Take Command

July 14, 2014
At age 30, former Marine sniper Wood has become the cofounder and CEO of Team Rubicon, a disaster relief organization that now has 20,000 volunteers, both veterans and first responders, backed by two dozen staff members. By the end of 2013, they’d conducted more than 50 missions, both at home and abroad, responding to hurricanes, tornadoes, and refugee crises, among other situations. Wood found that the lessons of his deployments, and those learned from his team, are highly applicable to business. His road map is simple: prepare, analyze, decide, and act. The breakdown of each step is fully fleshed-out. Wood provides lessons in preparing the body, mind, and soul; establishing transparency; finding and prioritizing targets; making wise decisions; and taking action. All lessons are illustrated with high-testosterone stories from the front lines of war and disaster zones, and each chapter ends with top-level advice (“mission briefs”). User-friendly and energetic, this is a new twist on accepted leadership wisdom. Agent: Sydelle Kramer, Susan Rabiner Literary Agency.

September 1, 2014

Leadership is important in any profession. But in some arenas, strong guidance can make the difference between life and death. After playing football at the University of Wisconsin, Wood enlisted in the U.S. Marines where the stakes were considerably higher than on the gridiron. His tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as an elite marine sniper taught him a lot about what makes a sound leader. After leaving the military, Wood's knack for entrepreneurship gave rise to Team Rubicon, a nonprofit organization that deploys military veterans and first responders to areas struck by natural disasters. His team first tested its mettle in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti. Drawing from his experiences, Wood illustrates how business leaders can use basic principles of preparation, analysis, decision, and action effectively. VERDICT Wood's experiences in risky combat maneuvers and disaster relief are exciting and sometimes unnerving--and they shed light on exciting aspects of leadership that can be useful in any profession.--Carol Elsen, Univ. of Wisconsin, Whitewater Libs.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2014
Leaders can be found everywhere, as can leadership advicein print, online, and through seminars and workshops. What differentiates author Wood (CEO of Team Rubicon, a disaster-relief organization of military veterans who act as first responders) is his simple, four-step approach: prepare, analyze, decide, and act. No, it's not new or innovative or earth-moving; on the other hand, his eight lessons (roughly connected with his four directions) are filled with stories from the front, whether related to his Marine Iraqi deployment or to his team's tenure after the Haiti earthquake. His advice is truly streamlined, from building a high-impact team based on roles and trust to continuously improving his team, covering not only the leader's span of control (for instance, number of people managed) but also the surrounding communications system. Every chapter includes a summary, called mission brief, which captures the basics.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)