Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead

“A portrait of [Jim] Mattis’s life-defining love for the Marine Corps . . . His prose sings. . . . He clearly expresses a commander’s intent in any situation and gives latitude to adapt to circumstances. . . . Each mission gives him another body of knowledge, another strength, greater capacity to live his devotion to his country.” —David Brooks, The New York Times “An instructive and entertaining leadership manual for executives, managers, and military officers . . . Mattis is a gifted storyteller.” —Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic “Combining simplicity and thoughtfulness, Jim Mattis has produced a classic account of a lifetime of service. Call Sign Chaos is a lesson in leadership and an evocation of humanity in the cause of peace.” —Henry Kissinger “In this magnificent memoir, Jim Mattis details many important events in his career, but he also does much more: He explains how he is informed by his experiences in a way that teaches you how to learn from your own. Read, enjoy, and learn.” —George Shultz “A recurring theme in Call Sign Chaos is the need to understand the world beyond one’s immediate discipline. . . . The result is an engaging, insightful study of leadership.” —The Wall Street Journal “His book is a compendium of circumstances often beyond his control. What makes it a compelling read is how this warriormonk dealt with and learned from the jams he found himself in.” —NPR “The book’s main concerns . . . are the practical and ethical challenges of military leadership. Mattis draws on his deep professionalism and knowledge of military history in describing the stress of battle and the tough decision to send soldiers into the field to kill and be killed.” —Foreign Affairs “In Call Sign Chaos, James Mattis shares a lifetime of learning from wars that failed to offer a better tomorrow. We need to take his lessons and do better in the future.” —New Statesman “A leadership book that should be deeply studied and absorbed . . . Since he focuses on the three levels of leadership: direct, executive, and strategic . . . the book has a place in service academies and ROTC programs, as well as basic, advanced, intermediate level and senior service college professional military education institutions.” —Small Wars Journal “The book will cement Mattis’s own place in the pantheon of military reading lists. . . . A nuanced discussion of leadership and democracy.” —Proceedings: U.S. Naval Institute “By presenting his own hard-earned insights on effective leadership qualities, Mattis encourages fellow Americans themselves to think more explicitly about leadership benchmarks applicable to civilians and the military alike.” —Washington Independent Review of Books