What I’m Reading Now: Call Sign Chaos

  |   Books Print Friendly and PDF

Usually, I wait for a book to be out for a while before I read it and review it. I wait for the hype to die down. The author’s friends and supporters do most of the early reviews. They say many positive things and few negative things.

I bought Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead by Jim Mattis and Bing West soon after it came out because General James Mattis impressed me as an especially effective leader. I like how he integrates his reading and study into his leading. I like the straightforward way he speaks. So, I’m expecting a great book.

I bring a bias to this undertaking, too. As a former Marine, I like the way the Marine Corps develops leaders. The Corps made many changes since I served in the late 1960s. I believe General Mattis is a product of those changes.

I have read enough by General Mattis and his coauthor, Bing West, to be sure that the book will be compelling and well-written. I worry that it will be less about learning to lead than it is about General Mattis’s successes. I hope I’ll read about some things that aren’t so positive. Given recent events, I also worry that the book will be more political than I would like. I hope Mattis and West keep to the subject: learning to lead.

Have you read Call Sign Chaos? What did you think? What should I watch out for?

Join The Conversation

What People Are Saying

There are no comments yet, why not be the first to leave a comment?