West Point graduate pens leadership book
When Butler native Evan H. Offstein was a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point, he didn't envision himself writing a book illuminating the experience.
It wasn't until the 1990 Butler High School graduate was pursuing a doctorate in business at Virginia Tech, about the time energy giant Enron Corp. collapsed in scandal, that he recognized a need for a book about ethics, specifically in business.
"Professors were asking me, 'How would West Point deal with something like (Enron)?'" Offstein recalled.
In response, the former business leader and current college professor wrote "Stand Your Ground: Building Honorable Leaders the West Point Way," published by Preager-Greenwood.
Other books address the leadership breakdowns making news today, but Offstein's book shows why the methods taught at West Point are applicable in the business field.
By way of research, he made several trips to West Point and one of those times was granted on-post access to the school he had graduated from in 1994.
"I think I relearned a lot of things and that's sad," Offstein said. "I had forgotten some of the things because it wasn't front and center, basic things like awareness. They do a very good job of cultivating awareness."
Offstein said West Point also keeps things simple, as in the Cadet Honor Code, which states: "A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal or tolerate those who do."
While his research began at West Point, he also interviewed about 100 successful business leaders who had no association the military academy.
"They attributed their success to their honorable leadership," Offstein said.
"Over the long haul, those that practice honorable leadership do better. That's because it's tough to manufacture trust. It doesn't matter how much you know or how much you do, it's who you are, your character, that matters."
After two years of research and trips to the academy on the Hudson, Offstein's book came out earlier this year. Now he is enjoying accolades for his work. He recently found out the book would be going into its second printing. Additionally, Virginia Tech's Corps of Cadets has chosen the book as mandatory reading to help build leaders of character in the junior class there.
No one is more proud, however, than his family, including his brother Jody, who also graduated from West Point.
"I think there was a great amount of research done, and it's great to have a kind of self-help book with stories of real people," Jody said.
"In the business world, there's a lot of people that don't stand their ground, and if you don't have a good footing in your own ethics, your business relationships will suffer, your overall business won't be as successful, and if it's a service, your end user won't get the appropriate service."
Evan Offstein now teaches in the department of management at Frostburg State University in Maryland. He lives in Frostburg with his wife, another West Point graduate, and their two children. He is the son of Alan and Patti Offstein of Butler.
Still, you can take the boy out of Butler, but somehow it always finds him.
"Wherever I've been, at West Point or at Corning or at Frostburg, there seem to have always been some people from Western Pennsylvania," Offstein said. "We all kind of congregate."
<b>WHAT: </b>"Stand Your Ground: Building Honorable Leaders the West Point Way" by former Butler resident Evan H. Offstein. Published this year by Preager-Greenwood.<b>WHERE:</b> Available online from Amazon or Barnes and Noble. A copy to borrow is available at Butler Public Library.<b>COST: </b>$34.95 for the hardcover book
