Secrets of Special Ops Leadership: Dare the Impossible -- Achieve the Extraordinary

by William A. Cohen

Can commando techniques really work in business? If you can inspire and lead your employees to work at peak performance, they will accomplish fantastic feats for you -- just as fighting commandos do in battle situations. The Navy SEALs. The Green Berets. Delta Force. These are a few examples of what are known as "special ops" -- unique fighting forces trained to beat overwhelming odds on every mission. Using principles like speed, purpose, repetition, surprise, and simplicity, elite units such as these have throughout history accomplished extremely challenging tasks against vastly superior forces. Secrets of Special Ops Leadership reveals the essential methods commando leaders employ, using dramatic real-life stories of commando leadership from biblical times all the way up through Iraq and Afghanistan in 2005, and showing how similar techniques are used by present-day business leaders. You'll learn the fourteen core practices of special ops leadership, including how When they've got the right problems to work on, business commandos can do many times the work of normal employees, accomplish more with less, complete projects against looming deadlines, and create innovative new products and strategies. Secrets of Special Ops Leadership gives you the ammunition you need to get a business commando unit up and running and achieve the impossible for your organization.

Genres: Leadership, Military Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

William A. Cohen, Ph.D. (Pasadena, CA) is an authority on leadership and strategy formulation and deployment. He gives speeches and seminars for the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, the Air War College, the FBI Academy, all four armed services, and corporations from Boeing to The Cheesecake Factory. He is the author of many books including The New Art of the Leader, The Wisdom of the Generals , and How to Make It Big as a Consultant (978-0-8144-7073-2).

Reviews

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

We\ll see if it helps me forge my roller skate street gang into a non-stoppable juggernaut.

[Nimish · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's lots of interesting stuff in here, but the only bit I use is "always have a mission objective". It's basically OKRs with a military twist. I think everything else is sound advice mixed with some interesting military stories. Really entertaining, but a bit to vague to be actionable in real life.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a well-written book by a man with a wealth of experience. He covers several major military operations in history and relates the 'commando tactics' of leadership with those of a business. He compares and contrasts leading special operations troops into battle with leading engineers, sales personnel and other lower-level employees into growing and maintaining an effective, profitable business.

[Chainsaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a BUSINESS leadership book. I don't agree with his very liberal extension of the term "Commando" to anyone who is willing to "dare the impossible to achieve the extraordinary." I believe the elite military personnel who have earned that distinction are entitled to keep that moniker as a distinctive term...it is not one that should be applied to nearly any field of endeavor. Regardless, some good leadership tips are contained within the text. Don't believe I'd read it again, though.

[Foo Hup · Rating 4 out of 5]

how the military can be adapted to the current business battlefield. IMO, it can be applied to MNC and companies which are entrepreneurial in nature.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even if you're not involved in business, this is an excellent book on leadership, full of amazing historical anecdotes and cases.