"The Navy Seal Art Of War" Book Review

As you may have noticed by the title, this isn't my typical book review fare. But when I had the opportunity to receive this book for review, I couldn't pass it up!  You see, my husband loves books about the military - and he's a business man!  So I thought he'd enjoy this one!  He agreed to read and review it for me!  So you get a special treat today - a review written by my husband...

The Navy SEAL Art of War Book Review

"I’ve never read The Art of War.  For a man, it’s a sacrilege on the order of never having seen The Godfather, which my wife introduced me to in my late twenties (I’ll be turning in my man card shortly).  So when Rob Roy, Chief Petty Officer (Ret.), former member of the elite SEAL Team Six, and founder of the Special Operations Training Group, or SOT-G, writes that the goal of his new book The Navy SEAL Art of War, is to be “a new take on the old classic The Art of War,” I have to trust him.  Unlike The Art of War, which I can’t imagine that Sun Tzu originally penned for business executives, Roy’s offering is aimed squarely at business leaders, using military lessons and SEAL maxims (like the well-known “the only easy day was yesterday”) as a reference for today’s business professional.

Rob’s company, SOT-G, conducts leadership training sessions for business professionals that incorporate the kind of physical and mental training that a SEAL candidate might encounter Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training (BUD/S).  BUD/S is designed to separate those who hope to be SEALs from those who actually have what it takes.  Each “evolution,” or physical test, is designed to shape your body and your mind, either breaking you or molding you into an elite warrior.  Roy recognizes that not everyone can attend his training, so The Navy SEAL Art of War is designed to deliver many of the lessons taught in his leadership training seminars- minus all the push-ups, midnight swims, runs on the beach, and hoisting of 300-pound logs.

Roy writes like you would expect an elite military operator to write- short, concise chapters that focus on one subject.  At times the book seems a little rough around the edges- I wish he had elaborated more on some topics, or taken a different path with others, but that’s what makes this book a good read.  It’s a field manual of sorts, designed to be helpful, not necessarily thorough.  The concepts are familiar to anyone who works in a business of any size, but they are discussed from a perspective that few can bring- that of an elite warrior who has served his country well and is using the lessons he learned in that world to help men and women in the business world.

Well done, Mr. Roy.  I think Sun Tzu would be proud."

 I received a copy of this book, free of charge, from Blogging for Books, in exchange for my honest review.