Extreme Tactical Leadership

Are you seeking a book on leadership? That should not be a problem. A quick click to Amazon will offer you over seventy thousand choices to select from. Do you want to focus specifically on military leadership? Well, your choices narrow down to just over one thousand. If you decide to delve into those selections, you will find there is no shortage of volumes focused on the platoon/company level or at the general officer level. What is clearly lacking in study and scholarship is at the battalion level, and specifically, how the battalion commander leads in combat.

Author Jeffrey R. (J. R.) Sanderson has unquestionably succeeded in filling some of that large gap with his superb book Extreme Tactical Leadership: The Traits of Successful Battalion Commanders in Combat. It is a book that readers will find innovative, exhaustively researched, and superbly written. These traits combine to offer a volume that will compel readers to think critically and creatively about its subject matter.

Before exploring the volume itself, I believe it is valuable in any “leadership” book to know the author’s background and their motivation in writing on the subject. In terms of Sanderson’s background, he has clearly amassed an impressive military and academic résumé. During his military career, he commanded units from platoon through the brigade levels. Critical for this book is that he commanded in combat at the battalion level, as well as the company level. Academically, Sanderson has earned three master’s degrees (Western Kentucky University, the US Army School of Advanced Military Studies, and Air War College) and importantly, a PhD in leadership and organizations from Anderson University. In total, Sanderson possesses a perfect background for studying this area.

In any endeavor, motivation is always an important factor. It is an important driver in planning, preparation, and ultimately, execution. This is no different than when an author takes an idea to fruition in crafting a book. So, what was Sanderson’s motivation in crafting Extreme Tactical Leadership? As addressed earlier, it’s tied directly to him seeing a gap in leadership study of the battalion level during combat operations and the vital role of the commander within the battalion. He states in his introduction, “This book aims to fill this void by focusing on the critical organizational leadership role of the battalion commander, particularly in combat situations. The battalion commander’s role is not only important but also crucial, as it has a direct impact on the success of the entire battalion.”¹

In filling this void, Sanderson has focused his study on addressing several key questions. He outlines these questions and their importance in the following passage: “Specifically, what are the common traits and skills for successful battalion-level leadership in combat? How do successful commanders use the combinations of traits and skills to accomplish extreme missions under harsh combat conditions? Understanding specific traits and skills help further our knowledge of commanding a battalion in the extreme environment of combat.”²

To answer these questions and to stress their importance, Sanderson essentially developed two distinct but “nested” sections. Within the first, he prepares readers for the second section by providing various segments focused on the battalion and the commander in combat. In the second section, the author utilizes the experiences and thoughts of twelve successful combat battalion commanders to key on two related areas. These are the traits and skills critical in leading battalions in combat and the powers and influence of successful combat battalion commanders. Below I would like to expand on each section.

Within the first section, Sanderson does a superb job of setting the conditions for readers. He addresses many areas that provide readers with significant background on battalions in combat and those who led them. Some of these areas include a list of combat literature available, case studies on poor battalion leadership, battalion command in the past two centuries, the battalion in combat, and examples of superb battalion commanders in combat. This section by itself makes it worth reading the volume. However, readers will find much more in the second section.

Despite the outstanding quality of the first section, the “main effort” of the book is the analysis of former battalion commanders during combat. Vital in packaging this to readers is his explanation of his research methodology. Sanderson achieves this early in his introduction and then reiterates it at important times in the volume. Within the methodology, he emphasizes the two aspects that most readers would be pondering. These are who the twelve commanders participating in the study were and how and what they were asked during the interview process.

Regarding whom they were, Sanderson provides considerable details on their backgrounds and military careers. Here is a brief snapshot of that discussion:

All participants in this research commanded in combat between 2003 and 2010. The participants in the research were anonymous. The participants successfully commanded a battalion in combat. They were either promoted to the rank of colonel or awarded the Bronze Star Medal or above for their actions while leading a battalion in combat. This criterion represents the institutional army acknowledging and rewarding organizational leadership abilities. Nine of the 12 were subsequently selected to command at the brigade level and several were cited for gallantry in combat and received higher valorous decorations.³

Again, the volume provides considerably more detail on backgrounds and careers. As with the above, Sanderson fully addresses the “how” and “what” as it pertains to the interviewing of the participants. Once more, let me provide a very concise summary of this process.

