(TLS4) The Leader's SMARTbook, 4th Ed‪.‬

Among professions, the Army Profession has unique characteristics because of the lethality of our operations. The Nation tasks the Army to do many things besides combat operations, but ultimately the primary reason the Army exists is to fight and win the Nation's wars through prompt and sustained land combat, as part of the joint force. The Army must always be prepared to accomplish this mission through the application of lethal force. The uniformed members accept unlimited personal liability, knowing that they may lose their lives to accomplish their mission. The moral implications of this for Soldiers are great and compel them to be diligent in their understanding of what it means to be an Army professional. 


The Army exists to serve the American people, protect enduring national interests, and fulfill the nation's military responsibilities. Fulfilling these purposes relies on capable leaders who embody values based leadership, impeccable character, and professional competence. Leaders require these enduring qualities regardless of the mission or assignment, at all levels, across all cohorts. 


Leadership is the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the organization. As an element of combat power, leadership unifies the other elements of combat power (information, mission command, movement and maneuver, intelligence, fires, sustainment and protection). Confident, competent, and informed leadership intensifies the effectiveness of the other elements of combat power. 


Unit training and leader development are the Army's life-blood. Army leaders train units to be versatile. Units and leaders master individual and collective tasks required to execute the unit's designed capabilities and accomplish its mission. Leader development involves recruiting, accessing, developing, assigning, promoting, broadening, and retaining the best leaders, while challenging them over time with greater responsibility, authority and accountability. 


This is the second printing of The Leader's SMARTbook, 4th Rev. Ed. (TLS4), featuring updated lay-flat binding with spine in place of the original plastic-comb binding (first printing: ISBN 978-1-935886-38-9). 


This is the fourth revised edition of The Leader's SMARTbook, fully incorporating the Aug 2012 versions of ìADP/ADRP 6-22, Army Leadership) and ADP/ADRP 7-0, Training Units and Developing Leaders, along with up-to-date material from the latest Army Doctrine 2015 leadership and training references to include ADP 1, ADRP 1, ADP/ADRP 3-0, ADP/ADRP 5-0, ADP/ADRP 6-0, and ATP 6-22.1.