Leadership under Pressure: Tactics from the Front Line

Citation

Hughes, L.W. (2010), "Leadership under Pressure: Tactics from the Front Line", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 31 No. 2, pp. 187-188. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437731011024439

In Leadership under Pressure: Tactics from the Front Line, Colonel Bob Stewart shares his experiences and reflections of leaders and leadership. Although the title implies that this book might be a treatise of in extremis leadership, Colonel Stewart combines discussions of military and business leadership across a variety of contexts from administration to combat. In an interesting blend of history and relatively recent military history, Colonel Stewart provides an accessible discussion of how one experienced and successful leader views the journey of leadership and development over a military career. The book contains wisdom that might be invaluable to an emerging generation of military leaders, but also contains practical advice for those leading for‐profit and non‐profit organizations.

Particularly appealing to this reviewer was Colonel Stewart's humility in relating the lessons learned and the considerable self‐reflection on those trigger events (Avolio and Luthans, 2006) that lead to his development as a leader. The author pulled no punches, nor did he gloss over his personal challenges and errors on his road of continual leadership development. He frequently offered poignant comments as exemplified by the following:

Given a new and difficult task, many people get nervous and wonder whether they are up to it. Personally, I was frightened … I wasn't sure that I could carry it off [and] I was concerned about the possibility of heavy casualties. But I didn't really have time to ponder too much – I was the leader, and that job required me to sort out what was to happen (pp. 16).

The format of Leadership under Pressure is reminiscent of John Gardner's classic text On Leadership. Following an introduction, each of the 15 chapters of Colonel Stewart's book is headed primarily with leader characteristics (e.g. intelligence, innovation, courage) or applications (e.g. preparation, negotiation, reflections). Within each chapter is a collection of sub‐titles that guide the reader into specific descriptions within the chapter's topic, and often applications from the author's expansive military career.

The style of writing is first‐person and conversational, but without leaving the impression of a memoir and all that comes with that. Neither does Stewart provide a political backdrop. The book is purely about the mechanics of leading others with plenty of examples to support the author's assertions. The book does not have an index, but the table of contents is complete with chapters, sub‐topics and the respective page numbers of both. In lieu of an index, this is a useful addition.

The introduction is “heading heavy” with major points set off with headings yet following with sometimes as little as a sentence or two of narrative. Initially, this makes for disjointed reading. However, the chapters are not structured in this way and are well organized. The only serious criticism of the presentation of the material is that each chapter should have a summarizing point. Given that each chapter is intended to cover a component of leadership, based on the author's study, reflections, and experience, readers would find useful a synthesis and integration of the chapter's sub‐topics.

The chapters offer treatment of a variety of topics relevant to the study and application of leadership. Several of the chapters are related to the functions of management (e.g. decision making and planning) while others have a historical and autobiographical tone (e.g. roots of leadership, crisis management, and personal style). While the chapters contain useful truisms from a voice of experience their presentation does not follow a particular order nor are they categorized by theme, which would have been useful for continuity of thought.

Colonel Stewart's treatment of leadership is an interesting work and is an interesting historical discussion and has an applied utility for working leaders whether they lead in the contexts of the military, politics or business. However, as an academic work there is little content that bridges the gap between theory and application.