What do you think?
Rate this book
The Passion of Command: The Moral Imperative of Leadership
Author royalties go to Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund. Active-duty Marine Colonel B. P. McCoy expertly relays his innermost thoughts and feelings, drawing on his mastery of personal leadership. He understands the intangibles that make up our modern-day warriors, those young Americans on whom we place so much responsibility when we send them into harm's way. Col McCoy describes the total cost of combat and the price paid by all who choose to become a warrior. By pointing to positive training examples and keying on the effects of situational training, battle drills, conducted prior to and during combat, he successfully trained his Marines and developed the proper habits that would be the difference between life and death during combat. He directed his Marines to become "experts in the application of violence" without sacrificing their humanity. The essence of war is violence and the act of killing legitimate human targets without hesitation. To accomplish this, he instituted meaningful training and used his refined principles as a human being to guide him in the leadership and administration on the moral code that rules the field of battle. He is the perfect example of all that we hold dear in our warrior culture. He loved his men, showed them the right way through his personal example, guided his actions with passion and relayed his feelings to his men completely. He was quick to note his own shortcomings and how he overcame them and was the inspiration to the team that triumphed when all Marines survived the day. Emotionally riveting, The Passion of Command provides inside information into the warrior culture and allows one to grasp the complexities when hardening the mind, body and spirit for the rigors of combat. Most find it hard to communicate the human effects of combat to people who have never experienced the harsh realities associated with actually engaging an enemy. Col McCoy doesn't have that problem; he opened the door and let the reader in.
82 pages, Paperback
First published June 30, 2006
8 people are currently reading
336 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
February 10, 2023
The best book on military leadership I have read. Colonel McCoy was the commander of 3rd Bn, 4th Marines for tours in Iraq. The continual training for any situation that his men would encounter was what every military leader should strive to do. A short, brilliant book. Would highly recommend.
My previous best book on military leadership was the novel "Once an Eagle". Also highly recommended.
My previous best book on military leadership was the novel "Once an Eagle". Also highly recommended.
March 15, 2021
For those preparing for leading in combat, the passion of command is a must-read. The emphasis on mission accomplishment, setting the example and LOVE of team is essential.
4 Star reviews mean I really enjoyed this book, I will likely read it again someday. I would recommend it to many people and it changed my mind about something important.
4 Star reviews mean I really enjoyed this book, I will likely read it again someday. I would recommend it to many people and it changed my mind about something important.
July 25, 2019
The perfect second complement to SLA Marshall's 'Men Against Fire' as a former Batallion Commander tells us how he build on that book (with quotes from it at the beginning of the chapter) to prepare his soldiers psychologically for the first impressions of combat. Short, Fun read, nothing jaw-dropping.
November 5, 2018
ADM DAVIDSON - INDOPACOM recommended this book to me. It is a Quick read with great value added for the leader who takes men and women into harms way. I will re-read this prior to deployment to make sure my warrior leader ethos is ready.
October 24, 2023
Leadership written by Combat Experienced 3/4 CO. A must read for any officer. Teaches basic lessons for combat leadership. Training, combat mentality, focusing effort, creating a vision. Best book I have read regarding administration.
September 29, 2020
Excellent. I wish more non-fiction books were this succinct and to the point.
June 22, 2021
Succinct in Sixteen
McCoy succinctly and effectively conveys to readers combat leadership practices which will save lives and win.
McCoy succinctly and effectively conveys to readers combat leadership practices which will save lives and win.
December 31, 2022
Worth my time.. should be in my library for me to read another round.
March 25, 2024
A quick read that gives military application to core leadership principles. I enjoyed it, and I will incorporate it into our trauma surgeon leadership curriculum.
July 20, 2024
Amazing to look into the thought and physiology of the mind of a leader during combat.
July 8, 2015
The Passion of Command: The Moral Imperative of Leadership is a concise and acute monograph on leadership. Lt. Col. Bryan P. McCoy, now Col. (Ret.), was the CO of 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines (3/4) in 2003 during Operations Iraqi Freedom, at which time they were the first Marine unit to enter Baghdad, and Vigilant Resolve in 2004 where they participated in First Fallujah.
