March 2008 edition (changes from the 2005 edition are noted with an asterisk *)

Readings are organized under the following groupings:

Fire History and Culture- Where we came from and who we are
Human Factors- How we think and act
Lessons Learned- How we succeed and how we fail
Leadership and Management- What we can strive to be
Case Studies- Leadership examples from other fields, other places, other times

You can print this list out directly in its HTML format, or utilize the following links for other hardcopy
duplication opitions:

Click here to download a print ready pdf version of the Professional Reading Program. This will be a publication entitled Wildland Fire Book on Books. This publication will be in a 8"x5" format ready for two-sided duplication on most standard copy machines.

Click here to download an interactive pdf version of the Professional Reading Program.

FIRE HISTORY AND CULTURE

"Where we come from and who we are"

*Barker, Rocky. Scorched Earth: How the Fires of Yellowstone Changed America. Island Press. 2005.
Using the history of firefighting in Yellowstone National Park and the watershed fire season of 1988, Barker, a journalist for The Idaho Statesman newspaper, explores the questions of when to fight fires and when to let them burn, and when firefighters should be sent to fight fire and at what cost.

Cooley, Earl. Trimotor and Trail. Mountain Press Publishing. 1984.
An interesting personal account from Mr. Cooley, who was one of the first smoke jumpers in 1940. There is a very thorough description with actual written statements from the survivors of the 1949 Mann-Gulch Fire Tragedy which killed 13 Missoula Smoke Jumpers.

Davies, Gilbert W. and Florice M. Frank. Memorable Forest Fires: Stories by U.S. Forest Service Retirees. History Ink Books. 1997.
Fighting forest fires the “old-school” way is the basis for the 200 memorable stories of U.S. Forest Service retirees. These accounts are dedicated to all those dedicated Forest Service and interagency firefighters who take their work seriously and safely with a true sense of urgency and a belief that firefighting was a part of their public service careers.

Leschak, Peter M. Ghosts of the Fireground: Echoes of the Great Peshtigo Fire and The Calling of a Wildland Firefighter. HarperCollins. 2002.
Mr. Leschak has been a wildland firefighter for more than twenty years. In this account he weaves the tragic story of the 1878 Peshtigo Fire with his own career as a wildland firefighter. This account takes the fears and triumphs that all first time wildland fire small unit leaders encounter and relates them through the historical account of Father Pernin, a Catholic priest who, through good leadership values and principles, led the many survivors of the great Peshtigo fire to safety and survival.

Leschak, Peter M. Hellroaring: The Life and Times of a Fire Bum. North Star Press. 1994.
Leschak retells his experiences with the Minnesota DNR and the U.S. Forest Service, on Type II crews and helitack crews, providing a view of firefighter culture from the ground level.

Pyne, Stephen J. Fire in America: A Cultural History of Wildland and Rural Fire. Princeton University Press. 1982.
From prehistory to the present day, Pyne explores the history of fire on the American landscape and the efforts of successive cultures to master fire and use it to shape the landscape.

Pyne, Stephen J. Fire on the Rim: A Firefighter’s Season at the Grand Canyon. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. 1989.
Pyne’s story of a fire season on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Based on his 15 seasons as a seasonal firefighter with the National Park Service, this book is a good introduction to the insular culture of western firefighters.

*Pyne, Stephen J. Tending Fire: Coping with America’s Wildland Fires. Island Press. 2004
Pyne discusses the past history of fire suppression and management and directions we might take in the future. He discusses options that exist for dealing with fire while still recognizing its ecological importance. Pyne calls for important reforms in wildland fire management that incorporates recognition of its biological role and the impacts of climate change and WUI.

Pyne, Stephen J. World Fire: The Culture of Fire on Earth. Henry Holt. 1995.
Dr. Pyne gives a global view of the fire history, ecology, and culture from around the world. Countries covered include: Australia, South Africa, Brazil, Sweden, Greece, Iberia, Russia, India, and Antarctica. He lets the student of fire see how the United States fire culture and international fire cultures intermix and intertwine.

Pyne, Stephen J. The Year of the Fires. Viking Penguin. 2001.
An account of the dramatic and overwhelming fire season of 1910, in which two million acres burned and hundreds of lives were lost in the Northern Rockies and the Great Lake states. This fire season set the stage for establishing large, expensive, and ultimately, extremely efficient federal and state wildland fire suppression organizations.

Taylor , Murry. Jumping Fire. Harvest. 2000.
Taylor was a USFS and BLM smokejumper for over a quarter of a century. This memoir follows one fire season from Alaska to the Lower 48. Taylor captures the atmosphere and attitude of smokejumping and initial attack firefighting.

