general | handbooks | online books | speeches | journals | bibliographies

see also the index page

see also the AWC gateway to lessons learned

see also the research studies on research page

see also Mini-Course on Writing

• General Reference ___[return to top]
  Military leadership is the sum of those qualities of intellect, human understanding and moral character that enable a person to inspire and to control a group of people successfully.
  --- Major General John A. Lejeune

  Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.
  --- T. S. Eliot

  • Quotations from Chairman Powell: A Leadership Primer

  • "Rumsfeld’s Rules" Find Pentagon Readers, by Garamone, for American Forces Press Service, 23 Jan 2001
    • additional resources re: Rumsfeld's Rules

  • AWC Gateway to Reference Resources

  • AWC Gateway to the Internet
    • Military Theory
    • Lessons Learned
    • National Strategies

  • USAF Center for Strategy and Technology
    • Future Studies & Future Conflict Studies
    • Global Trends
    • Strategic Visions

  • Great Warrior Leaders and Thinkers - bibliographies for numerous historic individuals, from Air University Library

  • Warrior Resilience & Thriving (WRT) - Thriving Through, Not Only Surviving Your Combat Deployment to Return with Honor - by Jarrett, Fort Sill Social Work Service & Outreach Program

  • Online Bibliography of Military Leadership, over 4,000 references, listed at Arizona State U.

  • See 2001 version of AU-24, Concepts for Air Force Leadership, with more than 70 online articles

  • See also Big Dog's Leadership Page, an online book with LOTS of practical and theoretical material

  • National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs, with many links for Journals, Organizations, Leadership Programs, Conferences, Syllabi, etc.

• Handbooks & Tools ___[return to top]
  • See also Competencies, Skills, and Development Tools

  • See also Readings and Handbooks at Gateway to Leadership and Ethics

  • Strategic Leadership Primer, 3rd ed. (local copy, lo-res, 900 Kb), Army War College, 2010
    (local copy, hi-res, 8.4 Mb)

  • Joint Officer Handbook: Staffing and Action Guide (local copy, lo-res, 2.4 Mb), Aug 2010
    (local copy, hi-res, 4.6 Mb)

  • U.S. Army Self-Development Handbook (local copy)
    • There are three types of self-development:
      • Structured Self-Development: Required learning that continues throughout your career and that is closely linked to and synchronized with classroom and on-the-job learning.
      • Guided Self-Development: Recommended but optional learning that will help keep you prepared for changing technical, functional, and leadership responsibilities throughout your career.
      • Personal Self-Development: Self-initiated learning where you define the objective, pace, and process.
    • The contents of this handbook will help you perform all three types of self-development. If you are pursuing personal self-development, this handbook offers exercises and information you can use to determine your self-development direction and start immediately working toward it. If you already have a direction for your self-development, the handbook will help you achieve progress in that direction.

  • Mentoring Handbooks

  • AU-2, Guidelines for Command, 3.5 Mb and (AU-2 cover, 5 Mb)
    - A Handbook on the Leadership of People for Air Force Commanders and Supervisors

  • Meeting the Media, a guide for DoD personnel speaking with representatives of the news media - prepared by the USAF Public Affairs Center of Excellence (PACE)

  • FEMA
    • Leadership and Influence (local copy), FEMA
    • Leadership: Strategies for Company Success - Student Manual (local copy), FEMA - decision-making, problem-solving, running meetings
      • Leadership: Strategies for Company Success - Instructor Guide (local copy), FEMA
    • Leadership: Strategies for Supervisory Success - Student Manual (local copy), FEMA - situational leadership, delegating, coaching, discipline
      • Leadership: Strategies for Supervisory Success - Instructor Guide (local copy), FEMA
    • Leadership: Strategies for Personal Success - Student Manual (local copy), FEMA - multiple roles, creativity, personal power base, ethics
      • Leadership: Strategies for Personal Success - Instructor Guide (local copy), FEMA

  • Public Affairs Handbook for Engineering & Services (local copy) - generic info for interacting with the media, especially on-air interviews

  • The Commander & the Law
    (see also AWC Military Law page)

  • Communication, Management Benchmark Study (local copy), Dept of Energy -- includes chapters on leadership, networking, alliances, organizational culture, creativity, and innovation

