"Might of the Chain" - an engaging book about leadership

Quality leadership is indispensable in America, the secret of its greatness. Yet today trust in leaders across both public and private sectors has sunk to all-time lows. Written by the accomplished U.S. Navy admiral Mike Studeman, this unique treasury of leadership lessons offers ways to help right America’s listing ship and put it back on an even keel. Broken into crisp, colorful stories spotlighting dozens of leadership traits, this book is essential reading for any organization eager to achieve both high morale and high performance. It contains the formula for inspiring trust and creating genuine team success. It is also an exceptional guide for any individual trying to elevate their life and do their part to lift up the world around them. Buy the book on Amazon

Mike Studeman gave a special interview for Be Global Fashion Network to reveal more about his book.

Tell me a little about yourself and what provoked you to write this book:  

I wrote this book after 35 years in Naval Intelligence having worked all around the world gathering direct experience in leading through a number of major geopoltical challenges, crises, and wars.  I was saddened to witness that despite high-quality leadership inside the military, most of America was facing a crisis of leadership that was dispiriting the nation. Poor leadership in all sectors of our society from politics to business to media were dividing the United States and dragging down our potential progress as a country.  I concluded that Americans shouldn't suffer from poor leadership--their own or anybody else's--and vowed to contribute advice and lessons on how to exercise honorable, enlightened, effective, and inspiring leadership. I thought I might help get the country back on track and inspire a generation of younger people to follow a more healthy and noble path on their individual leadership journeys.

What are the main qualities of leaders, according to you?  

I write about almost four dozen leadership traits broken into three sections: the first on forging your self, the second on shaping your team, and the third on lifting great weights (or producing results and outcomes).  My book includes very short chapters with a quick and colorful story that highlights key takeaways on each leadership trait.  In my view, the most essential leadership qualities of truly effective people include character, authenticity, self-discipline, vigor, civility, enthusiasm, and teaming.  Character is the most important.  If you have good character, nothing else matters.  If you don't have good character, nothing else matters.

Why leadership really matters?  

Quality leadership inspires others to accomplish great things and does so in way the builds trust and draws out the collective talent within any organization.  Leadership matters because people matter.  Leadership motivates and produces extraordinary results.  Leadership maximizes performance while sustaining high morale.  So many of today's challenges within our family, our circle of friends, our professional organizations, and in our societies can only be successfully met by great leaders able to unite people for common cause.  In a world in disarray, with uncertainty and danger around every corner, leadership has never been more important.  

Give some examples of successful leadership decisions.  

Leadership doesn't just show up to make a good decision at the right time, leadership is about setting a climate in organizations so that people to feel safe, secure, and excited about contributing to something larger than themselves, to make a difference in the world, to leave it a better place somehow, some way.  The most successful leadership "decisions" are deciding to get to know your people, truly listening to them, exhibiting a high care factor not just for the bottom line or the "mission," but for those who actually create the successes on any team.  A successful decison as a leader is also about how one chooses to model honorable behavior and set the example.  A successful decision as a leader is about periodically walking around the workspaces and checking in on people.  A successful leadership decision is deciding to communicate clearly, transparently, and honestly.  A successful decision is soliciting inputs from others on major decisions so people feel enfranchised to contribute, which builds further trust, loyality, and team integrity.      

What important lessons can fashion entrepreneurs learn from the book.  

Leadership is not just a special preserve for poltiicians, military leaders, or business executives.  Leadership is exercised at every level up and down all organizations, in any type or any size grouping.  If there is more than one person in a room, then someone's leading.  The book is a guide for people to be more successful no matter their profession, because ultimately leadership is about learning to effectively deal with countless types of difficulties in life. Fashion entrprenuers face time pressures, are asked to routinely meet or exceed quality expectations, must organize a high variety of talented people in their field to creatively produce styles that will sell, and must run their outfits efficiently and effectively to best exploit the resources at their disposal. Their challenges are fundamentally no different from other professions, therefore, every lesson that I offer in my book should prove applicable and of deep value.  The best leaders inspire greatness regardless of occupation, station, or seniority. 

Thank you! I read the book and recommend it to anyone interested in leadership.

"Might of the Chain" is an exceptional exploration of leadership and effectiveness. The book stands out for its ability to resonate on multiple levels. It not only provides a deep dive into the traits and qualities that define effective leaders but also offers practical lessons that readers can apply to their own lives and careers. The author's engaging writing style makes the book easy to read and hard to put down. Highly recommended for anyone looking to enhance their leadership skills, this book is not just about individual growth but also about the collective ability of a nation to navigate complex threat environments and thrive.

Silvia Kabaivanova, Editor-in-chief of Be Global Fashion Network