A Book about Leadership that’s Inspiring and Challenging Me

I first encountered retired four-star Marine Corps general Jim Mattis’ thoughts when I came across one of his quotes online.

I won’t relate it here, but it shocked me with its bluntness and violence.

In retrospect, I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised to read such a quote from a man who had such a long and distinguished career in the Marines.

Recently, I’ve been reading his book Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead and it’s been inspiring and challenging me.

One thought from it that I love is that the Marines expect—and require—one hundred percent commitment and one hundred percent effort.

I’m grateful that men and women like General Mattis exist to protect and preserve the freedoms I enjoy every day.

Here’s a quote from the book to give you a sense of the high standards Mattis has of himself and others, “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.”

I’ve heard that Mattis owns—and has read—thousands of books, including many (the book has a suggested reading list at the end) that have to do with the many conflicts which have taken place on this planet over the years.

After all, as has been said, history might not repeat itself, but it rhymes.

So keep on reading my friends!

It’s one of the best “life acceleration and amplification” technologies we have…