  • Command, Leadership, and Effective Staff Support (local copy), U.S. Army
    • Appendix A - Official Army Leadership Definitions, U.S. Army

  • Battalion Commander's Handbook 1996 (local copy), U.S. Army War College
    • DOC version
    • HTML version

  • CompanyCommand - sharing experiences and learning between company-level commanders
  • PlatoonLeader - sharing experiences and learning between platoon-level leaders

  • Air Force Forums, professional discussion forums, including
    • Commanders Connection (hosted by ACSC)
    • Field Grade Officer Forum
    • Flightleader.net
    • "The Bar" (for Lt.s)

  • Consideration Of Others Handbook, U.S. Army
    • Consideration of Others has been developed for you, the commander. It is a tool designed to help you build unit cohesion and assist you in the complex task of leading solders.

  • Department of the Army (DA) Pamphlets
    • DA Pamphlet 350-58, Leader Development for America's Army
    • DA Pamphlet 600-2, The Armed Forces Officer
    • DA Pamphlet 600-3, Commissioned Officer Professional Development and Career Management
    • DA Pamphlet 600-25, U.S. Army Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Guide
    • DA Pamphlet 600-65, Leadership Statements and Quotes
    • DA Pamphlet 600-66-85, Leadership in Action
    • DA Pamphlet 600-67, Effective Writing for Army Leaders, including role as mentor for subordinates regarding their writing
    • DA Pamphlet 600-69, Unit Climate Profile Commander's Handbook

  • Learning Organization Doctrine - Roadmap for Transformation (local copy), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - discusses use of tools, such as 7S model, to become a "learning organization"

  • SES Executive Core Qualifications define the competencies and characteristics needed in SES members
  • A Handbook for Measuring Employee Performance: Aligning Employee Performance Plans with Organizational Goals (local copy), OPM

  • DoD (mini) Course on Facilitation Skills (local copy, with hot-linked table of contents)

  • Leaders’ Guide for Contingency Operations: The Human Dimension (local copy), US Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences

  • National Security Decision Making (NSDM) Department, Naval War College
    • Executive Decision Making (local copy, including separate file for each chapter) - handbook
    • Case Studies in Policy Making and Implementation (local copy, separate file for each case - Rwanda, Somalia, Homeland Security, etc.) - handbook

  • A Framework for Military Decision Making under Risks (abstract) (full copy), by Schultz, School of Advanced Airpower Studies (SAAS) -- see especially Chapter 2, Military Decision Making and Prospect Theory

  • Quick-reference Guide to Risk-based Decision Making (local copy), by Macesker, U.S. Coast Guard Research & Development Center, Groton, CT
  • Building a Toolbox for Risk-based Decision Making Within Your Organization (local copy), by Macesker and Dolph, U.S. Coast Guard Research & Development Center, Groton, CT

  • Basic Process Improvement (BPI) Handbook (local copy), US Navy, Pacific Fleet

  • U.S. Army Research Institute (ARI) products
    • see also ARI critical thinking products on Thinking Skills page
    • see also ARI decision making products on Thinking Skills page
    • Promoting Realistic Self-Assessment as the Basis for Effective Leader Self-Development (local copy), ARI research note
    • Leadership Development: A Review of Industry Best Practices (local copy), ARI report
    • Training Critical Thinking Skills for Battle Command (local copy), Workshop Proceedings
    • Training Critical Thinking for the Battlefield - Vol 1 - Basis in Cognitive Theory and Research (local copy)
    • A Cognitive Framework for Battlefield Commanders' Situation Assessment (local copy) , Ft Leavenworth Field Unit
    • Overview of Practical Thinking Instruction for Battle Command (local copy)
    • Practical Thinking - Innovation in Battle Command Instruction (local copy)
    • Collective Staff Training In A Virtual Learning Environment (local copy)

  • MILITARY AIR POWER: The CADRE Digest of Air Power Opinions and Thoughts, military quotes book, by Lt Col CHARLES M. WESTENHOFF, 1990, (MS Word 6.0, 275 KB), searchable using the Find feature in Word or browser [Zipped file, 95 KB] [PDF file, 240 KB]

• Online Books ___[return to top]
  • See Air University Press - do a search (Ctrl-F) for lead or command, or browse for titles which are about leaders or leadership, but don't use the word in the title

