Description:

From Publishers Weekly

"Semper Fidelis," the motto of the U.S. Marine Corps, means "Always Faithful." The title thus emphasizes the authors' allegiance to leadership principles and management practices that they consider fundamental in the Corps. Carrison and Walsh, former Marine officers now working in business and coauthoring the syndicated "Rosie's Bar & Grill" column, have assembled a set of directives that show civilian managers and organizations how they can benefit from emulating Corps policies. Chapters address recruitment, training, supervision of the rank and file, middle and senior managements and overall winning strategies, with cardinal points explained in short sections. What the authors consider analogous situations in the Corps and in the business world are compared, such as their hierarchical natures and siege mentalities, and recommendations ("Instill Courage," "Study the Past," "Keep Goals Realistic," "Command from a Forward Position") are summarized in broadly applicable checklists. With clarity and conviction, the authors constantly reinforce basic viewpoints, in a style that will appeal more to readers with military mindsets than what-me-worriers. Most likely to promote understanding and respect among the public are the portrayals of experiences and perspectives of individual members of the Corps, which give spark to what is in the main a generic performance.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Carrison and Walsh, syndicated columnists and former Marines, contend that business organizations can learn a lot from the way the Marines select, train, and develop personnel. In the Marine corps, espirit de corps and morale are virtually synonymous?and a source of envy not only for other service branches but for high-octane businesses as well. While Sun Tzu's The Art of War may be the treatise for strategy, Carrison and Walsh focus on the human equation. One working premise of the Marine corps is that leadership can be developed, and this book's strength is in application: each illustration of a Marine corp practice is followed by a transfer application to a business situation. Semper Fi is paralleled in the academic press by Jeffrey Pfeiffer's The Human Equation: Building Profits by Putting People First (LJ 12/97.) Recommended for general collections.?Steven Silkunas, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, Philadelphia
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.