Muddy Boots Leadership

Examples of leader actions and decisions—some humorous, some tragic—that will help guide you whether you are a military officer or a civilian in an office.

John Chapman is a longstanding observer and chronicler of leadership events. In Muddy Boots Leadership, he describes 285 military leadership situations and the actions leaders have taken to meet the issue at hand. The leadership lessons learned and relearned by military leaders are applicable to a wide variety of organizations, both civil and military. Many are truly surprising; all are written with a certain “spark” that those in leadership positions will immediately understand. The text is augmented with some truly classic sidebars.

“When officers are being asked to ‘do everything with nothing,’ it costs a leader nothing but muddy boots to walk with them—and it can inspire extraordinary effort . . . It doesn’t take money to get your boots muddy and lead by example. It does take courage and effort.” —Officer.com