Stand Your Ground: Building Honorable Leaders the West Point Way

I first approached this book with a bit of skepticism, as I thought its focus would be upon the "grandiose" merits of the West Point experience (which I shared elbow-to-elbow with the author, my classmate). I was greatly relieved to discover that this work is actually a testimonial to the necessity to BE a good person and leader, so important (and foreign) in a day and age where corrupt individuals realize incredible personal gains while simply paying lip service to such lofty ideals as honor. This book explains both the origin of corporate corruption and the way a leader SHOULD behave to ensure that this phenomenon does not continue to grow in scope.I was happy to see that Dr. Evan Offstein was able to distance himself from our shared Cadet experiences and approach the book in an organized, thoughtful, and systematic fashion. He explains that good leadership begins with an honorable character and THEN extends into the leader's expertise and skill sets. I always struggled to quantify the almost intangible quality which caused me and my West Point classmates to react in horrified disbelief when we encountered corrupt individuals with an almost limitless propensity to harm and defraud employees and stakeholders. Evan has finally defined this lineament: honor, and the overwhelming need for an individual to BE a good person, rather than simply KNOW the "acceptable" or "expert" manner in which to proceed and to "DO" only what needs to be done to temporarily satisfy personal and shareholder demands.The book is straightforward, easy to read, and informative without possessing an air of pretense or superior knowledge. I am firmly convinced that if leaders the world over would read this tome and apply its principles, corporate scandal would disappear, replaced by increased levels of profit, worker motivation, and customer/shareholder satisfaction. PLEASE READ THIS BOOK!!!!!

Quite simply, Evan Offstein just nails his thesis: truly successful individuals, leaders, and their organizations are based on a deep reservoir of moral/ethical grounding that help them to make the right decisions every single day. His numerous, down-to-earth examples hammer it home from multiple angles, and you can't help but be convinced that he's on to something here. Dr. Offstein has a gift for writing prose that is personable and easy to read. It's as if he's talking straight to you through the pages of his book much the same way he might deliver a lecture at his university.Perhaps my favorite lesson from his book is the chapter on lifelong preparations for a MOMENT (heck, multiple MOMENTS). It reminds me of what one Army General said one time: "Your integrity will be challenged in small ways every day." it has proven absolutely true over the years, and the daily struggle continues to make sure we do the right thing by our coworkers, our kids, our wives, our friends, etc. Those who can make the RIGHT ethical choices on a day-to-day basis will be slowly building the bedrock of their organizations to guard against the Enrons, Tycos, NCAA scandals, etc. of the world.Most of the so-called "leadership" or "management" books you'll find wasting shelf-space at Barnes & Nobles or Book-a-Million wish they could lash onto some of the truths that Dr. Offstein lays out in his concise book. Highly recommended!

The book has excellent information written in a common-sense format that anyone can understand. I am considering making this book required reading in my professional development class.

The layout of the book made Stand Your Ground a very enjoyable read. In the book, the author does a great job at explaining real world scenarios and past experiences to prove their point which helped visualize the the cause and affects of honorable/non honorable leadership. I also enjoyed the side quotes on almost every page of main points to take from the sections within chapters.

I read this book for an MBA class I'm taking and I was pleasantly surprised! Usually when students have to read textbooks for a class, they are boring and rarely keep your attention. This was not the case with Stand Your Ground: Building Honorable Leaders the West Point Way. My fiance used to be in the army, so I've heard a lot about the honor that is instilled in its members. However, I never fully understood that honor until I read this book. Much of the information is common sense, but you would be surprised how many people are not honorble. Dr. Offstein breaks honor down in such a way that you fully understand it and want to apply it in your own life. I would recommend this book to people who are interested in becoming a productive, successful, and most importantly, honorable leader.

Wow. What crap. To sum, West Point is perfect. No one lies, cheats or steals because an honor code you have to sign. Yup, just like everyone else. West Point makes perfect leaders because West Point people are moral. Ignore all the graduates that have not been, they are not products of the system. Not rationalizing or anything, but they are like that because "society" and "lawyers" make them that way. The West Point system is basically do the right thing, stupid, and don't analyze it from anyones perspective but your own, because if you do, you are rationalizing. So just do the right thing. What ever that is. Because there really are no real dilemmas, its all in your head. No excuses. Got it? good. Go West Point.

Received book exactly as described. Undamaged, not written or highlighted.

This book is very informative and makes you think about ethical decisions and remaining honorable. The author was very thorough and the book was well written. Definitely a five star book and a five star author!