The word initiative is used extensively throughout the book and will be most important to reflect upon. Leading by articulating your intent as a commander and letting subordinates take the initiative sums up what I learned from reading the book. My favorite quotes from Call Sign Chaos by General Mattis and Bing West are these:

p.12, “Value initiative and aggressiveness above all. It’s easier to pull the reins back than to push a timid soul forward.”

p.21, “Because a unit adopts the personality of its commander, just as a sports team adopts the personality of its coach, I made my expectations clear: I wanted a bias for action, and to bring out the initiative in all hands.”

p.42, “If you haven’t read hundreds of books, you are functionally illiterate, and you will be incompetent, because your personal experiences alone aren’t broad enough to sustain you.”

p. 45, “Installation of personal initiative, aggressiveness, and risk-taking doesn’t spring forward spontaneously on the battlefield. It must be cultivated for years and inculcated, even rewarded, in an organization’s culture. If a commander expects subordinates to seize fleeting opportunities under stress, his organization must reward this behavior in all facets of training, promoting, and commending. More important, he must be tolerant of mistakes. If the risk takers are punished, then you will retain in your ranks only the risk averse.”

Page. 59, “Business management books often stress “centralized planning and decentralized execution.” That is too top down for my taste. I believe in a centralized vision, coupled with decentralized planning and execution. In general, there are two kinds of executives: those who simply respond to their staffs and those who direct their staffs and give them latitude, coaching them as needed to carry out the directions. I needed to focus on the big issues and leave the staff to flesh out how to get there.”

Page 88. “Note to all executives over the age of thirty: always keep close to you youngsters who are smarter than you.”

Page 96, “When things go wrong, a leader must stand by those who made the decision under extreme pressure and with incomplete information. Initiative and audacity must be supported, whether or not successful.”

Page 151, “Regardless of rank or occupation, I believe that all leaders should be coaches at heart. For me, “player-coach” aptly describes the role of a combat leader, or any real leader.”

Page 158, “If you don’t like problems, stay out of leadership.”

Page 175, “Every few months, a leader has to step back and question what he and his organization are doing.”

Page 179, “When asked how he would order his thoughts if he had one hour to save the world, Einstein sagely responded that he would spend fifty-five minutes defining the problem and save the world in five minutes.”

Page 184, “Commanders must encourage intellectual risk taking to preclude a lethargic environment. Leaders must shelter those challenging nonconformists and mavericks who make institutions uncomfortable; otherwise you wash out innovation.”

Page 202, “In keeping with George Washington’s approach to leadership I would listen, learn, and help, then lead.”

Page 237, “If you can’t be additive as a leader, you’re just like a potted plant in the corner of a hotel lobby: you look pretty, but you’re not adding substance to the organization’s mission.”

Page 238, “You must unleash initiative rather than suffocate it.”

Page 238, “Strategy is hard, unless you’re a dilettante. You must think until your head hurts.”

Page 240, “Resourceful leaders do not lose touch with their troops. A leader’s job is to inculcate high-spirited, amiable self-discipline. Leaders must always generate options by surrounding themselves with bright subordinates and being catalysts for new ideas.” 

Page 242, “Allowing bad processes to stump good people is intolerable.”

Page 243, “Because maverick thinkers are so important to an organization’s adaptability, high ranking leaders need to be assigned the job of guiding and even protecting them, much as one would do for any endangered species.”

Page 243, “Leaders at all ranks, but especially at high ranks, must keep in their inner circle people who will unhesitatingly point out when a leader’s personal behavior or decisions are not appropriate.”