Quote Originally Posted by JMA View Post
So this brings us full circle back to leadership.

Got a delightful book the other day (available through the US Marine Corps Association) called 'Battle Leadership' by Captain Adolf Von Schell. A German officer who served during WW1 and then attended US Staff College in 1930-31 the nine short chapters are based on lectures he gave to the US military over that period (so appears not to be a translation).

He says this on leadership:

To be an officer means to be a leader - to be a leader of troops in battle. It is certainly correct that leaders, like great artists, are born and not made; but even the born artist requires years of hard study and practice before he masters his art. So it is with the military leader; if he is to learn the art of war, he must practice with the tools of that art. (page 93)
Came across this USMC Discussion Guide on von Schell's book. Good to see some Marines are wide awake to the value of von Shell's small book.

The book is available from Amazon I note:

Battle Leadership by Adolf Von Schell