Thoele, Michael. Fireline: The Summer Battles of the West. Fulcrum. 1995.
Thoele, a Journalism professor at the University of Oregon, looks at the subculture of modern firefighters and western wildfires, and describes the activities of various fire crews and their methods for fighting rural and urban forest fires. Includes chapters on the future of firefighting, women firefighters, and numerous photos.

HUMAN FACTORS

“How we think and act"

Flin, Rhona. Sitting in the Hot Seat. Wiley. 1996.
Flin examines the selection, training, and assessment of individuals who are required to take the command role on an emergency incident. The emphasis is on the commander’s relationship with the team.

Garvin, David A. Learning in Action: A Guide to Putting the Learning Organization to Work. Harvard Business School Press. 2000.
Garvin introduces three modes of learning (intelligence gathering, experience, and experimentation) and shows how each mode is most effectively deployed. The approaches are brought to life through case studies of organizations; e.g., United States Army, XEROX, L.L. Bean, and GE. He gives an excellent discussion of U.S. Army’s after-action review process. He, also, describes the leadership role junior and senior leaders must play to make learning a day-to-day reality in their organizations.

*Gladwell, Malcolm. Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking. Little Brown & Company. 2007.
Gladwell weighs the factors that determine good decision making. Drawing on recent cognitive research, he concludes that those who quickly filter out extraneous information generally make better decisions than those who discount their first impressions.

Gonzalez, Laurence. Deep Survival; Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why. W.W. Norton. 2003.
Looks at the physical and psychological elements that contribute to human performance and survival in emergency situations. A fascinating look at how and why some people survive emergencies and some don't. Lots of great information on the kind of human factors that we now recognize are critical to safe performance on the fireline.

Helmreich, Robert L., et al. Cockpit Resource Management. Academic Press. 1993.
The concepts presented in this book are based on processes that commercial airline pilots use to avoid or mitigate human errors that occur during flight operations. These concepts have adapted by many other high-risk environments as “Crew Resource Management” (CRM).

*Kamler, Kenneth. Surviving the Extremes: What Happens to the Human Body at the Limits of Endurance. Penguin Books. 2004
This book discusses the physiology of the human body at the limits of survival. It contains some amazing stories of survival and perseverance in the face of disaster. How people get into these situations and how they react is also discussed. Ties in well with Deep Survival.

*Maxwell, John C. Ethics 101. Center Street Press. 2005.
This slender volume discusses the essential role that personal ethics and integrity play in strong leadership.

Okray, Randy and Thomas Lubnau. CRM for the Fire Service. Penn Well Corp. 2004.
This book talks to both structural and wildland firefighters. The authors discuss human errors on the fireground and how firefighters react to stressfull situations. They present a variety of methods and tools to mitigate these problems and help provide for safer and more effective operations.

*Palmer, Charles. Fired Up! The Optimal Performance Guide for Wildland Firefighters. Birch Grove Publishing. 2007.
Written by a longtime helitack and engine crewmember and smokejumper, and current University of Montana professor specializing in health and human performance, Palmer discusses the physical, psychological and environmental factors that influence how firefighters perform. Much of his work is based on extensive interviews and study of current fireline leaders and firefighters. This book includes many strategies and tips for achieving peak performance physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally amidst the rigors and stress of wildland firefighting.

Perrow, Charles. Normal Accidents. Princeton University Press. 1999.
Perrow analyzes the social side of accident occurrence in high-risk technologies. He argues that designing more warnings and safeguards into these environments fails because this increases system complexity and makes failure inevitable. He, also, describes a framework for analyzing risks and building organizations that can identify and mitigate them.

Reason, James. Managing the Risks of Organizational Accidents. Ashgate. 1997.
A fascinating and valuable look at how accidents occur in technology-oriented organizations and how latent conditions and active failures at all levels of an organization can contribute to disaster. Should be required reading for fire and aviation managers at all levels.

Snook, Scott A. Friendly Fire. Princeton University Press. 2000.
An in-depth investigation of the accidental shootdown of two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters by two U.S. F-16s over the northern Iraq no-fly zone. It looks at the human and organizational factors at all levels in large, High Reliability Organizations that can contribute to fatal accidents despite multiple layers of rules and procedures designed to prevent them. The reader will see many similarities to interagency fire organizations, how we try to defend against accidents, and how and why we fail.

Tannen, Deborah. The Argument Culture: Stopping America’s War of Words. Random House. 1999.
Tannen examines how we communicate publicly and how often we approach issues as a fight between two opposing sides. Understanding how and why we communicate in certain ways can help us improve our attempts to understand others and be understood ourselves.

