Guidelines for the Leader and the Commander

Originally published by Stackpole in 1963 and revised throughout the Vietnam War until its final edition in 1973, Guidelines for the Leader and Commander by Gen. Bruce C. Clarke makes its purpose plain with its prefatory dedication to the combat soldier who is charged with defending the freedoms of his country. What follows is no mere manual for those trusted with leading soldiers in combat. It is a wide-ranging collection of leadership principles and maxims—many of them general, applicable to civilians as well as soldiers—to guide the building and training of an army (or other organization) from the ground up, starting with the individual soldier. Thoughtful as well as concrete, pithy and often conversational, rooted in Clarke’s deep and long military experience, the book covers such topics as Command Responsibilities, Leadership versus Popularity, A Successful Manager, Training the Individual, Training the Unit, and Wasting Soldiers’ Time. The legendary and controversial David Hackworth required his officers and NCOs in Vietnam to carry Guidelines, and the book has become a cult classic.

“The finest little handbook on leadership and training ever written.”

-- Colonel David Hackworth, author of the bestseller About Face

General Bruce C. Clarke (1901–88) dropped out of high school to enlist in the army during World War I. Eventually appointed to West Point through the New York National Guard, he later earned an engineering degree from Cornell and a law degree from LaSalle. As a colonel and then brigadier general in World War II, Clarke commanded an armored combat regiment under Patton, most famously leading the relief of St. Vith at the Battle of the Bulge in what Eisenhower called a turning point of the battle. He held various commands over the next twenty years, including corps command in Korea and ending as U.S. commander-in-chief in Europe during the Berlin Crisis. During his forty-five-year uniformed career from World War I into the Cold War, Clarke held ranks from private to four-star general and earned the Distinguished Service Cross, three Distinguished Service Medals, three Silver Stars, and three Bronze Stars. An outstanding combat commander, he was also known as the most effective trainer of the modern army. He wrote Guidelines for the Leader and Commander as the capstone to his long career.

Originally published by Stackpole in 1963 and revised throughout the Vietnam War until its final edition in 1973, Guidelines for the Leader and Commander by Gen. Bruce C. Clarke makes its purpose plain with its prefatory dedication to the combat soldier who is charged with defending the freedoms of his country. What follows is no mere manual for those trusted with leading soldiers in combat. It is a wide-ranging collection of leadership principles and maxims-many of them general, applicable to civilians as well as soldiers-to guide the building and training of an army (or other organization) from the ground up, starting with the individual soldier. Thoughtful as well as concrete, pithy and often conversational, rooted in Clarke's deep and long military experience, the book covers such topics as Command Responsibilities, Leadership versus Popularity, A Successful Manager, Training the Individual, Training the Unit, and Wasting Soldiers' Time. The legendary and controversial David Hackworth required his officers and NCOs in Vietnam to carry Guidelines, and the book has become a cult classic.

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