cover image Leadership Secrets of the Rogue Warrior

Leadership Secrets of the Rogue Warrior

Richard Marcinko, John Weisman. Atria Books, $20 (176pp) ISBN 978-0-671-54515-4

Best known for his ""Rogue Warrior"" novels (coauthored with John Weisman), Marcinko draws on his leadership experience in business and the military in this bracing, gutsy, tough-talking empowering manual aimed at business managers. He brashly sets forth Ten Commandments of SpecWar (special warfare) that boil down to a few basic principles, e.g., never assume anything; reward success, punish failure, insist on results; be willing to do whatever you order your subordinates to do; train and retrain employees. Marcinko puts his own no-nonsense spin on familiar wisdom by drawing lessons from his experience in Navy underwater demolition teams, his combat in Vietnam and Cambodia, his work leading top Navy counterterrorism squads as well as his years as corporate consultant and CEO of two companies. He also weaves in entertaining success stories involving IBM, Domino's Pizza, Chrysler, Disney, Waldenbooks and the William Morris agency. His pep talk should be required reading for managers who want to weed out prima donnas, transform the lazy and motivate the troops. (May)