Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way

Authors and former Marines Dan Carrison and Rod Walsh have put together an interesting example of can former military people make it in the business world.Reading this book reinforced for me a very positive 'yes' to that question; as a former military man myself, I found an interesting connection in my later military career-the military became fascinated with the corporate world and its business 'speak', correspondingly the corporate world became attracted to the military because of its direct action role. Military staff attended courses in quality management and other corporate activities while business groups attended military style training activities to build teams and develop aggressive action plans in an increasingly competitive world. The military way is direct, offensive and focused upon achieving objectives, in the modern corporate world, the competitor is the 'enemy' and conquering the enemy is the objective.However to achieve success demands a winning team and team development is hard work, similarly the best team does so because they are developed as a team; this is where the military ethos of leadership and people management is a strong plus. Today's organisations are smaller, leaner and to succeed need to be all that more meaner. Trainers and managers need to lead by example, not be an example of cynicism and what not to be.This book illustrates that to build a winning team needs dedication and much more than just attending a few courses and discussion groups to build teams. To be successful is demanding and needs total commitment from every level of the organisation, not just the CEO, or the HR department, or the Trainers. To develop the ultimate team needs everybody to know where the strengths of the team are and where the weaknesses are and to work at development of the struggling team members to keep them moving and keep them belonging to the team. This commences at the recruiting stage and continues as the employee progresses through an organisation in various job roles.I enjoyed reading this book as I related to every stage of recruitment, team building, developing a team identity and fostering the team's and organisation's ethos.As a former military member who has worked with the US Marines on exchange and exercises, I related closely to the messages in this book. You can build an extremely powerful organisation using the principles outlined and establish a winning organisation that is strong, effective, loyal and will accept any challenge. Well done Dan Carrison and Rod Walsh!

I really liked this book.The one draw back is that the author states several things as fact which are opinion. For example, frequently the author states things such as "Managers must do X", but never really gives any justification for why managers should do X. I guess its supposed to stretch from the marine corps, but the kicker is that many of those points don't really correlate at all, with no supporting evidence or research. It leaves me scratching my head asking- How did he get from there.. to there? almost as if someone were to say, "4 quarters make up a dollar, therefore you have to drive a black car". This happens quite frequently throughout the book, causing me to start tuning out these sections- which are supposed to be the most beneficial sections as they are supposed to be guidance on how to create leaders and manage better.Now with this being said, I really enjoyed it. Some of it felt like some guy making stuff up based on his opinions and experience, and I like factual-based books more, but there's some good parallels and good stuff to learn.If I read this when I was 20, I probably would have signed up for the USMC... it really shows why the USMC creates great leaders and is extremely effective. However, it doesn't always do a good job of translating the ideas to business management with any level of credibility.I would say I really enjoyed this book, and loved learning about the marine corps way.However, it lacks on translating these ideas into business leadership more than a cursory theory.

This is a very good book that lays out the qualities of leadership from bottom to top. The Marine Corps side of this story is exceptionally well present and a larger respect for the Marines is gained. On the private sector side, the authors crosswalk every Marine Corps trait of leadership, but I'm a afraid that not every aspect can be imposed in today's working society. But this book brought out methods or concepts that I've already used with my people and I feel they have more comradery and they seem happier as if a load was lighted off their shoulders. I attribute that to us all knowing we are part of the same effort and each is dealt responsibilities, guidance and respect. So there were many good points made in the book that brought out the bottom-line of managing people for me.But as a "old school" Marine from 68-71, many of the aspects of leadership discussed in this book were not either done or demonstrated in my Marine Corps experience at the levels presented in this book. But I have to admit, the basic backbone of what a Marines is was there when I was in and I'd love to have been trained under these more modern approaches.Semper FiVN 69-70

I was looking for a book on leadership and selected this. It was to the point and provided a good comparison between Marines philosophy and improving business practices. It provides some good examples, plus I learned more about what it takes to be a Marine.

I was introduced to this book in one of my classes, and learned alot from it!

You may feel some vague sense of obligation to stay up with the books that are produced about business management while realizing that the effort and expense is rarely, if ever, justified by what one reads. Take heart, dear reader; Semper Fi is one of those very rare volumes that is worth a lot more than the purchase price. If you are sick of those who would sacrifice profit and organizational effectiveness for political correctness then this book is for you. If you are a veteran of military service, this book rings true. If you are not a military veteran but have a deep desire to make a differences, this book is for you. But be warned: you have to do it to make your company better.

Wonderful leadership book