
The Wisdom of the Bullfrog
by Admiral William H. McRaven
Eighteen leadership lessons from a forty-year Navy career, each a military maxim ('When in command, command', 'Run to the sound of the guns') unpacked with a story. It is brief, plain and practical, and better on character than on technique.
Read it if…
you want leadership lessons told as short stories by someone who has led under pressure.
Skip it if…
you want frameworks; these are maxims.
Three things you will actually use
- Trust is the whole currency of command.
- Decide, then own the decision.
- Sweat the small things; they are the big things in disguise.
Do this first
Pick the maxim you least live up to and write what it would look like this week.
Our verdict
Maxims from a life in command.
Compare with other Leadership books

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