The study employed a qualitative approach: each participant was interviewed for more than two hours, and the interviews were recorded. The participants were asked the same preliminary questions. The semi-constructed questions elicited a series of subsequent questions directly related to the original question in a conversational tone. If 10 of the 12 participants noted the item at some point during the interview, it was deemed a commonality.⁴

I believe the author’s approach, depth, and focused questioning laid the foundation for him to successfully move to the key steps of analyzing/interpreting data and communicating his findings. This is crucial because many of us have seen studies where these actions have been completed with little thought or reason. This is clearly not the case within Extreme Tactical Leadership. Sanderson understands the relationship between the steps, and if one is weak, he knows the study would provide little to no value.

Key to achieving his objectives is the author’s formulation of traits and skills for successful combat battalion commanders. Utilizing the work of experts in the field, Sanderson framed a group of possible traits, skills, and bases of power and influence that the participants may exhibit or considered critical to success on the battlefield. As addressed earlier, a specific trait or skill or power and influence was considered a commonality if ten of the twelve participants noted it during interviews. The author established that commonality existed in seven traits (drive, motivation, cognitive ability, confidence, task knowledge, personal courage, and personal integrity), three skills (technical, conceptual, and interpersonal) and five bases of power and influence (legitimate, reward, coercive, expert, and referent). Within each of these, he has established several manifestations or sub-skills pertinent to the trait, skill, or power and influence.

Personally, I found the most impressive part of the process was Sanderson’s ability to take this analysis and articulate it to readers. Within each of the three main elements, he has dedicated a large chapter to addressing his findings. Within each, he has skillfully discussed each of the subsets of the particular trait, skill, or power and influence. Most beneficial is the author’s inclusion of relevant quotes from the participants. In total, the author has packaged his findings and conclusions in a way readers can digest and reflect upon.

Just as a successful combat battalion commander displays certain skills, so does a successful author. Within Extreme Tactical Leadership, Sanderson displays three key skills that greatly assist him in achieving his success. The first and perhaps most impressive is the research skills the author displays throughout the volume. This is one of most thoroughly researched books I have encountered. This volume is grounded in both its quality and quantity of research. Readers benefit from the author’s efforts in two ways. First, it certainly is critical to the immense value of the volume. Second, it provides readers with numerous resources they themselves can research in areas that may interest them.

The second skill exhibited by Sanderson is his book’s outstanding organization. This is book that could have very easily turned into a difficult challenge for readers to move through. However, Sanderson has made it extremely easy by his use of numerous subsections throughout a chapter. These enable readers to focus on a particular area and provide stopping points for them to simply think and reflect.

The final skill I would like to address is the author’s exceptional writing ability. This is a volume crafted in a highly conversant style. I found this impressive because there is a potential for some areas to get caught up in an academic tone. However, Sanderson does not shift into this style. The combination of the author’s organizational and writing skills make this a read that has an excellent flow and is easy to comprehend where the author is going.

At the beginning of his volume, Sanderson provides one of his main objectives for his book. He states, “My words in this book are intended to spur intellectual thought concerning the extreme leadership of combat.”⁵ I believe he has clearly achieved this within Extreme Tactical Leadership. This is a book that will make those would-be battalion commanders and those currently leading battalions to truly think about leading these organizations in combat. It will also compel those soldiers serving in battalions to think about their units and those leading it. In summary, this is an incredibly valuable book and one that adds dramatically to the body of military knowledge.

Notes

1. Jeffrey R. Sanderson, Extreme Tactical Leadership: The Traits and Skills of Successful Battalion Commanders in Combat (Casemate Publishers, 2026), 5.
2. Sanderson, Extreme Tactical Leadership, 5.
3. Sanderson, Extreme Tactical Leadership, 18–19.
4. Sanderson, Extreme Tactical Leadership, 20.
5. Sanderson, Extreme Tactical Leadership, iv.