Tannen, Deborah. You Just Don’t Understand: Men and Women in Conversation. Random House. 1991.
Tannen explains women and men have distinctly different conversational styles based upon gender and cultural conditioning. Understanding and accepting these differences can lead to improved communications between women and men whether on the fireline or in the office.

Weick, Karl E. and Kathleen M. Sutcliffe. Managing the Unexpected. Jossey‑Bass. 2001.
Subtitled "Assuring High Performance in an Age of Complexity," this book looks at how High Reliability Organizations like aircraft carriers, nuclear power plants, and firefighting crews manage high-risk operations. A second edition was published in 2007 which contains information on the wildland fire community’s attempts to establish and practice the principles of High Reliability Organizations.

Articles, Reports, and Websites

Putnam, Ted, et al. Findings from the Wildland Firefighters Human Factors Workshop. Missoula Technology and Development Center publication # 9551 2855. 1995. Ordering information available at http://fsweb.mtdc.wo.fs.fed.us/cgi-bin/fire_pubs.pl
Subtitled “Improving Wildland Firefighter Performance Under Stressful, Risky Conditions: Toward Better Decisions on the Fireline and More Resilient Organizations.” This booklet contains a number of excellent articles on the human factors that impact how firefighters perform on the fireline when fatigued and under stress.

Putnam, Ted. The Collapse of Decisionmaking and Organizational Structure on Storm King Mountain.
Missoula Technology and Development Center. 1995. Available online at http://www.fire.blm.gov/textdocuments/PutnamStormKing.pdf.
Following Dr. Karl Weick’s lead, Putnam analyzes the human performance at the South Canyon fire and the human and organizational failures that may have contributed to the fatalities.

Vaughan, Diane. Targets for Firefighting Safety: Lessons from the Challenger Case. Presented at Interagency Hotshot Crew Workshop. 1996. Available online at http://www.fire.blm.gov/textdocuments/VaughanWildfire.pdf
Based on her extensive research regarding NASA’s culture and the decisions leading up to the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger, Vaughan discusses the role that organizational culture can play in affecting firefighter performance and safety.

Weick, Karl E. The Collapse of Sensemaking in Organizations: The Mann Gulch Disaster. Administrative Science Quarterly, Volume 38, pp. 628‑652. 1993. Available online at http://www.fire.blm.gov/textdocuments/WeickWildfire.pdf
An analysis of the human factors that contributed to 13 fatalities on the 1949 Mann Gulch fire. Rather than reviewing fire behavior, weather, fuels and equipment, Weick analyzes how the smokejumpers thought, communicated, and acted as they tried to engage the fire and ultimately fled from the fire.

LESSONS LEARNED

“How we succeed and how we fail"

*Kennedy, Roger G. Wildfire and Americans: How to Save Lives, Property and Your Tax Dollars. Hill and Wang. 2006.
Kennedy, a former National Park Service director, looks at the build-up of fuels on the public land, an explosion of homes in the WUI, and climate change as the drivers of our current fire management environment. He is blunt and provocative in suggesting new ways to deal with our fire and people problems.

Maclean, John N. Fire and Ashes. Henry Holt. 2003.
Maclean’s second book on wildland fire is a collection of stories. The first two are concise accounts describing the 1953 Rattlesnake Fire in California and the 1999 Saddler Fire in Nevada. The third story is a follow-up to his father’s book regarding an interview with Bob Sallee, the last survivor of the 1949 Mann Gulch Fire in Montana. The fourth piece is an over simplified history of wildland fire.

Maclean, John N. Fire on the Mountain. William Morrow. 1999.
An account of the 1994 South Canyon fire in Colorado where fourteen firefighters were killed, among them hotshots, helitack, and smokejumpers. Like his father before him did with the Mann Gulch fire, John Maclean attempts to tell what happened and why. This fire and its aftermath had a huge impact on fire management policy.

Maclean, Norman. Young Men and Fire. University of Chicago Press. 1992.
An account of the 1949 Mann Gulch fire in Montana. Thirteen firefighters lost their lives on this fire in a sudden blow‑up. Almost 50 years later, Maclean attempts to piece together what happened and why. Twelve of the 13 fatalities on this fire were smokejumpers, the first fatalities this new program had experienced.

*Matthews, Mark. Great Day to Fight Fire. University of Oklahoma Press. 2007.
In early August 1949, a single bolt of lightning sparked a wildfire in Helena National Forest in Montana. The so-called Mann Gulch blaze would kill 13 smokejumpers and change the course of American firefighting. Mark Matthews’ narrative traces this rapidly moving calamity, recapturing the stories of the men who survived and the men who didn’t.

