VICTORY Principles: Leadership Lessons from D-Day by Colonel Leonard Kloeber, Jr.

As the author of Victory Principles, I am often asked if I can briefly summarize the concepts of the seven principles that are the subject of my book so that they can be more easily shared with friends and colleagues.  So to answer all those readers who have requested this, I have attached a link in the bonus section for you.  It is a copy of a two-page, magazine-style article that you can download in pdf format for your own use or to share with others.  Even less work for you is to simply click on the “share button” for this post and send a link for the website directly to them.  Then they can see this post for themselves (as well as other interesting posts and materials related to the Victory Principles) and they can download their own copy.

Click here for a copy of the article:  Seven Key Leadership Lessons for Success.

To all those who have purchased a copy of my book this year, I want to extend my personal thanks to you for your support, and I wish everyone who reads this post best wishes for the coming year.  Make 2010 your best year ever.

Leonard Kloeber, Jr - Author

VICTORY Principles at-a-glance is a one page overview of the leadership lessons illustrated by the historic events of D-Day that I have written about in my recently published book. As the author, I wanted to provide readers with an easy-to-use reference that would summarize the core principles succinctly so they could keep it as a handy reference. Although my book is based on a World War II narrative, theme of the book is about leadership. My own experience tells me that leadership is an art and not a science. This means that there is no recipe that one can follow that will guarantee that one would become a successful, much less a great leader. However, like all other artists, leaders must work at their craft to perfect their own special style and approach given their own circumstances. Many of the now famous senior leaders during World War II had perfected their leadership skills over the two prior decades between the World Wars. Many of them often toiled in anonymity in jobs that were not very exciting, but which offered them the opportunity to practice their craft as leaders.  It was because of their experience that they were ready to assume the positions of much greater responsibility when the time came.  So if you aspire to be a successful leader, take advantage of any opportunity you have in front of you to start learning your craft.

Despite the wide range of styles and approaches of successful leaders, I truely believe that there are certain bedrock leadership principles that all leaders incorporate into their approach. Leaders who don’t follow these principles will likely never succeed to their full capability, even if they achieve some level of success.  After spending a significant part of my own career in leadership positions and observing other leaders around me, I have identified these seven principles that I believe all leaders rely upon. You can find these VICTORY Principles at-a-glance in a PDF document that you can download by searching the tool bar to the right under bonus documents or you can click on this link:

VICTORY Principles at-a-glance

VICTORY PRINCIPLES is written in the three part format of a Staff Ride, the same technique used to train army officers.  A staff ride focuses the study of history on leadership “lessons learned” that can be applied in the future.  Part one of this book is the fascinating story of D-Day itself.  Part two describes seven timeless leadership lessons, the VICTORY PRINCIPLES.   Part three is a guide to the battlefield sites on the northern coast of France and what you would find there today.

Staff Rides were originated in the 19th century by the German army to train their general staff officers.  General staff officers studied and visited the European battlefields from the Napoleonic Wars to deduce lessons learned for the future.  The Staff Ride methodology was later adopted by the US Army prior to World War I when officers attending advance military schooling studied Civil War battles and subsequently made on-site visits.  Their visits helped to visualize and understand the lessons learned by walking the actual terrain of the battlefield.  Today, Staff Rides are still a popular teaching technique used at the US Army Command and Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth, KS. and by other military agencies. 

VICTORY Principles is the title of a new book that will be published later this year about the D-Day invasion in Normandy, France on June 6, 1944.  This book focuses on the leadership lessons learned through the examination of this historical event,one of the most important events of World War II.  This year will mark the 65th anniversary of D-Day.  Check back here to learn more about the VICTORY Principles and D-Day.