Trust and Leadership is an interesting and thorough look at the development of the Australian military structure as an independent fighting force with emphasis on its differentiation from ANZAC counterparts as well as the British base model.

The introduction gives a technical background to the topic at hand and can feel a bit dense for a causal reader interested in military history. It is essential for grounding the more personal, narrative essays that follow. This is one of the more relatable military science books as each chapter is written essay style by a different individual about a period of time or engagement undertaken by the Australian armed forces. The text is nicely interspersed with quotes and personal opinion to form a more complete analysis of Australian military history.

A well put-together book for military science enthusiasts and interesting on a higher level for the same to examine the development of military doctrine in a unique environment. ( )

The book Trust and Leadership gives the reader a balanced look at the development of mission command within the Australian Imperial Force of World War I from the point of mostly British-led operations. Each chapter has a noted person from the military at some point offering views from such accounts as how Australian land forces in the Southwest Pacific during World War II operated, a study of mission command within the Korean War under the challenges of operating within a US led coalition or of the 1st Australian Task Force in Vietnam. The reader can also see the value of quick decision exercises, which in my opinion are critical to the structure of mission command.
The book brilliantly offer many examples of mission command across a variety of conflicts including Somalia, East Timor, the Solomon Islands, and also Iraq and Afghanistan. Mission command found fertile ground within the Australian Army during this period of relatively highly complex operations.
I strongly feel this book of essays is a valuable contribution to the study of mission command in any army that has up till now in history perhaps adhered to a decentralized command in both doctrine and practice. As members of the Australian Army learned, those serving in the British, U.S., and other armies would learn much from it.If you don't understand Mission Command, this is your book. If you are already familiar with Mission Command, you will learn more by reading this book. Guaranteed. Great book for leaders and thinkers. I enjoyed reading the variety of case studies. ( )

Haven't finished yet, but I'll review what I've read. The introduction was a little of a slog; there's not much theoretically to say about Mission Command, as far as I can tell: you need to get into the details of actual historical examples to get a feel for it. There were, however, a number of interesting quotes gathered.
The first chapter is quite interesting and entertaining. Told as a story, it narrates an interesting development in the history of warfare. The rest of the chapters are the same.
Personally, I think considering such events is useful for leaders even outside of the military context, and the value of this book is in the excellent selection from history of warfare to serve as guiding examples. ( )

All organisations have leaders who organise and inspire their members to promote the mission of the organisation. Leaders should be accountable for their work as leaders continuously improving their actions.

Trust and Leadership explores how well the leaders in the Australian Armed Forces have used the official doctrine of mission command. The concept is that leaders should provide orders that clearly state the end result of their troops’ activities. Junior leaders are left free to work out the methods and tactics by which these effects will be reached. The principle is that the closer they are to the action, junior officers will have a better understanding of the situation on the ground, so are the best to decide how to carry out the superior’s orders.

This book is a series of essays arranged historically from World War I to disaster relief in Queensland in 2012. The authors are both academics and officers providing a breadth of commentary from the practical to the theoretical. It’s worth noting that some of the serving officers who wrote these essays also have academic qualifications, resulting in a thoughtful and authoritative account.

The thesis of the book is that the concept of ‘mission command’ has been used by officers since Gallipoli, even before the term entered official policy. Australian soldiers should be adept at taking responsibility at their level, partly because of the Australian character and its scepticism towards authority.

This willingness of soldiers to forge their own way turns out also to be a weakness. The account of the 2RAR Battalion in Afghanistan is searingly honest. Colonel Chris Smith describes the disbelief of a few soldiers when he attempted to enforce discipline. Their passive aggressive response to his orders arose from the soldiers’ sense of entitlement to conduct themselves as they saw fit without supervision. ‘It seemed as though some were confusing mission command with “hands-off” leadership,’ Col. Smith comments. (p. 291 Advanced Reader’s Edition).

In recent weeks, Australians have been shocked by accusations of murder and mistreatment of Afghan prisoners by Special Services troops. These allegations have of course coloured my reading of Trust and Leadership. Is it possible that these attitudes towards mission command and supervision by superior officers created the culture in which crimes could be committed? I hope that leaders’ role in these prosecutions will be carefully examined by the prosecutors, otherwise the concept of mission command will itself be bankrupted.

As a (retired) leader in church organisations, I found Trust and Leadership to be a helpful analysis of the role of leadership to embody the purpose of the organisation and to inspire others to work towards that purpose. In reflecting on leadership, former Archbishop Peter Carnley AO used a similar concept of ‘subsidiarity’ (decisions to be made at the lowest level possible). If this book helps our armed forces to continuously improve subsidiarity, it will have served a useful purpose. ( )

The book discusses the issues with implementing mission command in practice and not just in theory mostly from an Australian perspective. Excellent examples of the positives and negatives actual practice. The central issues are lack of buy in by senior command levels and over centralized control even when "mission command" is being preached. Obviously the balance is super hard to achieve. Highly recommended for anyone who is looking for insights for mission style of command or management. ( )