Bullets, Basketballs, and Boardrooms

Three different authors from different domains present leadership lessons drawn from three disciplines—military, business, and sports—showing how principles from each domain reinforce one another. From the military perspective, the book emphasizes discipline, prioritization, contingency planning, and preparation before crises occur. Leaders are encouraged to train rigorously, anticipate scenarios through tools like wargaming, and understand that in high-pressure situations people fall back on their level of preparation rather than improvising new skills.  These lessons highlight the importance of structure, foresight, and consistent training as foundations for effective leadership.

From the business perspective, the authors stress team composition, emotional intelligence, and authentic leadership. Effective leaders focus on assembling the right teams early, aligning behavior with core values, and fostering positive energy and trust among colleagues.  Communication, prioritization of mission-critical tasks, and the ability to motivate others through attitude and culture are presented as key drivers of organizational success. The book also underscores that individual brilliance alone is insufficient; sustained performance depends on collaboration and the ability to manage relationships both upward and downward within organizations.  

From the sports perspective, the book illustrates how discipline, teamwork, resilience, and respect shape high-performance environments. Athletes and teams succeed not merely through talent but through disciplined habits, mutual support, and the guidance of coaches who reinforce priorities and culture daily.  These cross-domain insights connect strongly with the argument in Range by David Esptein, which shows that exposure to multiple fields fosters adaptability, creativity, and better decision-making. Just as Epstein argues that broad experience builds stronger problem-solvers, Bullets, Basketballs, and Boardrooms demonstrates that leadership improves when lessons are triangulated across military operations, corporate strategy, and athletic competition—revealing that true effectiveness often comes from combining perspectives rather than specializing in only one. I only hope that there is more emphasis on synthesis rather than discussing in silos of domains.