Notwithstanding your generation or your state of life – student, new hire, young professional, captain of industry, buck private, or general – this book will enrich your mind and ignite the spiritual forces of your leadership.  Jan Rutherford is at once a fire-hardened leader, an inspiring storyteller, and a contemplative scholar.  His treatment of Self-Reliant Leadership is the hypergolic fuel that will move you and your organization from excellence to extraordinary, from success to significance.

–Joseph A. “Bud” Ahearn, Major General U.S. Air Force (Retired), CH2M HILL vice chairman, emeritus

In this compact and meaty volume, Rutherford helps readers learn how to play the cards that life deals.  The author models his principles of perseverance, determination, education and centrally, self-reliance.  In so doing, he encourages us all to do the same.  With an engaging style, Rutherford creates a confluence of Emerson’s self-reliance, Thoreau’s reflective seclusion, Socrates’ self-awareness, and Sparta’s discipline.  Readers are rewarded with a relatively unvarnished life’s story filled with memorable and inspiring episodes.

–James Clawson, Johnson & Higgins Professor of Business Administration, The Darden School, University of Virginia, author of “Level Three Leadership”

An honest and affecting memoir full of practical real-world experience, inspiring characters, and hard-scrabble insights you can take to work tomorrow. The Littlest Green Beret may be structured like the best business leadership books, but Rutherford’s casual, plainspoken, and on occasion painfully candid telling of his own story is much more fun than that – like sitting around a campfire with a scrappy, sensible guy who has lived life to the fullest and cannot help but share.

–J.D. Kleinke, Health care executive, entrepreneur, and author

Jan Rutherford has done an outstanding job using his experiences to teach leadership traits.

–Ola L. Mize, Colonel U.S. Army (Retired), Medal of Honor Recipient, Korea

I have worked with Jan for a number of years in the University of Colorado at Denver MBA program. Jan is definitely one of the most committed, passionate and knowledgeable teachers and practitioners of leadership and management I have worked with. I highly recommend Jan as an instructor and course director for a wide variety of topics and would be happy to discuss my feelings via a personal contact. Also, I was a Department Head/Professor at a number of Universities including Northwestern University, the Illinois Institute of Technology and the United States Air Force Academy and have seen many instructors.

–Jim Downey, VP of Global Learning and Organizational Development, CH2M HILL

Jan arrived at Micromedex after I had retired although I have known him in various business settings since 2003. He was instrumental in developing a leadership training program and strengthening strategic planning with tangible results. He is a very gifted teacher and mentor. Most impressive is his abiity to listen and then to dissect issues into sizes that can be examined and addressed. He has developed many individuals who are now successful in various areas of business. It is impressive following his work in the development of people and processes that are aimed at business success with clear financial objectives. Students will benefit from his engaging style and leadership by example. He is clearly an asset to any organization.

–Barry Rumack, Former President, CEO and Founder, Micromedex