The Genius of Robert E. Lee (Al Kaltman)

Similar to a leadership book based on Patton's principles (reviewed here), The Genius of Robert E. Lee takes many events (here, 260) from the famous Civil War General's life and turns each into a leadership lesson.  The standard format is:

• Topic
• How Lee was involved in/handled a situation relevant to that topic
• Advice based on Lee's actions in that situation

The book is arranged chronologically, so it wanders from topic to topic as Lee progresses through his life, and not all lessons presented cast Lee in a favorable light (indeed, some are given as examples of what not to do).  Most lessons are a page at most, and this is an immensely fast read.

This is the first leadership book I've read that disappointed me.  I read 25% and put it down.  It's not bad, it's just not great.  Some things that bothered me:

• Topics that nullify each other.  One topic says not to leave a position if you're good at and enjoy it.  Another topic says don't hesitate to leave a position, even if you enjoy it, if you're interested in something else . . . basically, the author is saying "sometimes, you should stay, and sometimes, you should go."  Agreed . . . but not overly helpful.
• The snippets of Lee's life used are extremely short and specific, and the author's advice based on them is overly simplistic.  For example, one topic discusses Lee's ordering a nice hat, and the advice is that dressing for success can be important, but it's not the same as ability, and dressing shouldn't come before ability.  Again, I agree, but a man ordering one hat is hardly the basis for a sweeping statement. 

In the end, there are many things I agree with here, but I wasn't a fan of the author's methods and oversimplifications.  This could be a good book for younger (high school) folks who aspire to leadership and could use some basic lessons, but I don't recommend this for anyone who's been in the work force a while- there are better books out there.

Rating: C