Read To Lead: Mattis and Howard

I got up at three o'clock this morning so I could finish reading General Mattis' book, "Call Sign CHAOS: Learning to Lead", before heading in to the office. So many collected pieces of wisdom from a man who reads to lead, and encourages every member of his teams to do the same.

I was reading the book because it was recommended by General Ashley, the Director of the DIA, who I had the pleasure to visit with this week as he came to Birmingham. When a leader you respect recommends a book, you read it.

Mattis is sometimes praised for his extensive reading and his assigning of certain reading materials to his Marines. At each rank, Mattis assigned books to read, with additional books based on the geography are situation a leader was likely to encounter. Some in the business world have made the mistake of assigning those same books to their teams. Matti's reading list was designed to build effective killing machines who were able to make combat and command decisions at the spur of the moment, and yet live up to his motto: "No better friend. No worse enemy."

As Mattis says in the final chapter of his book:

"If you haven't read hundreds of books, learning from others who went before you, you are functionally illterate--you can't coach and you can't lead."

Earlier in the book he elaborated on that thought by saying his commanders MUST read. "Reading is an honor and a gift from a warrior or historian who - a decade or a a thousand decades ago -- set aside time to write. He distilled a lifetime of campaigning in order to have a 'conversation' with you. We have been fighting on this planet for ten thousand years; it would be idiotic and unethical to not take advantage of such accumulated experiences. If you haven't read hundreds of books, you are functionally illiterate, and you will be incompetent, because your personal experiences alone aren't broad enough to sustain you. Any commander who claims he is 'too busy to read' is going to fill body bags with his troops as he learns the hard way."

What is your objective in building leaders for your teams? What should the required reading list look like for them?

Rick Howard, of Palo Alto Networks, has set an admirable example in his leadership in building the Cyber Security Canon. If your teams are Cyber Security teams, that's a great place to start. If you are building other types of leaders, maybe its time to start creating your own list! But be sure to set the example by reading great books and telling your teams what you are reading!

While reading is fundamental, it is also important that your young leaders are provided the opportunity to decide and do for themselves. Mattis describes his leadership style as "conveying the commander's intent," and then staying out of the way of his men as they "employ a bias for action." Exposing his followers to the books that he has found most inspirational and influential is another way of ensuring that, when faced with a decision and no opportunity to consult, the leaders he commands are likely to make a decision that is in keeping with the commander's intent.

I enjoyed this quote from Aristotle in one of the final chapters of the book:

"Whatever we learn to do, we learn by actually doing it. People come to be builders by building, and harp players by playing the harp. In the same way, by doing just acts we come to be just. By doing self-controlled acts, we come to be self-controlled, and by doing brave acts, we become brave."

Read. Share with your teams what you read. Encourage THEM to read. Communicate the "Commander's intent." And then let your young leaders DO, confident that they are more likely to share your decision-making process based on the shared vocabulary and inherited experiences of the books you have read together.