LEAD LIKE IKE
By Goeff Loftus
ISBN- 978-1-59555-085-9
Thomas Nelson Publishers
There are several different kinds of books on the market to direct and inspire leaders to be better at their craft. Some leadership books use “parables” to tell a story to make their point and touch the reader’s heart at the same time. Other leadership books, like much that we read from people like John Maxwell, are books that give step by step prescriptive methods for growing as a leader. In between these two types of leadership books are books like Lead Like Ike by Geoff Loftus. Loftus uses the story of Dwight Eisenhower’s leadership of D-Day to guide leaders with both clear principles for leaders to implement, as well as exciting, true to life stories of a great leader at his greatest moment.
There are several things I liked about this book. I liked learning more about Eisenhower, which I knew very little about. I also loved looking at all the little sidebars and quotes as I went through the book. Much of the book moved chronologically, which added dramatic tension to the narrative of Eisenhower while the author made his points. And, the debriefing points at the end of each chapter helped the reader get a good summary of the whole chapter.
There were a few things I did not enjoy. First, I selected the book based upon glancing at the title. The title led me to think that the whole leadership career would be profiled. Instead, the author focused specifically on D-Day leadership, as the subtitle indicates. Also, I found the direct correlation of business terms to people on the field of battle, and effected by the war, to be a stretch at best. As a pastor-leader, making another translation to leading a church seemed laborious to me.
Lead Like Ike is a great book for some, but did not really resonate with me. Perhaps for those who love military history, and those who are in the midst of a leadership “battle” this book would be appropriate and well-received.
By Goeff Loftus
ISBN- 978-1-59555-085-9
Thomas Nelson Publishers
There are several different kinds of books on the market to direct and inspire leaders to be better at their craft. Some leadership books use “parables” to tell a story to make their point and touch the reader’s heart at the same time. Other leadership books, like much that we read from people like John Maxwell, are books that give step by step prescriptive methods for growing as a leader. In between these two types of leadership books are books like Lead Like Ike by Geoff Loftus. Loftus uses the story of Dwight Eisenhower’s leadership of D-Day to guide leaders with both clear principles for leaders to implement, as well as exciting, true to life stories of a great leader at his greatest moment.
There are several things I liked about this book. I liked learning more about Eisenhower, which I knew very little about. I also loved looking at all the little sidebars and quotes as I went through the book. Much of the book moved chronologically, which added dramatic tension to the narrative of Eisenhower while the author made his points. And, the debriefing points at the end of each chapter helped the reader get a good summary of the whole chapter.
There were a few things I did not enjoy. First, I selected the book based upon glancing at the title. The title led me to think that the whole leadership career would be profiled. Instead, the author focused specifically on D-Day leadership, as the subtitle indicates. Also, I found the direct correlation of business terms to people on the field of battle, and effected by the war, to be a stretch at best. As a pastor-leader, making another translation to leading a church seemed laborious to me.
Lead Like Ike is a great book for some, but did not really resonate with me. Perhaps for those who love military history, and those who are in the midst of a leadership “battle” this book would be appropriate and well-received.
This book was given as a complimentary copy to me in exchange for an honest review of the book on this website
No comments:
Post a Comment