Serve to Lead: The British Army's Anthology on Leadership

by Winston S. Churchill, Edward Fraser, John William Fortescue

The original British Army anthology on leadership, used to train generations of officers, brings together the collected wisdom of great military leaders, tacticians and historians with the authentic voices of unknown soldiers. Moving, inspiring, amusing and thought-provoking, it teaches lessons about motivation, leadership and morale that are every bit as valuable to today's leaders and managers. Complete with a new introduction by Robin Matthews, who commanded the Light Dragoons in Iraq, on the background to Serve to Lead and its relevance to his own career and experiences from Sierra Leone to Afghanistan.

Genres: Leadership, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, War, Military History

112 pages, Hardcover

Published May 1, 2012

About the author

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, politician and writer, as prime minister from 1940 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1955 led Great Britain, published several works, including The Second World War from 1948 to 1953, and then won the Nobel Prize for literature.

William Maxwell Aitken, first baron Beaverbrook, held many cabinet positions during the 1940s as a confidant of Churchill.

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (Can), served the United Kingdom again. A noted statesman, orator and strategist, Churchill also served as an officer in the Army. This prolific author "for his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values."

Out of respect for Winston_Churchill, the well-known American author, Winston S. Churchill offered to use his middle initial as an author.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston...

Reviews

[Gil Bradshaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jocko Willink reads most of this book to you on Episode 81 of his podcast. You can find the book on Google if you want to read the rest of it.

This is a book that teaches military tactics and leadership principles from the perspective of historic British Army leaders chosen to write their thoughts on the subject. It was useful. I have to be honest, I really liked Jocko's take on this book.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

General Overview
A collection of inspiring and educational writings on leadership, Serve to Lead, is a must for anyone in a role of leadership. Written by a collection of military leaders, this is a deeply human read about what it is to lead men and women in some of the most trying of circumstances.

Style
Broken down into chapters and sections on different types of aspects of leadership, empathy, honour, discipline, etc. These chapters are then broken down into a series of exerts, from a few sentences to a few pages in length. This makes the whole book incredibly readable, and offers up a great selection of leaders with their own experiences and understanding of leadership.

Final Thoughts
A book I should have read some years ago when I started on my life as an officer in the Army. Well worth reading now, and a book I will go back to for inspiration in the years to come.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

... definitely should have read this sooner! The editing is frustrating - whole passages have at times been replicated. It would have been better to also see more of the real-world examples rather than the theorising. But otherwise a solid introduction which has given me the foundations to do further reading

[Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth a read if you are interested in leadership and/or military history. More British-focused than I anticipated, but still some great nuggets throughout for leaders of all types.

[Arthur Halsall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything an army officer might need. Came to help in AOSB.