Much of the book is devoted to his training doctrine and methodology in preparing 3/4 for deployment. He emphasizes the importance of drill, muscle memory and mastery of the "basics" as a route to building individual confidence. It is oft repeated that "Every Marine is a rifleman", and as such, marksmanship is perhaps the most basic skill in the Corps and one that Lt. Col. McCoy was fanatical about. Additionally, the weapons companies and other support unit were drilled incessantly with their mortars, squad automatic weapons, TOW missiles, etc., and not just on the range. The "basics" were extended to battle drills as well; reaction to contact was entered into muscle memory. Every fireteam knew exactly what to do when engaged by the enemy and was drilled to effectively and ruthlessly find, fix, flank and finish enemy combatants. They did this almost automatically and were trained to do it without hesitation or remorse.
This is where Lt. Col. McCoy's mastery becomes clear. Because Passion is not a training manual (although it has certainly been adopted as an unofficial guidebook to unit training in the U.S. military) - it is a practical and philosophical meditation on how to build the structures necessary to lead men into combat, within the unit - and within the commander. For it is the commander that must bear the burden of these decisions. The commander will suffer the ire of his men for ordering the constant repetition of basic drills, and so he must build real relationships with them. The commander must respect them, earn their trust and develop something akin to real love for the soldiers. The commander must study psychology and warfare so that when they send their troops into harm's way, the troops can enact the violence needed to destroy the enemy, confident that they will not be abandoned or betrayed, and will not be asked to carry any unnecessary guilt for their actions. The commander must provide the drive and the willpower to keep the unit moving when everyone else has run dry. Ultimately, the commander must strive to constantly improve themselves, their knowledge and their relationships, because the onus of leadership demands that you order your Marines to kill and to be killed, and anything less than total dedication to the development of the faculties required to perform at your highest possible level is a betrayal of those that you lead.
The Passion of Command offers a clear path to being a successful leader in any venue. Few situations may carry the severity of consequences that command of a combat unit entails, but the lessons Lt. Col. McCoy learned on the battlefield and through years of study (he frequently cites the works of experts like Gen. John A. Lejeune and Gen. Carl Philipp Gottfried von Clausewitz) have deep resonance and inspire a profound respect in the reader; this alone should serve to demonstrate the depth of his understanding of his subject.
Much of the book is devoted to his training doctrine and methodology in preparing 3/4 for deployment. He emphasizes the importance of drill, muscle memory and mastery of the "basics" as a route to building individual confidence. It is oft repeated that "Every Marine is a rifleman", and as such, marksmanship is perhaps the most basic skill in the Corps and one that Lt. Col. McCoy was fanatical about. Additionally, the weapons companies and other support unit were drilled incessantly with their mortars, squad automatic weapons, TOW missiles, etc., and not just on the range. The "basics" were extended to battle drills as well; reaction to contact was entered into muscle memory. Every fireteam knew exactly what to do when engaged by the enemy and was drilled to effectively and ruthlessly find, fix, flank and finish enemy combatants. They did this almost automatically and were trained to do it without hesitation or remorse.
This is where Lt. Col. McCoy's mastery becomes clear. Because Passion is not a training manual (although it has certainly been adopted as an unofficial guidebook to unit training in the U.S. military) - it is a practical and philosophical meditation on how to build the structures necessary to lead men into combat, within the unit - and within the commander. For it is the commander that must bear the burden of these decisions. The commander will suffer the ire of his men for ordering the constant repetition of basic drills, and so he must build real relationships with them. The commander must respect them, earn their trust and develop something akin to real love for the soldiers. The commander must study psychology and warfare so that when they send their troops into harm's way, the troops can enact the violence needed to destroy the enemy, confident that they will not be abandoned or betrayed, and will not be asked to carry any unnecessary guilt for their actions. The commander must provide the drive and the willpower to keep the unit moving when everyone else has run dry. Ultimately, the commander must strive to constantly improve themselves, their knowledge and their relationships, because the onus of leadership demands that you order your Marines to kill and to be killed, and anything less than total dedication to the development of the faculties required to perform at your highest possible level is a betrayal of those that you lead.
