Rating: 
Summary: Review from the Huns
Review: Book Review of:
Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun
Written by Wess Roberts
Published by Warner Books in 1990
1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
110 pages
The authors credentials are not revealed in the book other than he has a Ph.D. No background of the author is given in the book. An internet search of Wess Roberts reveals that he has written many books on leadership that appear to be in the same format as this book. The author wrote of his trouble publishing the book in his note in the beginning of the book. I can see the reason I believe he had so much trouble right from the top. He did not use any references and did not even state his own qualifications on the book. I think this takes away from the credibility of a very useful book. References and personal qualifications would have made a big difference in the book.
The purpose of the writing of this book was to teach leadership principles from a persons' life who was not considered a great leader. The reason he chose Attila is, as Dr. Roberts states about books based on the lives of more acceptable persons, "It is, however, sometimes a painstaking challenge to extract from these books the essence of the leadership principles contained in them. Even more challenging is the application in these books to our own lives" (Roberts, 1990, p. xiv). He chose Attila because he believed Attila faced a great challenge in taking hordes of barbarians, and turning them into a nation and "...performed challenging feats
against `seemingly' insurmountable odds..."(Roberts, 1990, p. xv-xvi). The point of view the book is written in is as an observer of Attila with his troops in the camp between conquests. Although no written documents remain from Attila and the Huns, the author put himself in this viewpoint and points out the lessons as he sees them.
The book chronicles the life of Attila the Hun, and explains how he rose to be a leader. It then uses his conquests and what he must have gone through to teach his chieftains how to be leaders. The book then goes through the lessons that Attila would have learned in his life from leadership qualities and the want to be in charge to how to treat your subordinates and what you can learn from them.
The goals of the author were achieved especially through the "attilaisms" at the end of the chapters, and in the last chapter. These bring out the main points of the chapter and how it can relate to your life today. They also show leadership as something you have to continually strive for in all aspects of your leadership and life, which I believe is one of the main goals of the book.
I found the book to be very readable but each chapter is an individual lesson. To read the book in one setting would be very laborious. It is written as examples for anybody. It is a good read for top management and is just as good for someone wanting to rise to the top. The manager can see how the troops view him, and the "Hun" can use the lessons of acting as a leader to move up. The largest problem with the book is the lack of academic references these lessons of leadership have. The logic is pointed out in the attilaisms in each chapter and at the end of the book. The lack of academic support of the logic is missing, however purposeful this is by the author, I think it does take away some of the credibility of the book. Even with the lack of academic support, there is a common sense in the logic that is used in the book and the lessons
could still be used by anyone in their day to day lives. It reminds me of the common sense
sayings my father told me such as, you have to make the team before you can wear the uniform. Nothing academic about it, but it is still a useful statement.
This book would best be read many times. It is easy to read the chapters that interest you at the time. It would be a good book for personal reference and to have a new and refreshing view on life and management. The book lacks an index, but the table of contents is all that is needed to find the subject you want to read about. A glossary is not needed, and a bibliography is lacking. Although the author does credit all who contributed in the book, with no references or bibliography, you kind of have to trust him at his word.Dan Grubb, RN
Terre Haute, IN Reference Roberts, W. (1990). Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun. New York: Warner Books
Rating: 
Summary: Great leadership primer
Review: Sure, if you're looking for an in-depth treatise on Attila or Leadership you are bound to be disappointed. I have read this book numerous times and have assigned it to my subordinate managers as required reading. In every case those people have been pleasantly surprised with how easy it is to read, understand and apply to improve their leadership and management practices. It gets individuals interested in picking up other, more detailed works on leadership and management that they might not have been drawn to in the first place.
Rating: 
Summary: SHOW ME THE HUN-NY
Review: The title of this brief collection should have been "1970s leadership and Attila the Hun" This book has little to no factual quotes of Attila. Rather, the author twists Hun anecdotes around to force-fit his opinion on leadership. Granted, the author cleverly hides the massive canyon separating the two. Even worse is this books preaching of top-down management. Because of that, it can cause a big problem if put in the wrong hands. Especially because it is written at a sixth grade reading level and a quick read. If truth be told, this book gets a lot more attention than it deserves...
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: This book is great, and to the point. Not a a bunch of drown out blah, blah, blah. Quick examples of lessons learned by Attila the Hun. Great to use when dealing with people.
Rating:
Summary: Pretentious
Review: This book was entirely too pretentious to read. He should have tried to write in the active voice and with a reasonable vocabulary. I bought it used for less than a dollar plus shipping--I got wripped off.
Rating:
Summary: "Rote advise, poor role model"
Review: This is a very good book on leadership, however, Attila was a bloodthirsty war-monger. The same leadership advise could have been used via a mascot such as Elmer Fudd, Mr. Rogers, Madonna, or anybody for that matter. Though the examples were lame, the premise is excellent. True in Attilas day as they are today--and will be in the future. Read this book between the lines and you will be satisfied.
Rating:
Summary: Do Not Waste Your Time: Low-Brow Business
Review: Well... where to begin??? Wess Roberts is really a good example of an initial interesting idea milked and warped to horrible proportions; neither the historical metaphor nor the advice he gleans from it really ascends above the line of a comic book. Read the "Economists" review of this book and their trashing of its author -- who appears to be rather less than he appears. I can add little except to say that I bought it in a rush in an airport and then after the first page I realised there was something terribly wrong with this book (it is written for about someone who has a 12 year old reading comprehension level). If you are a person who sees the world in a Manichean world view of "good and evil"/ "us and them" then you may ultimately see some kind of value in this book. All research however indicates that a successful business relationship is formed on the basis of honesty, trust and committment to a win-win relationship with the client. Without that fundamental understanding business and corporations do not advance. Those companies that practise the Attila mindset will ultimately remain Neanderthals and will condemn themselves to always being small-time, cheesy presenters with a life time of believing in the simplistic explanations for complex behaviour. I would have given it a 0 if I could have. This book has the distinction of not even being worthy to grace the shelves of my personal business library. Spend your money on Drucker or even Napolean Hill. You will get a better return.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Read!
Review: Wess Roberts draws on the life experiences of the leader of the Mongol hordes to craft imaginative monologues on leadership - an attribute as valuable today as when Attila united the Huns in 415 AD. The advice is general. Its effectiveness probably depends on how well you apply it, although the idea of a historic icon of barbaric vengeance counseling us in cultural sensitivity seems a bit of a stretch. While the treatment is certainly colorful, you might worry about ways some modern-day chieftains could misuse Roberts' principles to justify their own Visigoth approach to management. We from getAbstract recommend this book to those looking for new and interesting ways to approach the perpetual management issues of team-building, inspiring loyalty, setting goals, and achieving objectives.
Rating:
Summary: Pretentious
Review: What a country this is! How else to explain this book? Take an historical figure about whom little is known, ascribe certain banalities about leadership to him, jazz it up with some colorful language, set it in a guidebook format with short chapters and lots of bullets--and sell huge numbers of copies! Get Ross Perot to endorse it! This book cries out for a spoof--heck, it already seems like a spoof. I'm thinking of taking a few days to write "Leadership Secrets of Spongebob Squarepants" and see how it sells.
Rating:
Summary: Great work if you can get it
Review: What a country this is! How else to explain this book? Take an historical figure about whom little is known, ascribe certain banalities about leadership to him, jazz it up with some colorful language, set it in a guidebook format with short chapters and lots of bullets--and sell huge numbers of copies! Get Ross Perot to endorse it! This book cries out for a spoof--heck, it already seems like a spoof. I'm thinking of taking a few days to write "Leadership Secrets of Spongebob Squarepants" and see how it sells.
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