- Author
- Book reviewer
- Subjects
- Biographies and personal histories, Book reviews
- Tags
- None noted.
- RAN Ships
- None noted.
- Publication
- March 2024 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)
Gordon’s Nuggets: The Principles of War and How They Help in Love, Life & Work by Gordon Ramsay.The book is now available through the Society’s website shop and all good booksellers. Including postage to an Australian address $35: including postage to an overseas address $50
Gordon Ramsay, a retired naval officer, management consultant and member of the Society, recently fulfilled a long-held goal and published his manifesto on how one might lead a fulfilling and successful life. His work, Gordon’s Nuggets combines all the experience of his life with lessons from a multitude of other sources and is in words of the publishers below, ‘it is a kind of cook book – for life’. Perhaps the book all young people starting out in their career or small business should read.
The book is in three parts; ‘Personal’ ‘Leadership and Management’ which one would expect in such a book but Part 3 ‘Principles of War’ is quite unusual.
The reason lies in Gordon’s posting as a warfare instructor at HMAS Watson during his naval career. Gordon became an ‘ardent proponent of the Principles of War as guidelines for success in life as well as war’ and he describes Admiral Lord Nelson’s use of the Principles ‘during his amazing career’ as a great example of their application.
This is a book people might read because it relates time-honoured and field-tested values and principles to the trials and challenges of everyday life; just as importantly it speaks the lessons of those principles in the kind voice of a man who has taught them and tested them in military life and then over long years employed them in his life and in his successful practice as a management consultant. Here are values you can trust, interpreted by a human you can trust. You’d read this for its hard-won wisdom and its author’s gentle humanity and long life experience. This is a rainy afternoon by a fire; this is not a lecture or a call to arms. This is NOT the other Gordon Ramsay. But it is a kind of cook book, but for life, not for the kitchen.
His book is full of many thoughtful and often amusing anecdotes covering the full spectrum of his ‘Nuggets’ in which he expands upon the concept of leadership learned in the navy with the psychological understanding emphasized in management training schools. He finally ties this together with practical anecdotes to demonstrate the effectiveness of these concepts, skillfully using examples from the likes of Winston Churchill and Harry Truman to the contemporary Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.
Officiating at the book launch in December 2023 was Rear Admiral the Hon. Peter Sinclair, AC, AO. Gordon’s association with the then Commander Sinclair dates to 1971 when they served in HMAS Duchess as Commanding Officer and Executive Officer. Together they took the ship out of refit in February, worked her up and then deployed for three months to Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Japan. Then followed escort duties for HMAS Sydney during her troop transport deployments to Vung Tau, South Vietnam, in April (5 April) and May (22-23 May) 1971, before returning to Australia.
During his speech at the book launch Admiral Sinclair espoused Gordon Ramsay’s leadership and management skills which contributed to taking Duchess from an ordinary to excellent ship. Duchess was awarded the Otranto Shield for gunnery excellence and was also a close contender for the Duke of Gloucester’s Cup.