Valencia , Joseph N. Beyond Tranquillon Ridge. Authorhouse. 2004.
This story is a detailed account of the firefighting efforts during the 1977 Honda Canyon Fire in California. The fire took place on the Vandenberg Air Force Base. It is a history of the strategies and tactics used and it includes many first-hand accounts of the conditions that firefighters and the military faced on the front lines-including the tragic deaths of their comrades. The Vandenburg Hotshots have recently put together a staff ride for this incident.

Articles, Reports, and Websites

The Wildland Fire Center for Lessons Learned has established a database to serve as a national collection point for investigation reports on entrapment and fatality fires. Available online at http://www.wildfirelessons.net/Reviews.aspx.

* The Wildland Fire Leadership website includes a staff ride library with extensive information on how to conduct staff rides and specific information on conducting staff rides on historic fires from around the country. Available online at http://www.fireleadership.gov/toolbox/staffride/index.html.

Butler , Bret W., et al. Fire Behavior Associated with the 1994 South Canyon Fire on Storm King Mountain, Colorado. 1998. Missoula Fire Lab. Available online at http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/SouthCanyon/
This research report examines the probable fire behavior and movements of the crew leading up to the fatalities at South Canyon.

Federal Wildland Firefighting Agencies. Wildland Firefighter Safety Awareness Study. 1998. Available online at http://www.nifc.gov/safety_study/studies/safe.html.
This report was a follow-up action to the 1994 South Canyon fire. The report summarizes feedback from an extensive survey that involved over 1,000 wildland firefighters. Many changes to wildland firefighting safety protocols were a result of this report. The Wildland Fire Leadership Development Program was initiated based in part on recommendations in this report.

Report of the Fire Safety Review Team: A Plan to Further Reduce Chances of Men Being Killed by Burning While Fighting Fire. USDA Forest Service. 1967. Available online at http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/fire/information/1957_report/index.htm
This report was a follow-up action to the 1966 Loop fire. The “Downhill Line Construction Checklist” was developed as a result of the recommendations in this report. In addition, the initiatives to develop and mandate the use of Nomex and fire shelters are found as recommendations in this report.

Rothermel, Richard C. The Mann Gulch Fire: A Race That Couldn’t Be Won. Missoula Fire Lab. 1979. Available online at http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/int_gtr299/
This short research paper examines the probable fire behavior and movements of the crew during the 20 minutes leading up to the fatalities at Mann Gulch. Rothermel originally undertook these reconstructions at the request of Norman Maclean while he was writing Young Men and Fire. Ironically, Rothermel worked at the Fire Lab in Missoula, which was conceived and established in the aftermath of Mann Gulch.

USDA Forest Service. Report of the Task Force to Recommend Action to Reduce Chances of Men Being Killed by Burning While Fighting Fire. 1957. Available online at http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/fire/information/1957_report/index.shtml.
This report was a follow-up action to three major fatality fires—The Mann Gulch fire in 1949, the Rattlesnake fire in 1953, and the Inaja fire in 1956. The 10 Standard Firefighting Orders were developed as a result of the recommendations in this report.

LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

“What we can strive to be"

Abrashoff, M. D. It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy.Warner Business Books. 2002.
“The most important thing that a leader must do is view their ship through the eyes of the crew.” This philosophy is as appropriate for the fire service as for the Navy. Captain Abrashoff uses a very simple, practical approach to describe how he made fundamental changes to how a Navy ship is managed. Every single principle that he describes and the steps he takes are appropriate for the fire service.

Ambrose, Larry. A Mentor’s Companion. Perrone-Ambrose. 1998.
A concise reference that can assist any leader’s efforts to influence the professional development of junior leader’s in their organization.

Axelrod, Alan. Elizabeth I CEO: Strategic Lessons from the Leader Who Built an Empire. Prentice Hall Press. 2000.
This book starts with an overview of Elizabeth’s life and 45-year reign as queen of England. The book then progresses to a series of lessons (“Stand-up for Those You Lead, Communicate Directly and Often, and Strength Always Communicates”) that are illustrated by using examples from her reign.

Blanchard, Kenneth H. and Spencer Johnson. The One Minute Manager. William Morrow. 1985.
This is a quick read that provides the reader with an easy to understand model of management. First time managers or employees working for first time managers can benefit by sharing the book and following the model.

*Cannon, Jeff and Jon. Leadership Lessons of the Navy Seals. McGraw-Hill. 2005.
Battle-tested strategies for creating successful organizations and inspiring extraordinary results. How to build, prepare, and maintain the organization for the mission.

