In "Take Command", business veteran Tom Wheeler organizes basic leadership strategies used in the Civil War into nine specific lessons and illustrates them with in-depth stories of battlefield decisions and their results. Through Union General George McClellan's devastating encounters with Confederate General Robert E. Lee, for instance, readers learn the story of a leader whose fear of failure led to his downfall. Had McClellan been courageous enough to employ his advantage in troop size and position, he could have handily defeated Lee. Lee, on the other hand, was willing to risk all to achieve victory.

Among his many intriguing lessons, Wheeler reveals:
-- Never fight today's battles with yesterday's tactics.
-- The greatest campaigns are often decided by the smallest skirmishes.
-- If you can't win, change the rules.

He also recounts his own experiences in the telecommunications industry, using moguls Craig McCaw and Ted Turner as modern-day examples of strategic leadership.

Based on the life or death triumphs and failures of America's greatest military campaigns, "Take Command" is an inspiring -- and compulsively readable -- guide to business leadership and decision making.