So this post has nothing to do with school, but I just finished a rather good book (on tape…need something to listen to while I walk to the dog and run). It was The Operators by Michael Hastings. The book was about a embed trip by the reported Michael Hastings when he joined General Stanley McChrystal and his team for a  week or two in 2010. Lots of good nuggets here:

-A lot on civil military relations: How do Senior Military Leaders work with civilian leaders? What does that relationship look like? Who exercises what type of power? What should that relationship look like? At what point are you ‘listening to your expert Generals’ and at what point are you ‘being strong by standing up to your expert Generals’ (or Admirals)?

-Command: It is obvious that Command Climate was a big issue for General McChrystal.  The type of climate you as the boss set matters. What you say, what you do, how you respond to off hand comments all matter. Your people will emulate you. They will follow your example. You can have fun, but you also need to remain professional and respectful.

-Dealing with the Media: One thing that Hastings mentioned was that the Public Affairs person working for McChrystal didn’t set any ground rules during the visit, and that this was unusual. I haven’t don’t many big media things, but even for the short media trips on the ships I have worked on, I set a few ground rules. I think the key is, especially at the big national level, the media has a job to do too. Their purpose is not your purpose. You should be open, but also remember that while you have a bias, so do they.

-What was missing from this book: Hastings talked a lot about the history of the AF and IQ wars, and it was clear he saw them (esp. AF) as a failure. But he never got into what success would look like? How could or should we have done it differently after we invaded in 2001. This would help make his argument a little stronger.

Good book. Worth reading. Score: 7.5.