|
Robert E. Lee on Leadership (平装)
by H. W. Crocker III
| Category:
Leadership |
| Market price: ¥ 168.00
MSL price:
¥ 148.00
[ Shop incentives ]
|
| Stock:
In Stock |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
A historically accurate and well-written tale about a brilliant and fascinating man, his ethics, and his character-based leadership principles. |
| If you want us to help you with the right titles you're looking for, or to make reading recommendations based on your needs, please contact our consultants. |
|
| |
AllReviews |
1 2   | Total 2 pages 11 items |
|
|
Major General Josiah Bunting III, superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute (MLS quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
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. |
|
|
Caspar Weinberger, former Secretary of Defense, chairman of Forbes magazine (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
A splendid and inspiring book, Robert E. Lee on Leadership offers enormously valuable lessons for all of us today, and should be required reading in the White House, the State Department, and the Pentagon, at least. |
|
|
S. Patrick Presley, director of Federal Government Affairs, British Petroleum (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
As Harry Crocker reminds us, the principles that guided Robert e. Lee were grounded in the finest traditions of American values. Robert E. Lee on Leadership is a timely and valuable reflection on character, and on the personal and spiritual convictions that make for great leaders. |
|
|
Marvin Olasky, author of the bestselling Renewing American Com- passion (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
Harry Crocker has provided a great service by reminding us through this moving and tightly written biography that winning isn't the only thing: faithfulness and honor live in our memories after the guns are silent. |
|
|
Robert Morris (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
Crocker has done a brilliant job of identifying and then analyzing various "executive lessons in character, courage, and vision" from Lee's career. He organizes his material within 11 chapters which range from "Understanding Lee" to "The Marble Man." One of the most interesting sections in the book is the Appendix in which Crocker discusses Lee's "lieutenants": Stonewall Jackson, A.P. Hill, Jeb Stuart, and James Longstreet. I also appreciate the "Select, Critical Bibliography" which suggests other sources for those who wish to increase and extend their understanding not only of Lee but of the much larger historical context within which he lived and, yes, struggled. This is not a biography of Lee. Rather, it offers a sharply focused analysis of a military strategist whose human strengths and weaknesses were revealed throughout the Civil War. Crocker observes that "One should never underestimate what the War Between the States cost Robert E. Lee." The book highlights Lee's principles (which were never compromised) while providing numerous examples of the leadership he provided to his troops. For me, amidst everything that can be said of Lee, what impresses me most is his dignity...especially when Lee's personal "cost" to which Crocker refers was greatest. Throughout most of one of history's bloodiest wars, Lee's principal adversary was Ulysses S. Grant. After the war, Lee became president of Washington College. Consider this especially revealing response by Lee to a professor: "Sir, if you ever presume to speak disrespectfully of General Grant in my presence, either you or I will sever his connection with this university." Adversaries, yes, but Grant and Lee had great respect for each other's qualities of character as well as military skills. I leave it to each reader to select from among the various "lessons" provided those which are most relevant to the reader's own needs and interests. Once having read this book, we are better able to understand Douglas Southall Freeman's comment after he completed his four- volume biography: "I have been fully repaid by being privileged to live, as it were, for more than a decade in the company of a great gentleman." |
|
|
Richard Libby (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
This book is not a biography of Robert E. Lee, nor is it a history of the Civil War, although the reader will learn plenty about both. This book is a case study of the character of Robert E. Lee. In exploring his character, it becomes clear why he was such a great and beloved leader.
Lee was, first and foremost, a Christian. He understood human imperfections and made allowances for them, and he was genuinely concerned for the well-being of everyone - even the enemies against whom he fought. Lee also believed in rewarding and promoting those who did their work well. Knowing all of this is key to understanding his leadership.
Crocker also illuminates two mysteries about Lee, that, perhaps, have become clouded with the passage of years. The first is the fact that he fought against U.S.A. Crocker explains that Lee opposed secession, but opposed even more the idea of forcing the Southern states to remain in the Union at gunpoint. He considered himself a Virginian first and foremost, and when push came to shove, he could not take up arms against the Old Dominion state, where so many of his relatives and friends lived. At no time was Lee enthusiastic about the war; even in fighting, he sought to bring the war quickly to an end. Lee refused to permit his men to steal from or to harm any civilians, even in Union territory, and even though some Union soldiers had no such qualms about Confederate civilians.
The second mystery is his relationship with slavery. Lee opposed slavery and saw it as a moral evil. Even so, he wanted to abolish slavery gradually, because he was concerned that the former slaves should have the means to provide for themselves before they were set free. In this, he opposed the abolition movement, but he was no defender of slavery.
The description of Lee's surrender to U.S. Grant is particularly touching. This is due in part to Lee's concern for the well-being of the people of the South (and this was his ultimate reason for surrendering) and in part to the picture it paints of two honorable generals agreeing to terms of surrender like gentlemen. Even Grant was impressed with Lee's personal dignity, although not with the cause for which he fought.
Crocker highlights the virtuous aspects of Lee's character and shows them at work. The virtues, then, become something to be lived out, not something abstract. He ends each chapter with a summary of character norms that made Lee the great man that he was.
