University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
A Higher Standard
Book

A Higher Standard

Leadership Strategies from America’s First Female Four-Star General

Ann Dunwoody
Da Capo Press, 2015
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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Visionary
  • Engaging
  • Inspiring

Recommendation

On June 23, 2008, former US president George W. Bush nominated Ann Dunwoody to become America’s first female four-star Army general. Dunwoody deserves tremendous credit for working her way up and puncturing the Army’s “brass ceiling.” An exceptional all-Army, all the time, performer and role model, she tellingly recounts her inspiring professional saga. She also offers useful, if not so original, leadership insights, such as “build a team that routinely does routine things in an outstanding manner.” Her neat, well-told stories and insights from inside the military are very intriguing. However, if you’re counting, some numbers aren’t consistent, such as budget estimates. Nonetheless, getAbstract recommends her intriguing autobiography to up-and-comers seeking leadership role models, especially women; to service members past and present; and to anyone drawn to public service and to public servants who exemplify leadership.

Summary

America’s First Female Four-Star General

Ann Dunwoody is the first woman in history to become a four-star general in the US Army – a remarkable and heroic achievement. Throughout her life, Dunwoody placed her passion for service ahead of her fears. She won great honors and achieved the top in the tough, results-oriented, male-dominated world of the Army.

Military Roots

Born in 1953, Dunwoody grew up in a military family: her great-grandfather, grandfather and father were all West Point graduates and served in the US Army. Dunwoody is a self-described “military brat.” She is one of six children, including her brother Buck, another West Point graduate, and her sister Sue, an Army helicopter pilot. Ann would have gone to West Point, had the service academy permitted women to enroll in the early 1970s.

Harold Halsey Dunwoody

Dunwoody and her siblings spent their childhoods on military bases around the world. Her father, Brigadier General (Ret.) Harold Halsey Dunwoody, has always been her role model and major influence. A US Army veteran with 31 years of service, her father fought in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Twice wounded during...

About the Author

General Ann Dunwoody, US Army (Ret.) is the former general of one of the Army’s largest units, the US Army Materiel Command. Dunwoody is the Army’s first female four-star general.

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