Bil Holton, Ph. D. in his book, From Battlefield to Boardroom: The Leadership Lessons of Robert E. Lee , attempts to demonstrate the ways that a corporate executive can implement the same leadership attributes that made Robert E. Lee a success. Mr. Holton has a length of experience in the field of management consulting and he utilizes his expertise in the creation of this book. The book is formatted in such way that a quality or characteristic is listed, e.g. Integrity, and a few excerpts from other sources about Lee or a direct quote attributed to Lee is printed. After these historical references, Mr. Holton comments on how a modern leader should emulate the qualities possessed by General Lee. This process of examination is carried out on a wide array of subjects, qualities, and attributes.
The concept of the book is a rather interesting and ingenious utilization on the qualities of a great figure in history. And the book has the redeeming quality of being able to referred back to by a reader for future reference when a specific occasion arises. However, if there is one shortcoming to the book it is the lack of varied references on information about Lee. With the plethora of written materials about this man, Mr. Holton should have been able to find a more varied source list than he utilized. But this one drawback, should not stop any individual from owning this fine historical guide to the ways great leadership qualities never grow out of fashion.
