Leadership in My Rearview Mirror: Reflections from Vietnam, West Point, and IBM
Jack Beach





Format: Paperback, 288pp.
ISBN: 9781583473535
Publisher: Mc Press
Pub. Date: February 22, 2012

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Description and Reviews
From The Publisher:

With a Foreword by Howard T. Prince II, Director of the Center for Ethical Leadership, The University of Texas at Austin.

Shared inside these pages are the leadership insights of a man who rose from reluctant draftee to decorated Army colonel, helped build the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and now works to develop IBM’s most senior leaders.

Using concise, anecdotal chapters, author Jack Beach reveals what it takes to be a superior leader. He asserts that the primary task of leaders, especially those in senior positions, is the creation of organizational climates characterized by 360 degrees of trust and deep engagement. In service of this principle, he explains the importance of intrinsic motivation, explores the concept of principle-based leadership, introduces tools such as The 5 Trust Vital Signs, and promotes the idea of collective leadership.

Ultimately, leadership is not some set of accumulated skills, but about human development and personal reflection. It is about understanding ourselves and those around us. Being in tune with others requires being in tune with ourselves—and continually examining the frames of reference through which we view the world.

To further guide you along the path to leadership excellence, Jack includes his 19-tenet Personal Leadership Philosophy.

If you aspire to become a leader, want to improve your leadership skills, or simply enjoy good stories, then this book is for you. Its reflections and observations will change your view forever.

Through engaging and moving reflections on personal experiences, this book explores the keys to leadership by sharing insights of a man who rose from reluctant draftee sent to fight in Vietnam to become a colonel and an architect of the Department of Behavioral Science and Leadership at the Military Academy at West Point, and who currently works to develop IBM's senior leaders. Since Dr. Beach's arrival at IBM, Fortune has repeatedly ranked that company's leadership development methods as #1 in the world. The book does not describe the view from the heights of leadership, rather it identifies what is needed to make the climb and explains how to develop those attributes and behaviors in ourselves and in others. It is a splendid mix of profound--often paradoxical--leadership wisdom and wit that will enlighten and inspire leaders at any organizational level.


About the Author

Jack Beach is a senior consultant with IBM's leadership development organization, managing their leadership strategy and research unit and overseeing all executive leadership development programs. He is a former colonel in the United States Army who helped create the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He has served as a consultant for chiefs of staff of foreign services such as Sri Lanka and the Republic of Maldives, deans of foreign military academies, the Los Angeles Police and Sheriff's Departments, and various senior leaders of the Army and Department of Defense. He lives in Newburgh, NY.


Table of Contents

	About the Author	ii
	Acknowledgments	vi
	Foreword	xi
	Preface	xix
	Introduction Title Fight	1
	The Reflective Leader: Leadership and Other Things I Learned Along the Way
1	Out of Control	9
2	The Face in the Mirror	15
3	The Cost of Leadership	21
4	Values: It’s All in the Feet	33
5	Leader of Rebels	39
6	Trusting the Untrustworthy	45
7	“I Am—Somebody!”	53
8	It’s All You	59
9	Of Frogs and Leaders	71
10	Talk	77
11	It Pays to Treat People Unjustly	81
12	Just Names	95
13	On Leadership and Kite Flying	111
	Leaders in Search of Leadership
14	Leader in Search of Leadership	125
15	Packing Parachutes—Leadership Isn’t What It Used to Be	129
16	Leading Kindergarten Recess	137
17	On Their Knees at 2 A.M. in the Drugstore	147
18	“I Can’t Get No Satisfaction”	157
19	Turbulence Creates Leaders / Leaders Create Turbulence	181
20	Leadership: It’s Just Talk	199
	Leaders in Their Own Words
21	Leaders Are Full of Hot Air!	213
22	Crisis at 35,000 Feet	2217
	Epilogue: Your Leadership Book	221
	Appendix I: IBM’s Leadership Framework	247
	Appendix II: Coast Guard Principles	257
	Appendix III: Coast Guard Values	259

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