For the last several years Adm. James Stavridis and his co-author, R. Manning Ancell, have surveyed over two hundred active and retired four-star military officers about their reading habits and favorite books, asking each for a list of titles that strongly influenced their leadership skills and provided them with special insights that helped propel them to success in spite of the many demanding challenges they faced. The Leader's Bookshelf synthesizes their responses to identify the top fifty books that can help virtually anyone become a better leader. Each of the works--novels, memoirs, biographies, autobiographies, management publications--are summarized and the key leadership lessons extracted and presented. Whether individuals work their way through the entire list and read each book cover to cover, or read the summaries provided to determine which appeal to them most, The Leader's Bookshelf will provide a roadmap to better leadership. Highlighting the value of reading in both a philosophical and a practical sense, The Leader's Bookshelf provides sound advice on how to build an extensive library, lists other books worth reading to improve leadership skills, and analyzes how leaders use what they read to achieve their goals. An efficient way to sample some of literature's greatest works and to determine which ones can help individuals climb the ladder of success, The Leader's Bookshelf is for anyone who wants to improve his or her ability to lead--whether in family life, professional endeavors, or within society and civic organizations.

Watch Officer's Guide, 16th Edition, is a handbook for all deck and combat information center watch officers of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard afloat, in the air, under the sea, and ashore. Originally written more than one hundred years ago, and last revised in 2007, the book provides officers with guidance on the watch in general, communications, shiphandling, standard commands, safety, honors and ceremonies, engineering, and rules of the road - essential elements for success in standing any watch. It offers, in a single volume, a great deal of important information for aspiring officers seeking qualification, ensuring that they have the requisite knowledge and appreciation of the importance of what they are doing. For the more experienced watch officer, this 16th edition continues a long-standing tradition by providing a compendium of information handy for review and for the actual standing of a watch. The lessons and themes are shaped and geared towards the afloat watchstander; though they also provide a foundation for success in other areas of both military and personal life.

Admiral James G. Stavridis, USN, reflects on his tenure as Commander of United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM). The first Admiral to command Southern Command, Admiral Stavridis broke with tradition from day one, discarding the customary military staff model and creating an innovative organization designed not solely to subdue adversaries, but, perhaps more importantly, to build durable and lasting partnerships with friends. As he has said often, "We are excellent at launching Tomahawk missiles; in this part of the world, we need to get better at launching ideas." From his unique perspective as commander, Stavridis uses his engagingly personal style to describe his vision for the command's role in the Americas, making the most of limited resources to create goodwill and mutual respect, while taking care of the serious business of countering illegal drug trafficking, overcoming a dangerous insurgency in Colombia, and responding to humanitarian crises. He also devotes chapters to USSOUTHCOM's role in nurturing institutional respect for human rights among the military and security forces of the region, in advancing health security, and in supporting a new regional strategy to counter the increasing challenge of urban and transnational gang violence. Citing the hemisphere's common geography, culture, economy, and history, Stavridis makes a passionate case for a common approach and strategy for defending our "shared home of the Americas" through an international, interagency, and private-public approach, all connected through coherent and effective strategic communication.