Michael D. Matthews

Robert L. Caslen Jr.

Leading and Winning with Integrity

The Character Edge

How Psychology Is Revolutionizing War

Head Strong

Patrick J. Sweeney

Paul B. Lester

Published in cooperation with the Association of the United States Army, this handbook combines theory and research with practical experience to help the prepare young soldiers for the challenges of serving and functioning in dangerous settings.

A Handbook for the Armed Forces, Emergency Services, and First Responders

Leadership in Dangerous Situations

Robert L. Caslen, Jr.

The former superintendent at West Point and a psychologist explain why all successful leaders rely on a foundation of strong character. Among the most successful leaders throughout history—from Abe Lincoln to Rosa Parks, Mahatma Gandhi to Susan B. Anthony, Martin Luther King, Jr. to Nelson Mandela—some were brilliant mathematicians and economists, others were creative visionaries, still others were masterful at strategic planning. Their mastery of their field wasn’t the secret to their highly effective leadership. All of their skill, grit, resilience, charisma, and courage emanated from one thing: their strength of character. Character—the moral values and habits of an individual—is in the spotlight now more than perhaps at any other point in modern history. Politicians distort facts. Corporations cheat customers and investors. Athletes are caught using illegal supplements. In addition to harming our culture at large, these failures of character have a profound and undermining impact on leadership. The authors of this book are experts on the value of character, its correlation with successful leadership, and how to build it in individuals and prospective leaders. General Robert L. Caslen, Jr. served the US Army for over 43 years and served as Superintendent at the US Military Academy at West Point. Psychologist Dr. Michael D. Matthews is a Professor of Engineering Psychology at West Point who has focused on the psychology of character for years. Together they witnessed firsthand that raw talent is not enough to stand on its own; successful leadership relies on the critical foundation of a strong character. In The Character Edge they leverage their perspectives to offer an empowering, story-driven argument—backed by the latest scientific research—that character is vital to success. They give readers the tools to build and sustain character in themselves and their organizations by testing readers' strengths of the gut, head and heart and teaching how to build trust and nurture the seeds of character.

Michael Matthews

Robert Caslen

The Character Edge is a groundbreaking leadership book that shows you how to win the right way. Based on real-life experiences and empirical research, it is co-authored by retired three-star General and former Superintendent of the US Military Academy at West Point, Robert Caslen, and Professor of Engineering Psychology at West Point, Dr. Michael Matthews. From the battlefield to the classroom, General Caslen and Dr. Matthews have witnessed firsthand the vital link between strong character and strong leadership, and how the latter cannot exist without the former. Competence matters, but without character, leadership ultimately fails. And the co-authors are increasingly troubled by the prevalence of character failures in society today; dishonest politicians, CEOs committing fraud, disgraced military commanders, and cheating athletes are among many other “win at any cost” stories dominating the news. While serving as head of West Point (the “Preeminent Leader Development Institution”), General Caslen personally oversaw the development of a plan to assess and foster character as a means of shaping tomorrow’s leaders, a focus supported by Dr. Matthews’s work. They now want to spread what they have learned to a much broader audience. The Character Edge will weave stories from their own lives and myriad other leaders together with new research about how to classify, measure, and cultivate character. The book is the first of its kind in employing the insights of a decorated military leader together with the knowledge of a prominent positive psychologist. It provides a compelling case for the powerful role character plays in trust, culture, and leadership; and it offers readers tools to exercise and strengthen their own character.

"Since the publication of the first edition of Head Strong: How Psychology is Revolutionizing War in 2014, developments in military psychology have been rapid and important. So much so, that this revised edition is necessary to accurately capture the vital role that psychology continues to play in 21st century military success. The ideas contained in the first edition influenced emerging doctrine in the Army's Human Dimension, and informed military leaders around the globe of ways that psychological science and practice may be leveraged to improve combat effectiveness. Many of the predictions made in the first edition have come true, and new and exciting products of military psychology now offer novel ways of impacting military outcomes. This revised edition of Head Strong updates the 13 chapters included in the first edition with breaking news in military psychology, and adds new material to augment those chapters. Two entirely new chapters are included in this edition. The first is on character and discusses how to measure it, how to develop it, and how character plays a vital role in the performance of individual soldiers and their units. The second new chapter is based on a year-long special assignment the author spent working as a Fellow for the Army Chief of Staff's Strategic Studies Group, and captures the rapid developments in psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and other disciplines that may help the military optimize soldier and unit performance. Like the other topics in Head Strong, these two new chapters have significant applicability to non-military organizations including schools, corporations, and sports teams. Taken together, the updates and new chapters make Head Strong, Revised Edition essential reading for anyone interested in how the military, and by extension other organizations, may leverage psychology to improve performance."--

True leadership is about character – this is the key to winning ‘the right way’. In a world where we’re bombarded by messages of ‘winning at any cost’, dishonest politicians, CEOs committing fraud, disgraced military commanders and cheating athletes, integrity matters more than ever. The Character Edge explains the powerful role character plays in trust, culture and leadership, and offers readers tools to exercise and strengthen their own. Reaching from the battlefield to the classroom and beyond, former superintendent of West Point Robert Caslen and professor of psychology Dr. Michael Matthews, explore the vital link between strong character and strong leadership, and explain why the latter cannot exist without the former. ‘Caslen and Matthews show how and why this fundamental inner architecture of leadership can – and must – be built.' Jim Collins, bestselling author of Good to Great.

Psychology is the science that will determine who wins and who loses the wars of the 21st century, just as physics ultimately led the United States to victory in World War II. Changes in the world's political landscape coupled with radical advances in the technology of war will greatly alter how militaries are formed, trained, and led. Leadership under fire--and the traits and skills it requires--is also changing. Grant, Lee, Pershing, Patton--these generals would not succeed in 21st century conflicts. In Head Strong: How Psychology is Revolutionizing War, Michael D. Matthews explores the many ways that psychology will make the difference for wars yet to come, from revolutionary advances in soldier selection and training to new ways of preparing soldiers to remain resilient in the face of horror and to engineering the super-soldier of the future. These advancements will ripple out to impact on the lives of all of us, not just soldiers. Amputees will have "intelligent" life-like prosthetics that simulate the feel and function of a real limb. Those exposed to trauma will have new and more effective remedies to prevent or treat post-traumatic stress disorder. And a revolution in training--based heavily in the military's increasing reliance on immersive simulations--will radically alter how police, fire, and first-responder personnel are trained in the future. The revised and expanded edition of Head Strong includes significant advances that have occurred in military psychology since its publication in 2013. Many of the predictions made in the first edition have come true, and exciting new developments in military psychology have emerged. The revised and expanded edition updates the existing chapters with important new developments, and adds new chapters on character and human performance optimization--both topics of significant interest in today's military. Authored by a West Point military psychologist, this book is one of the first to expose us to the smarter wars, and the world around them, to come.

Michael D. Matthews

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