The best book I've ever read on leadership was "The Caine Mutiny" by Herman Wouk (1951).

More bangers in that book about leadership (not the movie, which was fun, but it was not the book) than anything else I've ever read.


“You can’t understand command till you’ve had it. It’s the loneliest, most oppressive job in the whole world. It’s a nightmare, unless you’re an ox. You’re forever teetering along a tiny path of correct decisions and good luck that meanders through an infinite gloom of possible mistakes.”

(My favorite quote is about spurious radio transmissions from junior officers, but there are plenty of great ones.)