Commanding Excellence

Inspiring Purpose, Passion, and Ingenuity Through Leadership That Matters

By: Gary Morton

Narrated by: Gary Morton

Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Amazon Best Seller in Teams

Truly engaging people is not about commanding them to do something; it is about getting them to command themselves to do it. West Point distinguished graduate Gary Morton knows how to deliver exceptional results while doing just that. As a platoon leader and tank commander in Army Task Force 4-68 and later as a young vice president at medical device manufacturer Stryker, Morton learned under two legendary leaders who, despite different styles, followed nearly the same steps to achieve results most considered unattainable.

In only a year, Task Force 4-68's commander, Lt. Colonel Alfred L. Dibella, turned one of the army's poorest performing units into the most lethal, combat-ready task force in the US Army. In simulated-combat missions at the grueling National Training Center, Dibella's task force defeated the constantly triumphant OPFOR in every battle. This feat has never been repeated. Generals and commanders at every level sought to understand how this unit did the impossible.

When John W. Brown became CEO of Stryker, it was a boutique medical device firm with a few innovative products and $17 million in sales. Under Brown's extraordinary leadership it evolved into a $4 billion market leader feared by competitors and highly regarded by health care professionals. Stryker accomplished this remarkable run by securing 20 percent earnings growth every quarter, every year - for 28 years. Again, this is a feat experts believed unachievable.

By explaining the ingredients of these two leaders' secret sauce, Morton lays the foundation for current and future leaders to ensure their own teams' excellence.

©2017 Gary Morton (P)2017 Gary Morton

Great book by an amazing leader

I was extremely fortunate to spend many of my early professional years enjoying the 20% focus. Leadership certainly started at the top but incredible leaders existed in all levels of the organization, all of which helped shape my own career. Great to hear that time in my life through the words of a great leader like Gary.

Well worth the read for any leader or potential leader

A very well written account of the amazing success stories of two exceptional leaders. The stories are quite different from one another at the surface, but Gary does a masterful job of tying the similarities of each and showing how they led to equally great outcomes. The lessons learned from these two experiences can certainly inspire any business leader to push further than they, or others, ever thought possible. As a business owner myself, I am thankful for the chance to learn and be inspired from these stories, and I look forward to implementing the lessons in the future of my company.

15 minutes book turned into several hours

The book has 3 key messages, which I thought was insightful. These principles could be used in any work environment to align the teams and setting BHAGs for the company.

However, The entire book and it’s message can be summarized in 15 minutes. Instead the book kept going on topics and stories that added little to no value in conveying the real message. Often it felt like the military stories and drill exercises stories are just serving as an excuse to turn a 50 pages book into 300 pages.