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Marine Maxims : Turning Leadership Principles into Practice - Thomas J. Gordon

Marine Maxims

Turning Leadership Principles into Practice

By: Thomas J. Gordon

Paperback | 25 February 2025

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Marine Maxims is a collection of fifty principle-based leadership lessons that Thomas J. Gordon acquired commanding Marines over a career spanning three decades of service. Dealing with the complexities and challenges of the contemporary operating environment requires an internal moral compass fixed true. These maxims focus on developing inner citadels of character, moral courage, and the resilience to persevere in a contested domain where information is key. Its purpose is to provide future leaders with a professional development plan that will steel their resolve and enable them to lead with honor. Thematically, these maxims build upon a foundation of character, courage, and will. To be effective, a leader must model and inspire the will to persevere in the face of danger or adversity. The essence of effective leadership is credibility. A leader's credibility is derived from a congruence of competence and character. Exceptional leaders are not remembered for what they accomplished, but how they did it. Those that lead with integrity will be remembered as a leader worth following.

Industry Reviews

Marine Maxims serves aspiring leaders as a portable textbook, a desk side primer, or a reference.” —DODReads

Marine Maxims ... provides readers with a thought-provoking narrative to self-analyse and select items from in order to enable/enact professional development.” —Australian Naval Institute

Marine Maxims is an exceptional guidebook for Marine leaders at any level and, with little modification, to military leaders in any branch of service. Today’s service members stand to learn much from his hard-earned wisdom.” —Proceedings

"If you are looking for excellent synopses of aspects of leadership, chapters with useful bullet points and references for future explorations of each section’s ideas, this book is a must-have. Gordon has done an outstanding job of presenting ideas clearly and summarizing key points in ways that can be used for personal benefit as well as in guiding others in journeys to become better leaders.” —The Strategy Bridge

“Retired U.S. Marine Corps Col. Thomas Gordon provides a readily accessible and thoughtful handbook for leaders at all levels based on fifty leadership principles, often hard-won, he has learned over thirty years—first as a cadet at the Citadel and then throughout his career as a Marine armor officer and senior leader.” —Modern War Institute

Marine Maxims by Col. Thomas Gordon (Ret.) is a must read.... This book is the 'green book' of all the invaluable advice mentors bestow and a Marine leader’s life lessons learned over a career packaged in an approachable way... The tools and advice Col. Gordon conveys in this book transcend individual leadership styles or types of command.” —Marine Corps Gazette

"Marine Maxims is filled with incredibly useful leadership lessons that could enlighten military leaders at all levels. Col. Gordon not only presents valuable lessons in leadership but does so in a format that will continue to drive self-development. Col. Gordon must be commended for his dedication to leadership and education. The lessons contained within this book and his approach to improving his skills and abilities undoubtedly improved the U.S. Marine Corps. As his book continues to spread within the military community, there’s little doubt that this warrior-scholar will continue to help support and improve the leadership of the US Military well into the future.” —Small Wars Journal

“From his first days as a Citadel cadet and during his thirty years of active Marine service, Colonel Gordon studied great leaders and great leadership in order to record best principals, best practices, and best publications. But Colonel Gordon is not just a scholar of leadership but an outstanding practitioner as well. He has used those observations he recorded to great effect as he led Marines in war and peace; during training and operations; and with high achievers and leadership challenges alike at all levels of the Corps. Now he has distilled thirty plus years of study into 50 lessons of leadership applicable to all leaders, military and civilian, who desire to maximize their skills at 'getting things done though people'. A true textbook for all leaders or those who hope to be.” —Lt. Gen. Richard P. Mills, USMC (Ret), president and chief executive officer Marine Corps University Foundation, former Commander, Marine Forces Reserve

“After over 30 years in uniform, I hadn't expected to learn something new about leadership from a book – but Tom Gordon proved me wrong. His engaging style brings to life a well-covered topic with insights that are extraordinarily perceptive and informative. If you are going to read one book on the topic of leadershi

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