Chaleff, Ira. The Courageous Follower. Berrett-Koehler. 1995.
Presents a model for working with leaders that will dispel the image of followers as passive or weak. Explores the dynamics of the leader-follower relationship and offers insights into how these roles partner effectively.

Cohen, William A. The Stuff of Heroes: The Eight Universal Laws of Leadership. Longstreet. 1998.
Major General Cohen talks about leaders from the military and business world who use the “Eight Universal Laws”: 1 – Absolute Integrity, 2 – Know Your Stuff, 3 – Declare Expectations, 4 – Show Uncommon Commitment, 5 – Expect Positive Results, 6 – Take Care of Your People, 7 – Duty Before Self, 8 – Get Out in Front.

Collins, Jim. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t. HarperBusiness. 2001.
Making the transition from good to great doesn't require a high-profile CEO, the latest technology, innovative change management, or even a fine-tuned business strategy. At the heart of those rare and truly great companies was a corporate culture that rigorously found and promoted disciplined people to think and act in a disciplined manner. Peppered with dozens of stories and examples from the great and not so great, the book offers a well-reasoned road map to excellence that any organization would do well to consider.

Covey, Stephen. Principle Centered Leadership: Strategies for Personal and Professional Effectiveness. Simon & Schuster. 1992.
Covey demonstrates that the long term key to developing people and organizations is the recognition of core values and principles that guide all actions. He offers insights and guidelines that can help develop and maintain these core values as a pathway to personal and team success.

De Pree, Max. Leadership is an Art. Dell. 1990.
A thoughtful and idealistic approach to leadership that emphasizes the leader’s responsibilities to the organization and its people.

Fielder, Donald J. The Leadership Teachings of Geronimo: How 19 Defeated 5000. Sterling House. 2002.
This book vividly links the modern leader/executive to the David versus Goliath strategies of Geronimo, one of the greatest chiefs in American history.

Freedman, David H. Corps Business: The 30 Management Principles of the U.S. Marine Corps. HarperBusiness. 2000.
This book gives a down to earth look at a high-risk organization and 30 leadership principles gathered from operations in the high speed U.S. Marine Corps environment. Two examples are “1 – Managing by Providing Intent (telling people what needs to be accomplished and why, and leave the details to them) and 2 – The 70% Solution” (It’s better to decide quickly on an imperfect plan than to spend time considering every angle and roll out a perfect plan when it’s too late.).

Goleman, Daniel. Emotional Intelligence. Bantam Books. 1997.
The author argues that there are important emotional skills that contribute to human intelligence and successful performance in the workplace. These skills include self awareness and impulse control, persistence, zeal and self motivation, empathy and social deftness.

Kouzes, James M., and Barry Z. Posner The Leadership Challenge. Jossey-Bass. 2002.
The authors are known for conducting extensive research in leadership development. They present 5 practices and 10 commitments for exemplary leadership. Supplemented with real-life case studies, this book provides up-to-date leadership development techniques.

Maxwell, John C. Developing the Leader within You.Thomas Nelson. 1993.
Maxwell provides us with a basic introduction into the many levels of leadership. More importantly he takes a close look at why we follow leaders at each of these levels. Note: There is also a companion workbook available for the reader to fill out as they follow along.

Michaelson, Gerald A. Sun Tzu: The Art of War for Managers (50 Strategic Rules). Adams Media. 2001. This is a modern adaptation of Sun Tzu’s writings that provides the reader with a set of truisms that they can easily apply to their environment. Sun Tzu was a Chinese warrior-philosopher who wrote over 2,000 years ago. Many of his lessons are applicable to sound leadership today.

Morrell, Margot and Stephanie Capparell. Shackelton’s Way: Leadership Lessons from the Great Antarctic Explorer. Penguin Group. 2001.
Sir Earnest Shackleton has been called “the greatest leader that ever came on God’s earth bar none” for saving the lives of the 27 men stranded with him on an Antarctic ice floe for almost 2 years. Morrell and Capparell team up to present Shackelton’s timeless leadership skills—skills that can be learned by anyone—to a new generation. The authors present leadership principles set against the survival story of the Endurance expedition.

Newman, Major General Aubrey “Red.” Follow Me I: The Human Element in Leadership. Presidio Press. 1981.
This book was based on Major General Newman column in “Army Magazine” called, “Forward Edge.” The column ran for 20 years. This book emphasizes the importance of the human element in leadership. It is aimed at young lieutenants and NCOs at the platoon level, who are first time leaders. This is a first in a series of three books—Follow Me II, published in 1982, emphasizes leading and mentoring; Follow Me III, published in 1987, encourages senior leaders to remember where they came from and to consider the human element in their leadership actions.

