Cigars, Whiskey and Winning: Leadership Lessons from General Ulysses S. Grant
March 16, 2010 by MBC Staff
Filed under Afficianado
- ISBN13: 9780735201637
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
Long before leadership became identified as the catalyst for corporate success, the Civil War’s winning general was showing the world how dynamic leadership is the crucial determinant of victory or defeat.
Ulysses S. Grant never sought fame of glory, nor did he try to tie his performance to personal reward. Instead, he concentrated on contribution and service. He looked upon being given increased responsibility not as increasing his power, but as increasing his ability to get the job done. “The great thing about Grant…is his perfect correctness and persistency of purpose.” (Abraham Lincoln)
In this masterful retelling of Grant’s story, Al Kaltman draws on Grant’s writings and life experiences to present a series of practical lessons on how to get superior performance from the troops.
Going beyond mere “how-to’s”, Cigars, Whiskey & Winning deals with character traits, core beliefs, and fundamental values to reveal the secrets to becoming a winning leader that are as much about “who to be” as “what to do”. And there isn’t a chart, table, or checklist in sight-just a handy index of lessons for ready inspiration on demand.Amazon.com Review
“Ulysses S. Grant was a perceptive and surprisingly modern manager,” writes Al Kaltman. “A pragmatist who learned from his own and others’ successes and failures, he brought new dimensions to strategic planning. He was adept at seizing and exploiting opportunities as they presented themselves, and he boldly shattered paradigms long before the term paradigm had made its way into the management jargon.”
Kaltman uses Grant’s military career, beginning with his enrollment at West Point through his early successes in the Civil War to his eventual command of the entire Union Army, to illustrate 250 basic principles of business success, from “Bureaucrats do the dumbest things” to “You can’t stop the clock.” In an afterword, Kaltman considers how President Grant failed to live up to the principles of teamwork and planning that led General Grant to victory, with a resultant career as chief executive whose legacy has been less than stellar.
Cigars, Whiskey and Winning: Leadership Lessons from General Ulysses S. Grant
One of the best short lessons on leadership intertwining history and leadership from U.S. Grant. This book will be excellent for those current or prospective leaders interested in history and the correlation between business and battle.
Rating: 4 / 5
This book is a quick read. I particularly enjoyed the author’s focus on Grant’s ability to react, adjust and adapt. Staying away from Grant’s presidency was a good idea until the end. Even then, the author contrasts Grant’s leadership style as a General to President and why he failed (at least historically) as a politician. What I didn’t like about the book was the lack of reference to God. I understand that not everyone is firmly rooted in “the Word”, but its absence leads to more questions…at least for me. Overall, thought provoking, mildly insightful and interesting. I heartily recommend Lee’s Leadership Lessons. It is the best book of this style I have ever read.
Rating: 4 / 5
I’ve never been a fan of “lessons” books and here is yet another. There are some interesting and informative quotes of/from Grant, but the lessons are, at best, better than average for such a book. — Louis J Sheehan
Rating: 3 / 5
Grant may have been a poor President, but he was a great General. This book expounds the leadership principles of his war years. Grant was not only decisive, but he could also admit to mistakes. His treatment of his fellow officers shows he was a born leader. In three years, he rose from being a store clerk to a four star general. He did this using his courage, common sense, and good decision making. Lincoln may have saved the Union through his political leadership, but U.S. Grant saved it militarily with his good leadership.
This is a easy to read book. The book is in excess of three hundred pages, but most of the pages are not full. Some two hundred and fifty principles are detailed in the leadership of U.S. Grant. Too bad Grant did not use some of these principles in his Presidency.
Rating: 4 / 5
Kaltman has done the research for you and put it all in a great lesson by lesson format. Any leader can refer to this book for day to day operations.
Rating: 4 / 5