The mission, the men

Few leaders are willing to trust their subordinates this way, oddly believing that they are in command because the must "know" better, though that is often far, far from the truth.

Another equally important lesson Blaber describes is to not to rely too heavily upon technology - he gives several examples where that approach effectively put blinders on higher headquarters, leading to counterproductive decisions. Compartmentalization works against understanding, which undermines effective planning or reactions.

Their proximity to the point of action gives them a perspective that higher headquarters nearly always lack, and thus an understanding of the battlefield that higher HQ should respect.

This book provides a valuable operational history of Operation Anaconda but also valuable lessons for business and life in general. Mar 10, Jerome rated it it was amazing Shelves: cia-sof-afghanistan , favorites. Very interesting. I had read about Blaber elsewhere, and was eager to get his perspective on things.

Blaber is a talented writer. I enjoyed Blaber's fresh, innovative, and novel approach of writing. Instead of just compiling an account of his actions in Delta, Blaber focuses on simple themes, drawing valuable and applicable life lessons from his experiences, which range from hiking to waging war. Blaber offers a series of very helpful lessons and mental frameworks for handling intense, stressful Very interesting.

Blaber offers a series of very helpful lessons and mental frameworks for handling intense, stressful and complex situations. All too many special operator memoirs suffer from an excess of rah-rah me-tough-guy braggadocio.

Blaber's book is very different. Seems a bit disjointed and unfocused at times, but somehow he manages to connect everything to a key life lesson. Nov 26, Emma Ferris rated it it was ok. The supplemental war stories were okay, but mostly it seemed like the author thought he and his team were just better and more elite than everyone around them even when they were working under other special operations groups and that they were being constantly restricted by the military bureaucracy.

Either way, it made me really dislike the author, which made me question what he had to say. Apr 04, Roger Misso rated it it was amazing.

On a scale from 1 to 10, this book is an 11 with room to spare. Should be required reading for each prospective officer in any service--Pete Blaber worked both joint and combined operations--including any civilian with responsibilities relating to the US military. I could go on for a while about how great this book is, but I'll spare you. Pick this up, read it, and allow it to shape your On a scale from 1 to 10, this book is an 11 with room to spare.

Pick this up, read it, and allow it to shape your life and decisions. Best book I have read in a long, long time. May 14, maistrich rated it it was ok Recommends it for: military buffs.

Some of the war stories are interesting. The leadership lessons are weak and overly simplistic. Towards the end the book becomes very heavy on trying to prove the author did nothing wrong in the disaster in Afghanistan.

Interestingly for me, I had played through the Afghanistan storyline in a computer game, but did not realize it was so completely based on actual events.

Jun 01, Chad rated it it was amazing. I just finished this book for the second time. This book is so full of life lessons, leadership lessons, and entertaining stories that teach those lessons. It's a must read for anyone in a supervisory position. It's a must read for anyone with an interest in our Military. It's a must read. Jan 08, Eliot rated it really liked it.

Various military stories interspersed with useful life or business lessons. And as with all books on Afghanistan and Iraq, there is a lot of courage, honor and bravery mixed in with a lot of MASH , military red tape and incompetence.

What an awful book. The author is arrogant, braggadocios, and not nearly as heroic as he seems to think he is. Jun 21, Scott rated it it was ok. OK book. Applying some special forces axioms to general leadership and life. A good amount of retelling of military operations.

Some of the recounted conversations and situations strain credulity. May 25, Timeo Williams rated it really liked it Shelves: military.

This book by ret. Col Pete Blaber was among the many books recommended to me as a primer into military history and intelligence. Blaber was among the few who earned entry into "The Unit", the highest level of operations within the U. S Army. They are the Special Forces. Organized into small teams to accomplish very difficult missions, these soldiers are among the fittest and have to be capable of making excellent decisions in very difficult environments. What struck out to me was a pattern a This book by ret.

What struck out to me was a pattern all too common in excellent organizations: creativity flourishes when there is openness and information sharing throughout all branches of the organization.

Different ideas attacking each other and meshing allows for the creative process to thrive and the large diversity allows for the best one to win. The AFO, that is established later in the book, essentially encompasses that. What's realized is that the traditional hierarchies, i. Among the interesting stories in this book include the one of Ali Mohamed. I recommend readers to look into his story, when they get the chance.

It's hard to describe how valuable a top-notch sidekick is for a leader in a combat zone. Homer's advice and counsel were nested in just about everything I did. There was no way to turn the planning machine off, and there was no way to alter its course.

Even though we had updated information, the plan was the plan, and the staff had put so much work into putting it together that the mission itself no longer had anything to do with the reality on the ground; the mission was to execute the plan on time.

Probably the most enjoyable book I've read about the nebulous topic of "leadership. Two big takeaways. First, from the beginning of the book, Blaber talks about how he was being ordered into a battle that his team would be unlikely to succeed in. If he obeyed, the mission might be compromised and his men would likely be slaughtered.

If he rejected or ignored the orders, he might be sanctioned by the higher Probably the most enjoyable book I've read about the nebulous topic of "leadership. If he rejected or ignored the orders, he might be sanctioned by the higher-ups. But he followed the maxim of "the mission, the men, and men" to prioritize the mission and his men above himself. If I'm involved in leading a team, I'd like to steal that prioritization.

Second, the talk about planning for the war in Afghanistan after the September 11, attacks was really eye-opening. The discussion is to teach the lesson of "always listen to the man on the ground," but we also learn of some major mistakes in the war planning process.