* Puryear, Edgar F. American Generalship: Character is Everything—The Art of Command. Presidio Press. 2000.
An excellent discussion of the character elements that all good leaders should strive to possess. Garnered from interviews with over 100 four-star generals, these first-hand accounts from some of recent history’s most famous generals provide excellent examples of selflessness, mentorship, accountability, and self-improvement.

Riley, Pat. The Winner Within: A Life Plan for Team Players. Berkley Trade; Reprint edition. 1994.
He’s one of America’s greatest coaches, known for inspiring the champions of professional basketball to work as a team. The Winner Within is his game plan for team players in all of life, not just on the court but in business, at home, and in personal achievement. Here are his winning strategies that inspire change, motivate teamwork, and reveal the winner within us all.

Roberts, Wess. Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun. Warner Books. 1985.
A simple but powerful leadership primer. This common sense guide is an excellent book for the first time leader/supervisor to understand the privilege and responsibility of becoming a leader. Provides practical advice about developing leadership skills over a lifetime and the young leader’s personal responsibility to start this process early.

*Salka, John. First In, Last Out: Leadership Lessons from the New York Fire Department. Portfollo. 2004.
As a high ranking officer of the NYFD, Salka is an expert at both practicing and teaching high stakes leadership. Here he explains the department’s unique strategies and how they can be adopted by leaders in the field.

*Sanborn, Mark. You Don’t Need a Title to be a Leader: How Anyone, Anywhere, Can Make a Positive Difference. Doubleday. 2006.
This 100-page, easy-to-read book showcases leadership for all individuals regardless of whether or not they carry a title. The book’s simplicity makes it inviting to all levels of leadership. A solid book for crewmembers, fireline leaders, and supervisors with many suggestions on how to lead from below and above.

Smith, Perry M. Rules and Tools for Leaders: A Down to Earth Guide to Effective Managing. Avery. 1998.
This book is written in two parts: Part 1 – Clear, concise advice on how to become a more effective leader. Part 2 – Provides a unique collection of checklists, guidelines, and rules of thumb that serve as a quick reference manual for leaders.

Smith, Perry M. Taking Charge: A Practical Guide for Leaders. DIANE Publishing. 1995.
This is a practical guide for leaders written in a clear, crisp style. Helps the leader set standards for integrity and excellence through the use of case studies and checklists.

Townsend, Patrick L. and Joan E. Gebhardt. Five-Star Leadership: The Art and Strategy of Creating Leaders at Every Level. Wiley. 1997.
This is an excellent book for the firefighter transitioning to a leadership role and an excellent guide for mentors to develop their junior leaders. Great section on “Followership to Leadership” with a self-guided leadership development plan.

*Useem, Michael. The Go Point: When it’s Time to Decide. Crown Business. 2006.
Useem, through dramatic storytelling, describes how to master the art and science of being decisive. He puts the reader next to people facing their “Go Point,” where actions, or lack of them, determine the fates of individuals, companies, and countries. Includes a number of examples from the wildland fire world.

Useem, Michael. Leading Up: How to Lead Your Boss So You Both Win. Crown Business. 2001.
Upward leadership assures that advice arrives from all points on the corporate compass, not just from the top down. Through six true accounts, Useem shows us what happens when those not in charge rise to the challenge, and also what happens when those who should step forward fail to do so.

Useem, Michael. The Leadership Moment: Nine True Stories of Triumph and Disaster and Their Lessons for All of Us. Crown Publishing Group. 1999.
This book is authored by the Director of the Wharton Center for Leadership and Change Management. An easy read with interesting, compelling stories about critical situations with “turning points” where action or inaction by leaders makes all the difference. Two of the well known case studies included in this book are Wag Dodge’s actions on the Mann Gulch fire and Eugene Kranz’s leadership during the Apollo 13 recovery effort.  

CASE STUDIES

“Leadership examples from other fields, places, and times”

Aebi, Tania with Bernadette Brennan. Maiden Voyage. Random House. 1996.
The account of an 18 year old New York City woman’s solo sailing voyage around the world. With little experience, she became the youngest person to ever circumnavigate the globe.

Ambrose, Stephen E. Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest. Simon & Schuster. 1992.
An excellent account of an airborne rifle company at war. Based on journals, letters and interviews with the participants. Follows E Company from their rigorous selection and training in Georgia, through battles such as Normandy, Market Garden, Bastogne, and occupation duty in Germany. A classic small unit leadership study.

