Review by Grace Macharia -- Leadership by Craig B. Whelden
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Grace Macharia
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Review by Grace Macharia -- Leadership by Craig B. Whelden
[Following is a volunteer review of "Leadership" by Craig B. Whelden.]
Retired Major General Craig B Whelden is an exceptional leader not only for the achievements he has had serving in the military but also his ability to admit the mistakes that he made along the way.
He takes us on a journey through his career from the moment he joined the military about 50 years ago until now. In this book, he does not just focus on his own leadership journey, he talks about other leaders he encountered throughout his professional life. We not only see the methods these leaders used to effect good leadership but also the failures they made. We are able to know what to do and what not to do if we are to be great leaders in not just our professional lives but our personal lives as well.
Leadership is not just a self -help book. It is not a book with formulas to exceptional leadership; methods that might not work. Given that Whelden takes us through methods that worked in his own life, it is easy to adopt the same skills to our lives as the readers, seeing as Whelden is a real life example of a good and effective leader.
The book has short chapters which are easy to read. Each chapter has a core lesson with examples of leadership journeys relevant to each chapter. He explains these chapters in great depth in terms of the challenges experienced by the leaders illustrated there as well as the solutions sought to rectify their errors.
Despite being about leadership in the military environment, the book has some very beneficial lessons that can be adopted in the corporate world as well as one's personal life. Given that the military is one entity governed by high levels of discipline, adopting these principles in one's life could prove very effective if followed to the letter.
Although each chapter had a lesson to pick from, there were specific chapters that resonated with me. Chapter 18, for example, titled, The Light at the End of the Tunnel, especially stuck with me. I liked the example on Brigade Commander, Col. Jack Woodmansee where he approached Craig B Whelden as he was going through a dark period in his life after his marriage having ended. Whelden was only the maintenance officer for his tank battalion at the time. The commander taking time off his busy schedule to visit Whelden to encourage him that there's a light at the end of the tunnel he was going through was truly noble. It remains to be one of the memories Whelden holds dear and it is a good example of what lasting effects noble leadership can have.
The wasn't anything I didn't like about the book. It was highly insightful and I got to not only appreciate effective leaders more, but also those serving in the military. They make exceptional sacrifices for us, civilians, which is something I never got to pay much attention to or even appreciate before reading this book.
The book appears to be professionally edited. I came across only one error in the book which did not affect the quality of my reading by much. It does not contain any sexual content or vulgar language and I would recommend it to anyone who feels they have the ability to lead in whatever sphere of influence.
I am happy to award Leadership by Craig B Whelden 4 out of 4 stars. And as the writer pointed out at one instance of the book, let's 'pay forward' the lessons we get from this literary work.
******
Leadership
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Retired Major General Craig B Whelden is an exceptional leader not only for the achievements he has had serving in the military but also his ability to admit the mistakes that he made along the way.
He takes us on a journey through his career from the moment he joined the military about 50 years ago until now. In this book, he does not just focus on his own leadership journey, he talks about other leaders he encountered throughout his professional life. We not only see the methods these leaders used to effect good leadership but also the failures they made. We are able to know what to do and what not to do if we are to be great leaders in not just our professional lives but our personal lives as well.
Leadership is not just a self -help book. It is not a book with formulas to exceptional leadership; methods that might not work. Given that Whelden takes us through methods that worked in his own life, it is easy to adopt the same skills to our lives as the readers, seeing as Whelden is a real life example of a good and effective leader.
The book has short chapters which are easy to read. Each chapter has a core lesson with examples of leadership journeys relevant to each chapter. He explains these chapters in great depth in terms of the challenges experienced by the leaders illustrated there as well as the solutions sought to rectify their errors.
Despite being about leadership in the military environment, the book has some very beneficial lessons that can be adopted in the corporate world as well as one's personal life. Given that the military is one entity governed by high levels of discipline, adopting these principles in one's life could prove very effective if followed to the letter.
Although each chapter had a lesson to pick from, there were specific chapters that resonated with me. Chapter 18, for example, titled, The Light at the End of the Tunnel, especially stuck with me. I liked the example on Brigade Commander, Col. Jack Woodmansee where he approached Craig B Whelden as he was going through a dark period in his life after his marriage having ended. Whelden was only the maintenance officer for his tank battalion at the time. The commander taking time off his busy schedule to visit Whelden to encourage him that there's a light at the end of the tunnel he was going through was truly noble. It remains to be one of the memories Whelden holds dear and it is a good example of what lasting effects noble leadership can have.
The wasn't anything I didn't like about the book. It was highly insightful and I got to not only appreciate effective leaders more, but also those serving in the military. They make exceptional sacrifices for us, civilians, which is something I never got to pay much attention to or even appreciate before reading this book.
The book appears to be professionally edited. I came across only one error in the book which did not affect the quality of my reading by much. It does not contain any sexual content or vulgar language and I would recommend it to anyone who feels they have the ability to lead in whatever sphere of influence.
I am happy to award Leadership by Craig B Whelden 4 out of 4 stars. And as the writer pointed out at one instance of the book, let's 'pay forward' the lessons we get from this literary work.
******
Leadership
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: First Love by Momi Robins
