Former Marine Lt. Donovan Campbell ’01 (Photo: Austin Walker)
New book: The Leader’s Code: Mission, Character, Service, and Getting the Job Done, by Donovan Campbell ’01 (Random House)
The author: A former Marine officer, Campbell served three combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. His first book, Joker One: A Marine Platoon’s Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood, was based on his time in Iraq. He was awarded the Combat Action Ribbon, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and a Bronze Star with Valor. Today, he is a management and technology consultant with Credera in Dallas.
The book: Many of our leaders have “pursued gain … at the cost of their individual character,” argues Donovan. What we need today are the kinds of leaders reflective of what he learned as a military officer — the servant-leadership model. He describes that concept and explores how to develop character and the six virtues that underpin character — humility, excellence, kindness, discipline, courage, and wisdom. This leadership model, he argues, can be applied to anyone: “whether they lead at work, at home, in business, in government, in their neighborhoods, or in their communities.”
Opening lines: “America suffers from a leadership crisis. The economic downturn of the past three years has highlighted this shortcoming, but the downturn is only the symptom, not the cause, or our malaise. As the disease has deepened, institutions that define our views of ourselves and of our country, among them business and government, have lost substantial credibility. Their leaders are largely viewed as greedy, selfish, hypocritical, criminal, shortsighted, incompetent, or all of the above.”
Read more: PAW’s story on Donovan Campbell and his first book, Joker One, in the March 18, 2009 issue.