Leadership Secrets of the Australian Army

Australia's army consistently punches above its weight. At the core of its achievements is its approach to leadership. It was developed more than a century ago by fusing national values with the imperatives of fighting, and it has been fine-tuned by each successive generation. It is now a leadership culture that is not only distinctively Australian but also ticks all the boxes for best practice.

The assumption is that no-one is born a natural leader, and that training makes good leaders. Drawing on his own long military career and defence training programs, Nicholas Jans has identified the core principles of the egalitarian style of Australian leadership that is so consistently successful. These '3Rs' are the leadership skills which generate loyalty and commitment at an operational level, and they are just as successful in everyday team management as they are in the field.

Leadership Secrets of the Australian Army includes true stories from the field and from workplaces, from everyday employees and from well-known leaders. It shows how you too can become a leader your team can believe in and - equally importantly - how you can help them believe in themselves.

'Read it and be wise.'
Lieutenant General David Morrison AO

Nicholas Jans OAM, PhD, (Brigadier Ret'd) served in the Australian Regular Army in field artillery, training, and personnel policy development and is currently a Brigadier in the Army Reserve. Since his retirement from full-time service in 1985, he has consulted to the Australian Defence Force and the US Navy on leadership and strategic human resource management. He has lectured at the University of Canberra and currently holds a visiting fellowship at the School of Business, UNSW.