Book Review: Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

I like to read about leaders and leadership. For this reason and because I heard Admiral James Stavridis speak as part of an interview, I knew that I would give his book, Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character, a shot. Admiral (ret) James Stavridis served as the commander of NATO, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe as well as commander of U.S. Southern Command.

I’m not as familiar with Navy leadership, I have tended to stick to Air Force and Army leadership, Sailing True North was a fascinating look into a different service branch. I have to admit that I learned quite a bit. But I must say that it is not like I knew no one from the Navy. I was familiar with Admiral Chester Nimitz and Rear Admiral Grace Hopper. I also heard of the exploits of Sir Francis Drake.

Sailing True North focused on the different character traits of ten admirals and their leadership styles. Stavridis highlighted these admirals because of the success they had and how they transformed naval operations.

Stavridis told the tales of ten admirals across 312 pages. These ten admirals included

• Themistocles
• Zheng He
• Sir Francis Drake
• Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Horatio Nelson
• Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan
• Admiral Lord John Arbuthnot Fisher
• Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz
• Admiral Hyman Rickover
• Admiral Elmo R. “Bud” Zumwalt Jr.
• Rear Admiral Grace Hopper

One of the things that he underscored in this book that I want to highlight is resilience. Stavridis mentioned that resilience is inherent to your character. Your upbringing shapes it through examples set by your parents and others. But there are other things that help make you more resilient. The first is the company you keep, the individuals that you spend time with. It’s important to seek out those who are willing to succeed even after they’ve failed. They are willing to go out and try something new and really stick with it. Another thing that will help you become more resilient is the books that you read. Stavridis spends a lot of time reading. He attributes reading in a large part to his success.

Serving as the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO is no small feat. Stavridis had to be skilled to get to that level. He had to do a lot of reading. Throughout the book, he referenced book after book that has guided him. He talked about the importance of reading. Most importantly, he stressed reading stories that are focused on resilience. He provided a list of books focusing on the topic. You also have to go out and just convince yourself to keep on going.

I found Sailing True North to be quite a wonderful book. Sailing True North stressed the importance of getting your compass right as well as developing the character set that you need to sail ahead.

Additional Reading

• Book Review: Turn the Ship Around! How to Create Leadership at Every Level
• Book Review: Conversations With Major Dick Winters: Life Lessons From the Commander of the Band of Brothers

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File: US Navy 070522-N-2653P-006 Commander, United States Southern Command Adm. James Stavridis, salutes before the start of the Joint Task Force.jpg. (2019, February 11). Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. Retrieved 18:45, December 26, 2019 from https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:US_Navy_070522-N-2653P-006_Commander,_United_States_Southern_Command_Adm._James_Stavridis,_salutes_before_the_start_of_the_Joint_Task_Force.jpg&oldid=338640421.

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