About my book?

This book is my attempt to catalog all the lessons, both good and bad, I’ve learned about leadership, and building healthy, functional organizations.
I worked for 43 years and more in shipyards, driving trucks, sailing on tugboats and research vessels, and on islands all over the world. I’ve worked with the worst possible managers, and with the most inspiring leaders who made even difficult things a joy to accomplish.
Along the way I met the finest of people, doing amazing work, often in unimaginably challenging conditions, and all too often hampered by those in charge who ought to have been making their subordinates work easier rather than more difficult.
Note: The book release date is August 1st, 240 pages, and the price is $22.00, ISBN # 978-0-578-31328-3
I began writing
I began writing what would become this book on a tiny island 6-miles off the coast of Maine. I was struggling to cope with the worst corporate culture I had ever been subjected to, before or since. I knew if I didn’t find some sort of healthy outlet for what was happening, I would risk committing a ghastly felony if provoked at the wrong moment. The healthy outlet I was seeking turned into this book.
That difficult beginning was the start of an inner journey I could hardly have foreseen. Writing this book not only made me a better leader, it made me a far better person than I would ever have become without the intense self-examination one ought to undertake when seeking to guide others.
I’ve seen every leadership style imaginable, from the angry autocrat bully, to the kindest persona of the truly gentle person, and everything in between. I’ve worked for non-profit as well as for-profit companies. I’ve worked for liberals, conservatives, libertarians, wealthy and broke bosses, and none of these classifications made the slightest difference in whether they were morally courageous and respectful, or the very opposite. Its been a wild ride to say the least.
Perhaps the most important lessons I learned is the fact that “it’s always you fault so take responsibility” and that “morale, subordinate’s job satisfaction, every success and every failure come directly from those in charge.” If your crew is unhappy, it’s your fault. If they fail, it’s your fault. This is so because you are the one in the position to fix problems that are causing low morale, and creating failure, as example after example in the book illustrates.
This book is a distillation of all the experiences and insights I developed on my rocky, but often hilarious, journey through life that hopefully others can use to avoid all the nonsense I’ve been subjected to, not to mention my own brand of nonsense that I inadvertently subjected so many others to. I hope the rules and observations contained in this book can help ease the burden of those aspiring to become healthy, effective leaders.