For example, U. Meanwhile, a friend of Blaber put him in contact with one of the Afghans who regularly ate at a local Afghan restaurant near D. The man, who was a former Afghan military commander, informed Blaber that the "ring of fire" consisted of abandoned vehicles and broken equipment left by the Soviets after their invasion of Afghanistan in the 80s.

What a great read! I really enjoyed this one! Part military memoir and part leadership lesson manual, this is a great military read for readers who are sensitive to language, because he doesn't use a single F-word. I don't care overmuch about that myself, but it was notable to read an entire military book without encountering any heavy swearing.

I've come to expect that Delta operators, in particular, have a general disdain for the way the traditional military is run, and this book highlights th What a great read! I've come to expect that Delta operators, in particular, have a general disdain for the way the traditional military is run, and this book highlights the flaws in the organization as a whole while paying wonderful tribute to remarkable patriots, from all military branches, who accomplished tremendous things when their operational strings were snipped and they were allowed to innovate.

The accounts themselves were riveting. Because of his preference for inclusive leadership and his primary message of listening to the guys on the ground, Pete Blaber tells each battle story from multiple angles, primarily because he listened to all the angles while conducting each operation. Despite the fact that his tales do highlight some of the flaws in the overall system, this book is not written as a praise-all of Delta and a condemnation of traditional military structure.

It's surprisingly circumspect about the true skill of the Delta operators, focusing more on key leadership techniques and lessons demonstrated by a variety of officers in all the branches. These Delta books are quickly becoming my favorites; though I do enjoy the rah-rah bravado of the SEALs, there's something about these secretive and quietly almost shyly confident Delta authors that makes them a lot more relatable. Oct 10, Justin Rutledge rated it really liked it.

In an organizational context, it's almost always the result of a lack of shared reality. Most importantly, Blaber points out, is that sharing information and providing purpose instead of simply giving tasks without context is critical to mission success. Overall a good read, filled with entertaining stories about the real life experiences of Delta Force operators.

Mar 08, Michael Papier rated it it was amazing. A great first person account of a more current Delta Force operator, commander and the varied missions that they often tasked with. This book does cover some Operational issues and problems like being micromanaged from half a world away during an actual mission in a combat zone. The author gives you his personal background and shared maxims that he's learned, often the hard way, through the years.

These "pearl's of wisdom" can often be applied to, not only the Military and Military Leadership, b A great first person account of a more current Delta Force operator, commander and the varied missions that they often tasked with. These "pearl's of wisdom" can often be applied to, not only the Military and Military Leadership, but often to everyday life.

I would think anyone that is, or hopes to be, in any kind of position of leadership could reap benefits from his insights!!! Beckwith's book "Delta Force" and Eric L. Haney's book "Inside Delta Force" for a solid background on the formation, foundation and operational abilities of this extraordinary organization. Mar 01, Jens rated it it was amazing. I had high expectations for this one and it surpassed them all.

Fantastic book for all those who will work in a strict-hierarchical organisation asthe army! Starting with some storytelling about his youth, selection and operations, it offers a lot for those who are interested in the Special Forces branch. A few lessons are drawn here that will resurface later on, nothing big. Then it suprised me. In following chapters we get to see how he runs his units once he has the power to do so, and that's really the strength of this book.

He explains us how he did it and, more important, why he did it. He showcases his reflective, sharp mind, combined with his people-focused approach makes of him a true intellectual warrior, an example for every officer. Jun 01, Joe rated it really liked it Shelves: non-fiction , afghanistan. In my case, I found myself routinely constrained by Army orthodoxy, the way in which decisions and actions are taken within the Army. There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one ».

Readers also enjoyed. Self Help. About Pete Blaber. It is not necessarily more useful information. Consider a management dashboard that is monitored by the C-level executives in a company. This may provide more information, but without sufficient context and without deeper situational awareness, which must be gained by people in operational positions, that dashboard will encourage the executives to make more decisions and to be more committed to those decisions.

By simply having more information, they think they are more equipped to make decisions when in reality they should be speaking with the operational people who are actually qualified to make such decisions. Management does not know better, regardless of how many dashboards they have page In companies, why are salespeople not inside of the engineering teams that are building the products which they are selling?

Why is it necessary to rely on multiple levels of indirection product owners, product marketing, etc. To properly sell a product you must believe in it and you must know it through and through. Every level of abstraction between the engineering team and the sales person or account manager actually talking to the client means the salesperson understands the product less and has less of a say in what gets built.

As such, it is vital to study and interact with the operational environment. Anyone who uses the management-by-walking-around MBWA strategy can appreciate the value of developing the situation. MBWA — in which leaders get out into the trenches and engage with the workforce — was put in to practice by technology giant Hewlett Packard in the s and was made famous in the s by business guru and best-selling author Tom Peters.

The basic idea is that nothing is more instructive than seeing what actually transpires in the real world and learning from it. He goes so far as to say the "most effective weapon on any battlefield is our mind's ability to recognize life's underlying patterns. Then, time must be taken to incubate so that patterns can be recognized. While it contains some historical details, readers looking for information regarding the origin, training regimens, or specific tactics used by Delta may not be fully satisfied by this book.

It provides context as to the role Blaber played in Operation Anaconda. For a book on leadership, The Mission, The Men and Me is absorbing and well-written by someone who has led under difficult circumstances. Blaber layers the book with characters, humor, and leadership lessons that are reinforced with every good and bad command decision made.