The business community is justifiably fascinated by the concept of leadership. Corporations and small businesses collectively spend millions of dollars annually on programs to educate, inspire, and motivate their personnel toward achieving the ambitious goals possible in today's marketplace. All too often, however, the search for effective leadership principles is frenetic. Companies hail one method as the definitive path into the future, only to throw the baby out with the bath-water three years later in favor of some new and improved concept. Thinking "out of the box" is applauded, while classic business case studies are dismissed as fairy tales of the pre-Internet age. Technology is worshipped; seminar gurus prepare us for the twenty-first century as if it will be the dawn of an entirely new, cybernetic human nature. Young and aggressive CEOs are demanding "state-of-the-art" business strategies and the leaders to implement them, suitable for the brave new world awaiting us all.

Ironically, in the search for leadership principles, businessmen and women often overlook that which makes their pursuit even possible. Were it not for the highly successful leadership principles practiced by the United States military, the world as we know it would be a vastly different place. Our very way of life depends upon the ability of our military leaders to inspire and direct personnel at all levels, often under unimaginable stress. The military has long understood the critical need for leadership throughout the ranks, the cost of failure being so catastrophic. There is no such thing as Chapter 11 protection from the enemy on the eve of defeat.

If Harvard Business School were to include, and then prioritize, major military events in their famous Case Studies curriculum, there would be little class time left for even the most well-known industrial and commercial sagas. The largest corporate mergers would be dwarfed by the vast military alliances of World War II; the logistical feats of the greatest industrialists would seem insignificant next to the colossal accumulation of men and material assembled for D day (which was all the more amazing because it was planned and carried out in complete secrecy); and the most inspiring corporate "comeback" would appear mundane next to the story of America's struggle for survival during the dark years that followed the crippling attack on Pearl Harbor.

The American public had an opportunity to witness the efficiency of the nation's armed forces more recently, during Desert Storm. Perhaps even more impressive than the swift military victory against Iraq was the logistical miracle that made it possible. In the middle of the desert, a virtual city was erected, with facilities to support nearly one million men and women--not to mention an overwhelming tank invasion into fortified Iraq--and more than two thousand aircraft landings and takeoffs a day (more than the nation's busiest airports). Instead of having years to accomplish this impossible task, our generals had three months.

While all branches of the American armed forces produce effective leaders, there is one service that stands alone. The United States Marine Corps--the smallest service with the biggest reputation--has been refining its own unique methods of leadership cultivation for more than two hundred years. Marine Corps training is different from that of the army, navy, and air force, and the men and women who emerge from it are different. And, while every branch of the armed forces has elite units, the Marine Corps as an entity is elite, and those who choose to join know full well an easier road could have been taken.

The authors, both former Marines and now successful businessmen, are convinced that managers at all levels have a lot to learn from today's Marine Corps, when it comes to instilling leadership throughout the ranks of an organization. Contrary to the Hollywood conception, Marine Corps leadership is not a matter of barking sergeants and intimidated troops. Men and women Marines want to go the extra mile; they have been inspired by their training and by the culture created within "the Corps" to a degree not easily understood by those on the outside, but that is certainly attainable in other settings as well. Their motto, Semper Fidelis--which means Always Faithful--is more than a catchy phrase to those who have served; they are words to live by.

Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way presents the unique leadership principles that have been developed by the Marine Corps over time, as well as the bold, groundbreaking training innovations coming out of the Marine Corps today, and shows how they can be, and have been, applied with great success to the workplace. Semper Fi begins with the successful recruiting techniques of the Marine Corps and demonstrates how the business community would do well to emulate them, if it wishes to attract and retain the best applicants possible. The authors examine the leadership cultivation techniques employed in boot camp, Sergeant's School, Officer's Training, all the way up the chain of command to the General Staff. At each step, they show how today's managers, at equivalent levels, can and should implement these principles within their own organizations. Finally, Marine Corps strategies for victory--the end result of successful leadership--are shown to be just as applicable to the competitive marketplace as they are to the battlefield.

The results of poor leadership skills in the corporate world, while not as historically dramatic as those on the battlefield, are no less consequential to the fate of a corporation. The degree to which every business prepares its managers to inspire and direct the personnel under their authority will determine its success. When it comes to building leaders, nobody does it better than the United States Marines. The men and women who apply to their own business careers the principles presented in the pages that follow can become the leaders of their generation.