The Need to Lead: A Topgun Instructor's Lessons on How Leadership Solves Every Challenge

In this third book in the Extreme Ownership series, a retired fighter pilot and TOPGUN instructor, now serving as the Chief Development Officer at Echelon Front, teaches readers the importance of leadership and how to implement it.

The Need to Lead invokes the classic Top Gun movie quote. It is also an undeniable truth that author Dave Berke experienced as a Marine Corps officer, fighter pilot, TOPGUN instructor, ground combat leader, husband, and father. This book, based on his experiences in combat and TOPGUN training as well as his teachings at Echelon Front, helps readers be better leaders and understand that leadership is a universal requirement for success, no matter the environment.

By adopting the right leadership mindsets and behaviors, we gain the capacity to solve problems, support the people around us, and amend our mistakes. How do we develop these necessary skills? By embracing the principles imparted to Berke from each humbling moment in the cockpit:

* EVERYONE IS A LEADER: From the CEO to the most junior employee, everyone at every level, is a leader. Leadership isn't about rank, title, position, or function. The more people see themselves as leaders, the more they want to contribute to the team's success.

* LEADERSHIP EXISTS IN EVERY CAPACITY: Leadership is often viewed as an attribute relevant to our professional lives, but it exists in every capacity, it applies in every situation. The same behaviours should guide us as parents, spouses, family members, and friends of all kinds.

* EVERY PROBLEM WE FACE IS A LEADERSHIP PROBLEM: The problems we confront at work aren't caused by external factors. They are caused by our failure to lead. If a lack of leadership is the problem, and good leadership is the solution, then how we lead becomes the most critical factor affecting the outcome.

* LEADERSHIP IS A SKILL: Good leaders aren't simply born. Leadership can be learned, which means every single person in the world can get better at it if they choose. This book is their guide.

*And much more!

Through compelling stories from TOPGUN training and combat to the boardroom and at home, Berke gives readers the necessary tools to succeed.

Author: Dave Berke
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 10/21/2025
Pages: 288
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.05lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.40w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9781250361639


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 08/22/2025 pg. 1

About the Author
DAVE BERKE is a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer, fighter pilot, and ground combat leader. A seasoned F/A-18 Hornet pilot, Dave deployed twice aboard aircraft carriers in support of combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. He became an Instructor Pilot at TOPGUN, where he qualified in the F-16 Fighting Falcon and served as the Training Officer, the senior instructor at TOPGUN. He went on to serve as a Forward Air Controller, become the only Marine ever to fly the F-22 Raptor, and command the world's first F-35B squadron. Since transitioning from the military, Dave has continued to apply his leadership expertise as the Chief Development Officer at Echelon Front, where he advises, instructs, and speaks on leadership and personal growth.