The Wisdom of the Bullfrog: Leadership Made Simple (But Not Easy)

by William H. McRaven

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Read this book to get some highly sought-after advice and inspiration about leadership from the esteemed author of Make Your Bed.

THE INSTANT #1 New York Times BESTSELLER

From the acclaimed, bestselling author of Make Your Bed—a short, inspirational book of advice and leadership lessons that Admiral McRaven collected over his four decades as a Navy SEAL.

The title “Bullfrog” is given to the Navy SEAL who has served the longest on active duty. Admiral McRaven was honored to receive this honor in 2011 when he took charge of the United States Special Operations Command. When McRaven retired in 2014, he had 37 years as a Navy SEAL under his belt, leading men and women at every level of the special operations community. In the ensuing four years, he served as Chancellor to the entire University of Texas System, with its 230,000 students and 100,000 faculty and health care workers.

During those four decades, Admiral McRaven dealt with every conceivable leadership challenge, from commanding combat operations—including the capture of Saddam Hussein, the rescue of Captain Phillips, and the raid for Osama bin Laden. 

THE WISDOM OF THE BULLFROG draws on these and countless other experiences from Admiral McRaven’s incredible life, including crisis situations, management debates, organizational transitions, and ethical dilemmas, to provide readers with the most important leadership lessons he has learned over the course of his forty years of service. Each chapter provides a Make Your Bed-like parable, rich with insights like those featured in his bestselling memoir, Sea Stories, about the specific leadership traits required to be at the top of your game, including:  

• Who Dares, Wins
• Run to the Sound of the Guns
• No Plan Survives First Contact with the Enemy

THE WISDOM OF THE BULLFROG is Admiral McRaven’s clear-eyed treatise on the leadership qualities that separate the good from the truly great.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538707944
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	04/04/2023
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	7,956
Product dimensions:	7.10(w) x 5.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Admiral William H. McRaven is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Make Your Bed and the New York Times bestsellers Sea Stories: My Life in Special Operations and The Hero Code: Lessons Learned from Lives Well Lived. In his thirty-seven years as a Navy SEAL, he commanded at every level. As a Four-Star Admiral, his final assignment was as Commander of all U.S. Special Operations Forces. After retiring from the Navy, he served as the Chancellor of the University of Texas System from 2015 to 2018. He now lives in Austin, Texas with his wife, Georgeann.

Table of Contents

The Wisdom of the Bullfrog

(Leadership Made Simple—But Not Easy)

• Introduction-The Bullfrog
• Chapter One-The Code of Conduct
• Chapter Two-A Shepherd Should Smell Like His Sheep
• Chapter Three- When in Command, Command 
• Chapter Four-Who Dares Wins
• Chapter Five-Run to the Sound of the Guns
• Chapter Six-Troop the Line
• Chapter Seven- The Only Easy Day, Was Yesterday
• Chapter Eight-Sua Sponte (Of Your Own Accord)
• Chapter Nine-It Pays to be a Winner
• Chapter Ten-The Deed is All Not the Glory
• Chapter Eleven-No Plan Survives First Contact with the Enemy
• Chapter Twelve-Can You Stand Before the Long Green Table?
• Chapter Thirteen-Always Have a Swimbuddy
• Chapter Fourteen-Take it One Evolution at a Time
• Chapter Fifteen—Never Ring the Bell
• Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

"You might be able to find a book with more insights and superb advice about leadership than Bill McRaven's THE WISDOM OF THE BULLFROG, but I doubt it.  Drawing on a lifetime of successful leadership at all levels of the military and subsequently in other institutions, McRaven's succinct, witty and fast-paced book offers current and aspiring leaders a wealth of lessons learned and common sense approaches to navigating the many challenges of leading people and organizations. At a time of rapid change in every workplace, regardless of size or purpose, this is a book readers will dog-ear and underline.  Once I started, I could not put it down."—Robert Gates, former United States Secretary of Defense

“Admiral McRaven gives inspiring context to popular military maxims that turn mere words into wisdom and simple sayings into powerful leadership guidance. This book is an essential reference for anyone in a leadership position.”—Jocko Willink, retired United States Navy officer and author of FINAL SPIN

“An entertaining and straightforward discussion of what it takes to lead, from the consummate military leader of our age. Admiral Bill McRaven’s THE WISDOM OF THE BULLFROG is a thoughtful, yet easily digestible, guide to making each of us into better leaders – and people.”—Stanley McChrystal, former US Army genreal

From the Publisher

2023-02-01
A collection of encouraging advice from the former commander of U.S. Special Operations Forces.

Books teaching leadership are typically thin, inspirational, packed with pithy anecdotes, and have—this being an overpopulated genre—a memorable yet gimmicky title (How To Win Friends and Influence People, Think Like a Horse, The Leadership Secrets of Genghis Khan, etc.). This one fits the bill. As he shows, McRaven is the bullfrog, “the longest-serving frogman and Navy SEAL on active duty.” The bestselling author of Make Your Bed, Sea Stories, and The Hero Code, McRaven begins by warning that good leadership is difficult but not complicated. “In its simplest form,” he writes, “leadership is ‘accomplishing a task with the people and resources you have while maintaining the integrity of your institution.’ A good leader knows both how to inspire the men and women that work for them and how to manage the people and resources necessary to complete the task. But leadership is not just about getting the job done. It is also about maintaining or advancing the reputation of your institution.” It’s a reasonable but hardly groundbreaking, repetitious definition. Each chapter begins with a pithy quote (“A Shepherd Should Smell Like His Sheep”) followed by an incident from military history that illustrates how to get the job done or an anecdote from the author’s life that recounts a slip-up, after which he learned an important lesson. All end with three succinct rules summarizing the lesson—e.g., “A. Have a vision that says what you are doing….B. Have a strategy that tells how you are going to do it….C. Have a plan that shows who is responsible.” Although mostly directed at the business community, McRaven’s knowledge owes a great deal to his military background—“Run to the sound of the guns,” “no plan survives first contact with the enemy”—but few readers will miss his points because they have been made so often by other writers.

Sensible yet overly familiar advice for potential leaders.

Kirkus Reviews