Quote Originally Posted by Cavguy View Post
I am particularly interested in additional suggestions for team/organizational leadership and management, military or civilian.
The Great Decision: Jefferson, Adams, Marshall, and the Battle for the Supreme Court. This is a pretty quick read. The takeaway for a junior officer would be to observe how Chief Justice Marshall walked the fine line between a confrontation with President Jefferson that could undermine the Court's power and issuing a ruling that could appear to bow to the President's power and thus undermine the rule of law by making it malleable to the prevaling political winds. He took a very awkward and controversial case (Marbury v. Madison) at a time when the Court was politically very weak and most people could not even agree on the role of the Court. Despite the position of weakness, he delivered a decision that was revolutionary at the time, but that we now take as an obvious given: the Court's power of judicial review. In doing so, he avoided a significant confrontation with the President and also expanded the power of the judicial branch.

It is a good lesson in how someone in a position of weakness can prevail and influence significant change if he focuses upon creatively using the tools available rather than just griping about not having enough money or firepower or whining about overly restrictive ROE.