  • See 2001 version of AU-24, Concepts for Air Force Leadership, with more than 70 online articles

  • Strategic Leadership and Decision Making (local copy), book from NDU

  • Managing Strategic Change: an Executive Overview of Management (local copy), by Murphy, US Army War College

  • Psychology of Intelligence Analysis (local copy), by Heuer, for CIA - not just for intel folks,
    very good examination of many elements of critical thinking, with examples

  • New Challenges for International Leadership: Lessons from Organizations with Global Missions, 2003 RAND book

  • Command Concepts, 1999 RAND book by Builder et al -- includes basics of command and control theory and case studies of Nimitz, Guderian, Schwarzkopf, MacArthur, Moore, and Montgomery

  • Command Decisions, Center of Military History (CMH) collection of essays on the key decisions by both sides in both theaters of WW II -- including plans and decisions between the wars

  • 66 Stories of Battle Command (local copy), from U.S. Army Command and General Staff College Press

  • Studies in Battle Command (local copy), by the Faculty of Combat Studies Institute -- short summaries of key historical battles

  • A Short History of War (4000 BC - 1992) (local copy), from US Army War College

• Speeches ___[return to top]
  • See also Speeches (historical and current) at the AWC Gateway to References

  • What the Secretary of State has been saying

  • Speeches by DoD leaders

  • Transcripts of DoD leaders' appearances on radio and television

  • Speeches by senior Air Force leaders

  • Speeches by senior Army leaders

  • Speeches by senior Navy leaders

• Journals, Periodicals, and Newsletters ___[return to top]
  • See also Military journals and papers, at AWC Gateway,
    including cumulative indices for some (makes for much easier searching)

  • See also DOD and Military Electronic Journals, listed by Air University Library

  • Joint Force Quarterly
  • Parameters, Army War College journal
  • Military Review, the Professional Journal of the US Army
    • Jul-Aug 2002 Leadership issue
  • Naval War College Review

  • Air & Space Power Journal
    • leadership search across issues
    • Winter 2002 Leadership issue
    • Summer 2001 Leadership issue

  • Military Law Review, copy at Library of Congress
    • many interesting articles for leaders regarding law, as well as the following Hugh J. Clausen Lectures on Leadership
      • Transformational Leadership - Teaching the JAG Elephant to Dance, Oct 1994, BGen (ret.) Dulaney L. O'Roark, Jr.
      • Attributes of a Leader, Jan 1996, Lt Gen Henry H. Shelton
      • Soldiering Today and Tomorrow, Dec 1998, Gen Frederick M. Franks, Jr.
      • Lecture on Leadership, Sep 2001, Col George E. "Bud" Day
      • Lecture on Leadership, Mar 2003, Maj Gen Kenneth D. Gray

  • Government Executive magazine

  • Journal of Military Ethics - Normative Aspects of the Use of Military Force

  • Leader to Leader, journal of the Leader to Leader Institute (formerly the Drucker Foundation)
    [Excellent selection of full text articles.]

  • Wharton Leadership Digest, Wharton School, U. of Penn.

  • The CEO Refresher, online articles

  • The Leadership Quarterly - "An International Journal of Political, Social and Behavioral Science"

  • Leadership Review, from the Kravis Leadership Institute, Claremont McKenna College

  • The Leadership & Organizational Development Journal

  • Advancing Women in Leadership

  • The Journal of Leadership Education

  • Current Research in Social Psychology, an electronic journal, U. of Iowa

• Bibliographies ___[return to top]
  • See also Recommended Books

  • Online Bibliography of Military Leadership, over 4,000 references, listed at Arizona State U.

  • Air University Library bibliographies, on a whole passel of topics
    • Generational Differences in the Military
    • Leadership Bibliographies
    • Leadership and Accountability
    • Women in Combat: Iraqi Freedom
    • Women in the Armed Forces
    • Great Warrior Leaders/Thinkers, bibliography on each

  • U.S. Army War College Library bibliographies
    • Cultural Awareness
    • Ethics
    • Mentorship
    • Human Dimensions of Strategic Leadership
    • Women in the Military

  • National Defense University (NDU)
    • Joint Forces Staff College (JFSC) bibliographies

[return to top]