It was most helpful of Crocker to include a bibliography at the end, because the reader of this book is very likely to want to read more about General Lee.
|
|
|
Todd Newman (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
Being a fan of the Civil War and involved with managing a business, I found this book quite inciting and useful. Lee's methods for dealing with people throughout his life offered thoughtful approach to situations in modern times that anyone can find beneficial. This book covers Lee's early stages in life and strikes with a wealth of information regarding his involvement in the Civil War. Lee after the war and his death is presented with leadership examples that offer a great view of the man and his ability to handle many situations. In this coverage, author H.W. Crocker III captures important events in Lee's history and explains Lee's approach to being leader in them. What makes an interesting addition to this book is that Lee's triumphs are also covered as well as his failures. How Lee handles such events are dramatically conveyed and offer great value to the reader. I would highly recommend this book for everyone, as people who are not managers or involved in business can benefit. This is a great book for anyone looking to improve their life while offering peaceful and thoughtful resolve to conflicting situtations. |
|
|
David Levine (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
This book which states lessons to be learned from specific episodes in Lee's career gives a good window into the great general's character. This is, by no means a comprehensive biography but, rather, a book which sets forth how Lee's reactions to given situations demonstrated leadership attributes which would serve today's executives well. The book is of interest both, to the target audience in the business community as well as to Civil War enthusiats who are looking for a different angle in which to evaluate Lee. The author shows how Lee demonstrated great leadership even in defeat by cutting losses or otherwise handling the situation as well as could be expected. However, there are several analysts of Lee's career who would argue a failure of leadership in situations such as Gettysburg. They would argue that making a defensive war into an offensive struggle was a big mistake showing a failure of leadership and furthermore, this failure was compounded by ill advised decisions such as Pickett's charge. Perhaps the truth is somewhere in the middle ... Lee was a truly great leader from whom we can learn much but, he was not infallible and made genuine mistakes. These mistakes cost thousands of casualties among his troops. However, on the whole, Lee pulled off some near miracles by way of his extraordinary leadership abilities. |
|
|
Setliff (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
The author H. W. Crocker III sketches an extraordinary little book profiling the extraordinary character and courage of the South's esteemed General Robert E. Lee. This timely piece chronicles the man Robert E. Lee, his spiritual convictions and extraordinary character forged amidst great hardship. The Lee family may have had aristocratic roots, but Lee embraced the esteem of the family name with humbleness instead of pomp and splendor. The great Confederate general is renowned by southroners, Union sympathizers, and Europeans alike. The esteemed Lord Acton sought dialogue with Lee after the war. President Theodore Roosevelt said affectionately that Lee was "the very greatest of all the great captains that the English-speaking peoples have brought forth." British Prime Minister Winston Churchill observed, "His noble presence and gentle, kindly manner were sustained by religious faith and an exalted character."
Lee was an astute student, and excelled at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He served with honor as scout and engineer in the U.S.-Mexican War making a reputation for himself. He developed a little business acumen trying to manage his plantation at Arlington. Lee was great because he was unassuming and was a gentleman of Christian piety. He learned from his mistakes-and yes he made mistakes. Lee was a brilliant strategist and considering the lowly status of his underdog army, he defied the odds. Lee in humility credited providence for his successes. Lee was also great because he surrounded himself by great men, as Crocker highlights in the chapter entitled Lee's Lieutenants. Both Stonewall Jackson and cavalry leader Jeb Stuart were bold, daring, and ultimately gave their life to the cause they fought alongside General Lee for.
Just as his father General Lighthorse Harry Lee before him, Lee pledged his life and sacred fortune for the cause of his country. As a patriot, Lee simply could not conceptualize a patriotism that didn't put God and Family first. In 1861, as Lee was summoned by the Lincoln administration with a prestigious offer to command a Union Army, his conscience dictated his forthright refusal of such an offer. To trample on home and hearth in the name of an abstraction like the "Union" was beyond Lee's comprehension. He refused to lead an army to invade the southron states. The Union after all was formed for the security of the several States and the people therein, not to wage war on her people. The proposition established in the 1776 Declaration of Independence, which posited "rule by consent of the governed" plainly goes against the idea of tethering the Union back together by force. With the eventual secession of his home state and its accession to the Confederate States, Lee led his sword in defense of his beloved Commonwealth of Virginia. The cost borne by Lee to stand by the courage of his convictions was enormous. Being a northern Virginian he soon lost his much-loved estate straddling the Potomac yet he boldly named his army, the Army of Northern Virginia because that was the ground he defiantly intended to hold. Always daring, Lee would eventually take war to the north in Pennsylvania.
Commendation is to be given to H. W. Crocker Jr. for profiling the late Robert Edward Lee and garnering lessons on leadership from this extraordinary leader. The great value of the text is it's readibility and Crocker possesses a unique dynamism as a storyteller which adds lustre to it. Lee was neither a politician nor a statesman, but he is an admirable exemplar of what true leadership is. In sum, there are a great deal of life lessons to be learned from the wily Grey Fox.
|
|
|
Croley (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
Every Manager of every business should read and heed the lessons brought forth in this book. Too often managers today take the path of least resistance, to affraid to stand up and make decision and stand by that decision. Too many think of themselves first and nobody else. Don't care about their actions as long as it dosen't effect them. This country needs more leaders like General Lee. |
|
|
|
1 2 | Total 2 pages 11 items |
|
|
|
|
|
|
