Arthur H. Miller's Leadership, though published in 1920, bears the earmarks of any truly leader-oriented manual,and it is as relevant now as it was nearly one hundred years ago. In Miller's preface, he states that "in any group of men there are leaders and followers" (ix). Miller purports that he can efficiently and effectively convey great leadership methods without much babble into the psychological reasons. He gets down to business. Good leadership is following through with what has been well-planned. Taking on the broad scope of leadership seems undaunting to Miller as he immediately begins to define leadership through several common place analogies that set the tone of the book on a broad plane comfort that invites anyone to read without being daunted themselves.
Calling morale the "scientific handling of men," Miller instills the idea early that leadership is about building and maintaining morale among his troops (4). Miller, it should be clarified now, was a major of the Coast Artillery Corps, U.S. Army. From the onset, this major connects the qualities of leadership from the military directly to the effective management of any body of men. Especially in the beginning chapters, Miller makes clear the idea that any man, military or not, can attain the qualities of leadership. Sixteen, he outlines, and one by one, he explains the importance and impact of each, using anecdotes and references to national and international war strategies. It's quite enjoyable to read. The mark of an effectively written leadership book lies in the author's ability maintain the readers' interest in the reading, and Miller does a fine job. He relies not only on his own ideas, but he also uses many valuable quotations and passages. Reading about these qualities makes leaders see their own assiduity outside of their worlds in to every man's reality after the loss of a job.
Miller relies not on his understanding of leadership and its qualities; rather, he uses many excerpts of ideals, instances, and examples of the effective leadership of others. His grasp of the knowledge of these excellent leadership qualities is evidenced by the vast amounts of samples of good leadership ideas of so many others in various capacities of military leaders from around the world in different countries and centuries. Such breadth works to emphasize his presupposition that leadership is an important human characteristic and should be shared with anyone who should listen and act upon these ideals. Miller's ability to use so many ideas exhibits his authority on the subject. It's both encouraging and inspiring to read his words and to feel the motivation to be an effective leader, too.
Authenticity of good writing on leadership requires certain truths to admitted. By page 48, Miller hits a major point: "The really big man is never afraid to admit a mistake" (48). This kind of real talk maintains Miller's stance as an authority and is welcome reality for those of us who feel inept when we make mistakes. It is indeed human to err, and it's the mark of an excellent leader to be willing to admit it. Furthermore, seeing that Miller is well-read--as he is able to quote not only great military men but also Shakespeare and Emerson--shows beyond a doubt that a good leader has a well-balanced breadth of knowledge. In addition to his depth of literary smarts, Miller uses great care to use proper grammar and usage. However, it's not so much the correctness of language as it is his ability to write simply and economically, wasting no words on superfluous or pompous exaggerations. Miller gets to the point and stays on point throughtout the text. Leadership is easy to get in to and even harder to put down. Such insight!
Although written originally in 1920, so much of what Miller has to say is timeless and completely relevant today. Leadership is a relatively short book, unabridged, compared to so many of today's tomes of leadership strategies and formulas. Analogies, anecdotes, and vignettes make up most of the chapter, as Miller successfully relies on the similar words and ideas to continually re-establish his own authority.
All in all, Miller clearly knows his topic and how to write about this topic. His breadth of knowledge and access to so many entertaining stories; it is no wonder how this 91-year-old management book was still listed on a Google search site. What a great testimony to Mr. Miller: to have his book accessible to the public for nearly 100 years. It's so very encouraging and awe-inspiring that being a leader seems a most noble endeavor--Miller's Leadership is an excellent read.