The Passion of Command offers a clear path to being a successful leader in any venue. Few situations may carry the severity of consequences that command of a combat unit entails, but the lessons Lt. Col. McCoy learned on the battlefield and through years of study (he frequently cites the works of experts like Gen. John A. Lejeune and Gen. Carl Philipp Gottfried von Clausewitz) have deep resonance and inspire a profound respect in the reader; this alone should serve to demonstrate the depth of his understanding of his subject.
April 8, 2012
When I picked up this book, I thought that it would be another drawn out story about a list of things that one needs to do to take charge and be in command. I was so wrong. This book does more than just guide you through the mentality of leadership. It gives great examples and explains why you need to do certain things. It draws up a simple template that McCoy used for his Marines that can easily be adapted to any combat oriented force. McCoy hits hard on the need for mastering the basics, but he doesn't leave out the fact that you need to help the Marines through their personal problems as well. He talks about gaining respect on and off the training grounds. Honestly, I wish I would have read this book sooner because I now realize that there were a lot of things that I could have done better as an NCO in the Marine Corps. But on the same note, I am confident that I will be able to take the ideas of this book and apply them to any leadership role that I am given outside of the military. This is a must read for those who lead men under fire, and it is also a great read for those who want to learn more about leadership from a difference facet.
December 9, 2012
I would break this book into three takeaway sections.
1) Dedication to strong performance enhancer training such as: becoming a 'master of the basics' through repetition, 'training like you play' (in full gear and high stress environments), and cohesive team-building.
2) Building real relationships with the people you are leading, so that those people want to follow you , even without being asked. As McCoy puts it:
"A commander must genuinely love his men and win their affections in return, and when the time comes, he must use that love to cause his men to willingly risk and even sacrifice their lives to accomplish the mission. Here lies the moral imperative of leadership."
3) Knowing yourself well enough to take full responsibility for your team's shortcomings, (and in the military's case) your team's lives and victim's lives, while not losing your humanity.
In the final two chapters, of which I thought were the most insightful, McCoy discusses how he deals with his own transient sense of compassion.
June 21, 2017
Note to self: read this at least once a year.
"Passion of Command" is the most demanding and insightful books on combat leadership that I've read to date. Colonel McCoy's battalion's success is evidence of the strength of the methods put forth in the book. It presents clear, no-nonsense training standards and challenges the young officer to live up to its high standard. Most importantly, the book recognizes that proper command is a moral imperative. Preparation is never done and learning cannot cease. The officer who thinks they know everything and is 100% prepared is undeserving of their commission and their men.
"Passion of Command" is the most demanding and insightful books on combat leadership that I've read to date. Colonel McCoy's battalion's success is evidence of the strength of the methods put forth in the book. It presents clear, no-nonsense training standards and challenges the young officer to live up to its high standard. Most importantly, the book recognizes that proper command is a moral imperative. Preparation is never done and learning cannot cease. The officer who thinks they know everything and is 100% prepared is undeserving of their commission and their men.
March 8, 2011
This was a great primer on leadership. Mostly geared for the military, but has many cross over applications for those in business and in your personal life as well. I really liked the quote: "Do the right thing, at the right time, for the right reason, and you cannot go far wrong."
August 10, 2012
Good, short read on detailing the internal and external challenges of combat leadership. McCoy starts off with a description of a battle in Iraq and then proceeds to discuss what makes a good leader and the type of sacrifices a military leader must make.
July 4, 2014
Are you a hunter or prey? The author has a number of profound statements; I wish I had a highlighter when I read this even though I have no plans to be in combat anytime soon. "The passion of a commander is equal parts love, zeal, and a quiet wrath"
February 23, 2008
This book talks about what it takes to lead Marines into combat. The author draws on his personal experiences. I thought it was very well written.
Read
June 16, 2009Passion of Command is a great narrative on leadership, drawing heavily on Colonel McCoy's experience as Battalion Commander of the 3/4 in Iraq. Quality discussion on the human factors in combat.
November 22, 2014
The passion of the command is in the love and affection for the people and the fighters.
January 21, 2017
Seems boring, simple, and rehashed stuff over and over in professional development and leadership courses but puts it into a good format and is pretty short.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews