A business veteran, Tom Wheeler organizes the command strategies of the Civil War into nine specific lessons and illustrates each of them with in-depth descriptions of actual battles. The story of General George McClellan's three devastating encounters with General Robert E. Lee, for example, highlights two very different leadership styles. Had McClellan been courageous enough to employ his advantage in troop size and position, Wheeler argues, he could have handily defeated his opponent. Ready to risk all, Lee achieved stunning victories in every engagement. The results of other battles provide corporate leaders with such pragmatic insights as:
-- 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 results

In the tradition of books like Jesus CEO; Leadership Lessons of Attila the Hun; and Cigars, Whiskey, and Winning: Leadership Lessons of Ulysses S. Grant, "Leadership Lessons from the Civil War" turns to great men in history to reveal the qualities that distinguish successful leaders in any field.