If you’re a natural leader, God bless you. I’d like to sit down with you over chow some day and learn your secrets. Because for me, leadership is more a continuum – a quality that’s passed down from Marine to Marine.
I’ve been learning since I came on active duty back in 1968… and in those 44(!) years I’ve learned from more Marines than I can possibly list in this short post. But when I talk to Marines (and others) about leadership, I usually select one particular officer’s wisdom to share.
Lieutenant General John Sattler, who had a long and distinguished career as a Marine, often says that when he writes a book, it’ll be titled “Making It Without Talent,” and each chapter will cover a leadership trait or principle that he picked up from great leaders, subordinates, and mentors he met during his 37-year career.
Here are a few highlights.
Clear intent.
Take the time to develop and issue clear commander’s intent (purpose-method-end state). Update your intent constantly as the environment changes and new information becomes available.Build a winning hand.
Any fool can take the hand they are dealt and dis-card until they’ve drawn a winning hand. The consummate commander can take the hand he or she is dealt and teach, coach, and mentor it into a winning hand. Of course, you’ve also got to be willing to recognize that some cards will never work; dis-card decisively and with integrity. And when you do, remove that card from the deck – don’t pass it to someone else.Develop a code of accountability.
Hold yourself and others accountable, not only for actions, but often more importantly for lack of action. And if someone always has an excuse or deflects the blame… remember what I said about dis-carding.Recognize and publicly reward truly great performance.
Commanders who don’t pass down the glory are perceived to be keeping it for themselves. At the same time, be cautious not to bestow accolades for routine performance that meets the high standards that are otherwise required in our business.Punish poor performance in private.
Face it: Group ass-chewings are cowardly, and they undermine the respect every leader must earn.Never be the smartest person in the room.
A brilliant commander does not need a staff. All he needs is a biographer to capture and record his brilliance for the ages. But a good staff must feel needed… that they are contributing and appreciated for their work and ideas. The first time a commander crushes input as “dumb” or responds, “I already knew that,” it will humiliate the individual and silence the staff. Encourage thoughtful discourse.Selfless service is the only kind that works.
Every Commander must look up the word “selfless” and the word “selfish” and write down the definitions. They are about an inch apart in the dictionary… and in this sense leadership is question of inches. That inch separates the self-aggrandizing, hated, authoritarian, ineffective leader from the self-effacing, respected, effective, persuasive leader.Disagreement is not disrespect.
Commanders must establish a climate where discourse is the norm. To not disagree in a respectful manner is disrespect. The commander must be told when his idea stinks or there’s a better way to do something. A Yes-man will get a commander fired.Empower subordinates.
Cell phone and e-mail leadership is contributing to a culture of non-decision makers. “I’ll be on leave, but CALL ME if anything comes up that requires a decision.” Remote leadership is the highest form of micromanagement.Enthusiasm is a must.
If you cannot convey energy and enthusiasm, do not take command!Have a sense of humor.
If you have one, show it. If you do not have one, find one. Humor is a great tool to relieve tension (even in combat) and to assist in the learning process. Certainly don’t act the fool or be the class clown, but failing to show your human side (as with an occasional smile) will limit that important discourse I mentioned above.Lose the personal pronouns ‘I’ and ‘Me’. Replace with “we”, “us”, and “they.” The only time “I” and “me” are appropriate is when taking the blame for something that went badly. “If you are looking for a butt to chew, boss, look no farther than me!” They did a fantastic job … we hit it out of the park.
And finally – LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERY DAY - TEACH SOMEONE EVERY DAY - MAKE SOMEONE SMILE EVERY DAY.
Semper Fidelis,
H