The Need to Lead: From Topgun and War to Business and Life, Leadership Solves Every Challenge

By Dave Berke

In this third book in the Extreme Ownership trilogy, a retired fighter pilot and TOPGUN instructor, now serving as the Chief Development Officer at Echelon Front, teaches readers the importance of leadership and how to implement it.

The Need to Lead invokes the classic Top Gun movie quote. It is also an undeniable truth that author Dave Berke experienced as a Marine Corps officer, fighter pilot, TOPGUN instructor, ground combat leader, husband, and father. This book, based on his experiences and teachings, helps readers be better leaders and understand that leadership is a universal requirement for success, no matter the environment.

Every person needs to lead in order to succeed. By adopting the right leadership mindsets and behaviors, we gain the capacity to solve problems, support the people around us, and amend our mistakes. How do we develop these necessary skills? By embracing the principles imparted to Berke from each humbling moment in the cockpit:

1) EVERYONE IS A LEADER: From the CEO to the most junior employee, everyone at every level, is a leader. Leadership isn't about rank, title, position, or function. The more people see themselves as leaders, the more they want to contribute to the team's success.

2) LEADERSHIP EXISTS IN EVERY CAPACITY: Leadership is often viewed as an attribute relevant to our professional lives, but it exists in every capacity, it applies in every situation. The same behaviors should guide us as parents, spouses, family members, and friends of all kinds.

3) EVERY PROBLEM WE FACE IS A LEADERSHIP PROBLEM: The problems we confront at work aren't caused by external factors. They are caused by our failure to lead. Our child's behavior isn't just a function of their age and tendencies; it's about us as parents. If a lack of leadership is the problem, and good leadership is the solution, then how we lead becomes the most critical factor affecting the outcome.

4) LEADERSHIP IS A SKILL: Good leaders aren't simply born. Leadership can be learned, which means every single person in the world can get better at it if they choose. This book is their guide.

Through compelling stories from TOPGUN training and combat to the boardroom and at home, Berke gives readers the necessary tools to succeed.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 125036163X
• ISBN13: 9781250361639
• Release Date: October 2025
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.4" x 8.3"