Ambrose, Stephen E. Crazy Horse and Custer. Random House. 1975.
Ambrose compares and contrasts the parallel lives of two of the most celebrated leaders in the struggle for the destiny of the American West. Both leaders were highly publicized by the media during their lifetime and had continuing influence after their death.

Ambrose, Stephen E. Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson and the Opening of the American West. Simon & Schuster. 1996.
This biography of Meriwether Lewis also discusses his strengths and weaknesses as a leader. William Clark and Lewis were resourceful, intelligent leaders; and they maintained a sense of direction and purpose that kept their men healthy and relatively content through more than three years of trials and tribulations. A great study in leadership, and a great adventure story.

Blum, Arlene. Annapurna : A Woman’s Place. Sierra Club Books. 1980.
Twenty years ago, Blum led the first all-female climbing team to one of the world’s highest peaks in the Himalayan mountains of Nepal. Her leadership was instrumental in placing climbers on the summit, but the cost was high with two climbers being killed before the expedition was completed.

Boukreev, Anatoli and G. Weston DeWalt. The Climb: Tragic Ambitions of Everest. St. Martins Press. 1998.
A compelling account of the 1996 commercial expedition to the top of Mt. Everest that ended in tragedy. Boukreev, the head guide for Mountain Madness Expeditions, challenges many of the accounts of Into Thin Air, and details his account of the ill-fated expedition.

Bowden, Mark. Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War. Grove/Atlantic. 1999.
A true account of the 1993 battle in Mogadishu, Somalia, where U.S. Army Ranger and Delta Force operators attempted, but failed, to round up Somali warlords. This account describes both positive and negative leadership attributes/principles and their effect in a high-risk environment.

Callo, Joseph F. Legacy of Leadership: Lessons from Admiral Lord Nelson. Hellgate Press. 1999.
An excellent example of how one of history’s most successful naval commanders displayed exceptional leadership in battle. Admiral Nelson not only applied winning tactics in crucial situations, he demonstrated the importance of establishing a winning doctrine among his subordinates. The personal qualities and relationships with his men that made Nelson a great leader are particularly worth sharing.

Chamberlain, Joshua Lawrence. “Bayonet! Forward”: My Civil War Reminiscences. Stan Clark Military Books. 1994.
Chamberlain’s descriptions of his own leadership and that of others provide a great deal of insight into what makes leaders succeed or fail under the most demanding circumstances. General Chamberlain was a key Civil War figure, a Congressional Medal of Honor winner, a college president, and a four-term Governor of Maine.

Collins, Larry and Dominique Lapierre. Freedom at Midnight. Simon & Schuster. 1975.
This book tells the astonishing story of Mahatma Gandhi’s organization and leadership of a massive, non-violent, grassroots campaign in his native India. He ultimately led one of the world’s poorest nations to independence from the British Empire.

Cornum, Rhonda and Peter Copeland. She Went to War. Presidio Press. 1993.
This is an autobiographical account of Major Rhonda Cornum’s story during the Gulf War. A fast paced story about war, a remarkable woman, and tenacity of the human spirit.

*Couch, Dick. The Warrior Elite: The Forging of SEAL Class 228. Crown Publishing. 2001.
Couch follows the formation of a SEAL class from indoctrination through graduation. No Hollywood hype, just on-the-ground, in-the-mud documentary style storytelling. Couch explores the physical and psychological aspects of building a team, expectation setting, accountability, and reward versus punishment leadership. Great book for anyone building a crew.

Greenlaw, Linda. The Hungry Ocean: A Swordboat Captain’s Journey. Hyperion. 2000.
Greenlaw’s account of her experience as a captain of an all‑male crew in the dangerous and demanding world of commercial fishing. Sebastien Junger, author of The Perfect Storm, called Greenlaw “one of the best fishing boat captains, period” in the Atlantic Ocean.

Huntford, Roland. The Last Place on Earth: Scott and Amundsens’s Race to the South Pole. Random House. 1985.
Scott and Amundsen led expeditions that raced each other to reach the South Pole for the first time. Amundsen’s expedition ended in success; Scott’s in death. Their contrasting leadership styles were directly responsible for the outcomes. This exciting book tells the tale.

Junger, Sebastian. The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men against the Sea. HarperCollins. 1997.
It was the “perfect storm”—meterological event that can happen only once in a century—a nor’easter created by so rare a combination of factors that it could not possibly have been worse. Waves 10 stories high and winds of 120 mph, the storm whipped the sea to inconceivable levels few people on earth have witnessed. Few except the six-man crew of the Andrea Gail, a commercial fishing boat tragically headed towards its hellish center. This journalist’s account describes human factors, the high-risk occupation of commercial fishing, and decision making that can be successful or tragic.

