This is a must read for anyone who wants to know how to train and command men and women for battle.

Jim Mattis, por dois anos, foi secretário de defesa no governo Trump, o que seria suficiente para destruir a biografia de muitas pessoas. Contudo, antes disso, Mattis ficou 44 anos no Corpo de Fuzileiros Navais dos EUA, chegando ao posto de general de quatro estrelas, exercendo inclusive o posto de comandante das tropas americanas no Oriente Médio, o que sem dúvida rende boas histórias. Como o livro tem foco em aspectos da liderança e trata apenas do período em Mattis esteve na ativa, achei que valia a pena a leitura.As duas primeiras partes (Direct Leadership e Executive Leadership) são muito boas e trazem valiosas dicas que são facilmente transferidas para o mundo corporativo. Planejamento, descentralização, confiança nos subordinados, harmonia na equipe são alguns dos tópicos.A última parte, Strategic Leadership, é um pouco mais distante da minha realidade, especialmente nos aspectos políticos da relação entre militares e civis. Porém, não pude deixar de fazer um paralelo com o Brasil quando o general expõe seus dilemas diante de ordens absurdas de seu presidente, como a invasão do Iraque baseada em inteligência imprecisa.

This book offers a firsthand account of General Mattis' career, providing a valuable perspective. It is an exceptional document that sheds light on this period of history. Juxtaposing it with other perspectives would be interesting to gain a broader understanding.An insightful lesson in military (and leadership) for those outside (and inside) the field.

Sehr gutes Buch!

The general has brought out his life experiences starting from his youngster days. The directive command of style has been covered in illustrious manner. Further the book proceeds with hierarchical lessons and political descision dilemma. A must read for military personnels.

I strongly recommend reading this book, as a means to enlighten your view regarding the leadership experiences of Gen Mattis.