Take Command: Lessons in Leadership: How to Be a First Responder in Business

by Jake Wood

Overview

In this groundbreaking book on high-stakes leadership, Co-founder and CEO of Team Rubicon and former Marine Sniper Jake Wood, shows how to apply hard-learned lessons in leadership and teamwork from the battlefield and disaster zone to your professional life.

What do elite members of the military, first responders in the disaster zone, and high-performing leaders in fast-paced, high-pressure, modern day organizations have in common? The ability to have clarity of mind and purpose when surrounded by chaos. To operate at peak performance under risk. To be able to see clearly when others are blinded by fear, and act when others are paralyzed. To craft plans even with incomplete information, then execute those plans decisively--while still being nimble and adaptable enough to iterate as the terrain changes. To deliver in the clutch. To build teams with high impact, and then inspire those teams to follow you into the fire.

While most of our jobs don’t involve leading a tour of Marines through an ambush, or rushing into a relief zone just decimated by a hurricane, in today's fast-paced, hyper-competitive business environment, we are all on the front lines. And in an entrepreneurially-minded world where technology is constantly reinventing how we work, global competition is fierce, and industries are being disrupted overnight, success requires a new kind of leadership. This book is about how to become the kind of leader who gets results when the stakes are at their highest—how to Take Command.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780804138390
Publisher:	Crown Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/14/2014
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	NOOK Book
Pages:	256
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Jake Wood is cofounder and CEO of Team Rubicon and a former Marine sniper with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has been profiled by Forbes, People, and on CNN and has been named a 2012 CNN Hero and awarded the 2011 GQ Better Men Better World Award.

Team Rubicon (TR) is disaster relief organization that unites military veterans with first responders to rapidly deploy emergency response teams to areas hit by natural disasters. TR is widely recognized for its organizational efficiency and ability to be one of the first to reach the most devastated, remote, and needy areas.  Since 2010, Team Rubicon has been instrumental in over 50 missions ranging from South Sudan and Haiti, to Joplin, Missouri and Hurricane Sandy.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Prepare

Lesson 1 Preparation: Lessons from the Marines' Most Elite School 17

Lesson 2 Build a High-Impact Team 44

Lesson 3 Establish Transparency; Demand Accountability 72

Analyze

Lesson 4 Find and Prioritize Your Targets 103

Lesson 5 Create Actionable Intelligence 129

Decide

Lesson 6 Know, Then Accept, Your Risks 153

Lesson 7 Find the 80% Solution 176

Act

Lesson 8 Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome 205

Conclusion 229

Acknowledgments 241

Editorial Reviews

09/01/2014
Leadership is important in any profession. But in some arenas, strong guidance can make the difference between life and death. After playing football at the University of Wisconsin, Wood enlisted in the U.S. Marines where the stakes were considerably higher than on the gridiron. His tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as an elite marine sniper taught him a lot about what makes a sound leader. After leaving the military, Wood's knack for entrepreneurship gave rise to Team Rubicon, a nonprofit organization that deploys military veterans and first responders to areas struck by natural disasters. His team first tested its mettle in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti. Drawing from his experiences, Wood illustrates how business leaders can use basic principles of preparation, analysis, decision, and action effectively. VERDICT Wood's experiences in risky combat maneuvers and disaster relief are exciting and sometimes unnerving—and they shed light on exciting aspects of leadership that can be useful in any profession.—Carol Elsen, Univ. of Wisconsin, Whitewater Libs.

Library Journal

07/14/2014
At age 30, former Marine sniper Wood has become the cofounder and CEO of Team Rubicon, a disaster relief organization that now has 20,000 volunteers, both veterans and first responders, backed by two dozen staff members. By the end of 2013, they’d conducted more than 50 missions, both at home and abroad, responding to hurricanes, tornadoes, and refugee crises, among other situations. Wood found that the lessons of his deployments, and those learned from his team, are highly applicable to business. His road map is simple: prepare, analyze, decide, and act. The breakdown of each step is fully fleshed-out. Wood provides lessons in preparing the body, mind, and soul; establishing transparency; finding and prioritizing targets; making wise decisions; and taking action. All lessons are illustrated with high-testosterone stories from the front lines of war and disaster zones, and each chapter ends with top-level advice (“mission briefs”). User-friendly and energetic, this is a new twist on accepted leadership wisdom. Agent: Sydelle Kramer, Susan Rabiner Literary Agency. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"A  well-written, well-organized book that offeres a novel approach to the art of leadership"
-Success Magazine

“An extraordinary book by an extraordinary leader.   Jake Wood weaves together splendidly lessons from his experiences doing just that – taking charge in tough situations in football, in Marine sniper training, in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, and as co-founder of Team Rubicon….  The result is an exceptional book that is equal parts inspirational, informative, and instructive.” 
-General David H. Petraeus, United States Army (Retired)

"There are leaders everywhere. Parents. Entrepreneurs. Warriors. Executives. And people with big ideas.  Wood relates to all of them with a humility and confidence that its uniquely American. If there is one book on leadership to read, it is this one. From his hometown to the battlefield of Iraq to Haiti and untold other natural disasters, to the boardroom and the factory floor, Wood gets it: the kind of leader you are shapes your outcome."
-Christine Romans, CNN chief business correspondent
 
“Great leadership is essential whether it be on the football field, in the business world or on the battlefield. Wood knows a lot about leadership and what it takes to be successful. I’m pleased he is able to share his experiences and knowledge in this book.”
-Barry Alvarez, University of Wisconsin Director of Athletics and former head football coach
 
A must read for those who find themselves in positions of leadership, on and off the battlefield. Wood reminds us that leadership is measured by one’s ability to anticipate the unexpected, to act in spite of uncertainty and ambiguity, to be decisive under pressure and to create followership, even when faced with the most challenging of circumstances.
-Duncan Niederauer,  CEO New York Stock Exchange (retired)
 
"A must read for every aspiring leader. Filled with powerful stories and simple, straightforward guidelines, this is the new roadmap for leadership from the front lines." 
-Dave Kerpen, New York Times bestselling author of Likeable Social Media, Likeable Business & The Art of People 

From the Publisher