Krakauer, Jon. Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster. Vintage Anchor. 1998,
Six climbers from two expeditions died on the upper reaches of Everest when a storm caught them in the open. The decision making, situational awareness, communications, and risk management of the expedition leaders and other climbers were all links in the chain of disaster that overtook them.

Kranz, Gene. Failure Is Not An Option: Mission Control from the Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond. Simon & Schuster. 2000.
Gene Kranz, the NASA Mission Control Flight Director, details three decades of success, failure, and near misses in the U.S. Space Program. He reveals behind the scene details to demonstrate the leadership, discipline, trust, and teamwork that made the space program a success.

Lansing, Alfred. Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage. Carroll & Graf. 1959.
The story of Ernest Shackleton’s abortive 1914 attempt to reach the South Pole is another great study in leadership. Shackleton’s ship, Endurance, was trapped and then crushed by pack ice, leaving Shackleton and his 27 men adrift on ice floes. The story of how Shackleton ultimately brings all of his men to safety at South Georgia Island is an epic of survival and a portrait of outstanding leadership in the face of adversity.

Moore, Harold G. and Joseph L. Galloway. We Were Soldiers Once...and Young. Random House. 1992.
An intense and dramatic account of the first large scale battle fought between American and North Vietnamese forces. On November 14, 1965, Moore’s 1st Battalion of the 7th Cavalry was attacked and surrounded by a superior force of the North Vietnamese Army. For three days and two nights, the American forces held off repeated attacks. An excellent primer on small unit leadership and leadership under fire.

Mundle, Rob. Fatal Storm: The Inside Story of the Tragic Sydney-Hobart Race. McGraw Hill. 1999.
This is the story of the tragic 1998 Sydney to Hobart Race, where highly competitive sailboats race through the notoriously rough waters of the Bass Straight in the Tasman Sea. A freak unseasonable storm brought hurricane force winds and waves six stories high that resulted in six sailors dying. This account describes the success of those that survived, the failures of those that died, and the element of chance in the high-risk environment.

Powell, Colin L. with Joseph E. Persico. My American Journey. Ballantine Books. 1996.
From his birth in New York City to immigrant parents on to his roles as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Secretary of State, and trusted adviser to both Democrat and Republican presidents, this autobiography tells Powell’s story…an embodiment of the American dream.

Pressfield, Steven. Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae. Doubleday. 1998.
For 6 days in 480 B.C., 300 Spartan warriors held off an invading Persian Army of more than a million men at the narrow pass of Thermopylae. All of the Spartans were killed, but their delaying action gave Greek armies time to prepare and ultimately save the young democracies from conquest. An incredible story of duty, honor, and selfless service.

*Ralston, Aron. Between a Rock and a Hard Place. Simon Schuster. 2004.
A great book for initiating a discussion on decision making with a fire crew. Ralston is known for cutting his arm off with a knife in Canyonlands National Park after being trapped by a boulder. His many challenging feats provide ample fodder to admire or question his decision making skills.

Rich, Ben R. and Leo Janos. Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed. Little, Brown & Co. 1996.
Lockheed’s Advanced Development Project has set standards for the aerospace industry for half a century, repeatedly developing and fielding breakthrough aviation technology. Janos describes the unique management framework and leadership style that freed engineers and technicians to accomplish astounding results.

Shaara, Michael. The Killer Angels. Random House. 1974.
This Pulitzer Prize winning novel tells the story of the Battle of Gettysburg from the point of view of key leaders on both the Union and Confederate sides. In addition to describing the human elements of leadership at all levels in a large organization, this gripping story demonstrates the impact leadership successes and failures can have on history.

Utley, Robert M. The Lance and the Shield. Ballantine Books. 1994.
A biography of Sitting Bull, the Hunkpapa Sioux chief and warrior who led his nation’s resistance against white American encroachment on the northern plains. Utley tracks the rise and fall and rise again of Sitting Bull as a Sioux leader.

*Viesturs, Ed. No Shortcuts to the Top. Broadway Books. 2006
Viesturs is a world renowned mountaineer and the first American to summit all 14 of the world’s 8,000 meter peaks without supplemental oxygen. His motto is “Getting to the top is optional; getting down is mandatory.” He considers himself a risk manager, not a risk taker. Many of Viestur’s hard-learned lessons are applicable to wildland firefighting and learning organizations: “Fighting the fire is optional; going home at night is mandatory.” Viesturs learned a hard lesson early on to recognize the weak signals and almost paid with his life. That experience completely changed how he approached mountaineering.

LEADERSHIP TOOLBOX REFERENCE
March 2008