Bronze sets for the military leadership

RADM Dave Oliver, USN (ret.): A Navy Admiral's Bronze Rules: Managing Risk and Leadership, USNI, 252 pp.

While there is still hardly any literature in German-speaking countries on the leadership experiences and recommendations of generals and admirals that would be suitable for future generations of officers, the U S Naval Institute (USNI) in Annapolis has been committed for years to preserving such leadership experiences for posterity and thus also for future military leaders.

The author gained his experience as commander of a nuclear-powered submarine, as chief of staff of the Seventh U.S. Fleet and in procurement at the Pentagon, among other things, which was further developed in the Pentagon in the Clinton and Bush senior administrations after his active time. In 35 small case studies, he attempts to describe his experiences in the context of leadership responsibility and to reduce them to an essential core statement. He has then summarised these in a final chapter in "bronze sentences". Here, many experiences from his co-operation with administration, business and science can be found, which had a considerable impact on his dealings with them, but also between them.

The author's descriptions clearly illustrate the different demands placed on a leader in his various roles, in which not only the well-being of his subordinates but also political decisions are often dependent on his decisive behaviour. It is not the rather mechanical principles of management that count, but the conviction of his subordinates, empathy and the will to succeed even in unclear decision-making situations.

In his examples, he also allows the times of the Cold War and the handling of the challenges of Soviet naval armaments to appear before the reader's mind's eye, which - in view of today's developments in Russia and China, especially in the maritime sector - can also serve as lessons learnt for the future. For this very reason, it can also be recommended for reading outside the U.S. Navy and the United States, especially since there are hardly any similar further-reaching descriptions outside the USA.

Text: Heinz Dieter Jopp, Barmstedt, November 2021