Book Review: Intrusive Leadership by Marcus A. Canady

BLUF: No other leadership tool has a greater long-term influence on shaping someone’s life than Intrusive Leadership.

Executive Summary

Intrusive Leadership is a vital leadership style that is appropriate, practical, and effective because intrusive leaders take the initiative and engage. However, no other leadership style is as misunderstood or less studied. Author Marcus A. Canady offers a thoughtful analysis of the concept, including its origins and its most valuable applications. Through storytelling, the author illustrates how Intrusive Leadership, when applied properly with the right amount of care and concern, can change lives, influence the direction of entire organizations, and prepare leaders for the complex challenges of the future.

The Content

Poised as the first and only book to examine a lesser-known leadership concept, Intrusive Leadership offers the framework for readers to understand its background and how it applies in different situations. Through 25 chapters divided into seven parts, the author takes readers on a journey from his early years as a United States Coast Guard Academy graduate and aviator to later years when he was leading a large organization in a natural disaster-prone area of the United States, and he describes Intrusive Leadership with clarity along the way.

Part One begins by introducing the idea of Intrusive Leadership, describing it as a leadership style that all leaders in any organization should adopt. The chapters in Part One also explore difficult topics as a foundation for the importance of Intrusive Leadership: extremely tough life situations, including injustice, and a review of the author’s earlier work that helped start his writing career and led him to further explore leadership applications.

In Part Two, the author presents challenges with Intrusive Leadership and offers two specific and notable examples of when he first learned of the concept. In Part Three, the author formally defines Intrusive Leadership and draws upon examples of how it can successfully be applied in the workplace. Part Three also outlines the characteristics of Intrusive Leadership, such as Trust, Emotional Intelligence, Committed Effort, Active Listening, and Transparency, and thoroughly details each.

Part Four argues that Intrusive Leadership is not only positive but also desired by those being led. This section of the book provides six clear examples of how Intrusive Leadership can be applied, including during counseling sessions, opportune moments and times, and even up the chain of command. Part Five also introduces a leadership application technique, named in part in honor of a fellow military officer and Air Force pilot, who expertly demonstrated Intrusive Leadership in the most rudimentary form, which proved highly effective.

Part Five discusses the benefits of using Intrusive Leadership. It begins with employee satisfaction, leadership effectiveness, and one of the more meaningful benefits — addressing the issue of suicide, which has become a leadership challenge in the armed forces. Part Six shows how Intrusive Leadership can be applied to other sectors, such as Law Enforcement, Coaching, Teaching, and corporate America.

Part Seven ends with a challenge to reflect on leadership styles and consider how Intrusive Leadership might be used in the workplace. It discusses the idea of accountability and argues that Intrusive Leadership could become the norm. It also presents a strong “why,” suggesting that it may be the act of Intrusive Leadership that impacts someone for the rest of their life.

Ten Insightful Quotes from the Book

1. On emotional intelligence: “A person with cognitive empathy understands how a person’s life experiences can impact a person’s decision calculus.”

2. On listening: “Do not underestimate the impact on someone when you are able to provide them with that sense of being heard when they are going through a difficult moment.”

3. On support: “People don’t just want to feel valued and supported; they need it.”

4. On hurt: “Employees will always remember when the company wasn’t there for them.”

5. On authority: “Simply having the leadership position doesn’t automatically mean people will trust you.”

6. On insight: “Before leaders get employees to understand the why, leaders must understand the who.”

7. On retention: “Any discussion about how to retain quality talent must include how that talent is led.”

8. On morale: “Companies and organizations that place a priority on employee satisfaction will win in the global competitive environment.”

9. On trust: “People enter organizations with varying levels of organizational trust as a result of their collective life experiences.”

10. On accountability: “If people aren’t held accountable for leading in the manner that has been communicated as the expected standard, then it will never be truly part of the organizational culture.”

The Wrap-Up: Why You Should Read Intrusive Leadership

As a lifelong student of leadership, the concept of Intrusive Leadership isn’t often discussed or written about. Even after earning a doctorate in leadership studies, the idea still felt unfamiliar at first glance. However, as I read the book and turned its pages, it became more relatable. Marcus Canady offers many examples of how Intrusive Leadership is not only easy to understand but also effectively applied. And although it might initially seem more aggressive, it actually isn’t.

Reflecting on my own leadership experience — leading crews on warships and on the ground overseas — I couldn’t help but recall how showing a little more interest in our troops might have actually changed the outcome for us. As I read the book’s pages, I was surprised to realize that many of our actions as a leadership team closely aligned with the concept. And while that may partly be due to having deployed alongside U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officers who embody the principle, we had been collectively practicing Intrusive Leadership all along, instinctively. And it worked really well for us!

Intrusive Leadership involves proactively supporting your team, which is why you should read this book: because it works. To be clear, not only does Intrusive Leadership work, but it’s also the right thing to do. It’s more than just being in the right place at the right time; it’s about showing the right level of interest in the right circumstances. This applies not only to the right people at the right time but also to everyone, with the appropriate effort level. From a leadership perspective, it simply makes sense to approach it this way.

Marcus Canady wrote this book for anyone interested in expanding their leadership toolkit and curious to learn how a new approach is not only effective, but also quite fundamental when you strip it down to its basics. It was also meant for another audience: those struggling to understand the “why” behind a situation. In the author’s case, he didn’t just want to understand the “why,” he wrote a book about it. Maybe that’s extreme, but it’s a good reminder that you have the power within to explore and act. That’s what Marcus Canady did, and his work has helped grow the field of leadership as a result.

About the Book’s Author

Marcus A. Canady has spent over two decades on active duty in the US military as a helicopter pilot conducting life-saving missions and law enforcement operations. In addition to hundreds of lives saved and over $250 million of illegal narcotics seized, he has spent countless number of hours leading, developing, and mentoring men and women. Having been a beneficiary of excellent leadership and mentoring throughout his life, he has turned his passion into a calling to help other leaders add to their leadership toolkit. Marcus A. Canady graduated the US Coast Guard Academy in 2000, completed Naval Aviation Flight Training in 2003, and completed graduate school at Duquesne University, Syracuse University, and the National War College in Washington, DC. He is the son of Allen and Linda Canady, the husband of Angelisse Canady, and the father to three amazing children.

Follow Marcus A. Canady on LinkedIn

Book details

Intrusive Leadership
Publisher: Curry Brothers Publishing LLC (March 15, 2025)
ISBN-10: 1966480083
ISBN-13: ‎ 978–1966480082

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As a leader and educator, I enjoy learning, sharing, reading, and writing, which are some of my passions. Besides my love for writing, I also write to share leadership lessons. Therefore, with every book I read and summarize, I consider how its content can be applied to teams and organizations, seeking impactful insights and quotes while identifying the right audience. I actively look for opportunities to apply what I’ve learned from each book and share that knowledge to improve myself, my teams, colleagues, peers, and anyone else working toward personal and professional growth with me.

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