Leadership Secrets of the Rogue Warrior

Picture Rambo in pinstripes and you'll have a good idea of how Marcinko, a former navy SEAL, thinks managers should operate. This frequently profane sequel to his Leadership Secrets of the Rogue Warrior asserts that business success is as simple as plan, train, operate, maintain and build: ""These strategies helped keep me alive. And they're going to help make you successful."" Well, maybe if you operate solo or head a very small team. But in the real world, where you need approval from accounting to buy a copier, it's a bit harder. Marcinko's style is inspirational; his (literal) war stories are entertaining; and sprinkled throughout are useful business insights such as, Never engage in a fair fight: ""Every rule in the book should favor you and hamper your opponent."" However, his examples of corporate success--Chrysler's turnaround and Johnson & Johnson's handling of the Tylenol crisis--are dated, and specifics for achieving business success are hard to come by in these pages. It's appealing to say ""Kick butt and take names,"" but that advice doesn't help most middle managers. (June)