Risk

In this breakdown of strategies and tactics for dealing with pressure, Retired US Army General Stanley McChrystal, a prolific leadership author, uses intriguing combat stories to illustrate how to prepare for risk and danger. The former commander of US forces in Afghanistan, he prioritizes careful analysis and measured action. McChrystal is also the author of Leaders, My Share of the Task, and Team of Teams. 

Coping with Circumstances

In the spring of 1980, as the Iranian hostage crisis dragged on, US military leaders created a plan to extract American captives from Tehran. Operation Eagle Claw involved launching planes and helicopters from various places in the Middle East, including from an aircraft carrier in the Arabian Gulf. The two-night plan called for dropping soldiers in a remote desert on the first night. The next night, they would attack the US embassy, where Iranians held their American hostages. Then the commandos would take the hostages to a Tehran soccer stadium where helicopters would whisk them to freedom.