Leadership Lessons from the US Military
Yesterday, as part of its leadership seminar series, my company hosted senior officers from each of four branches of the United States Armed Forces: Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Our speakers are spending a year as National Security Fellows at Stanford’s Hoover Institution. What can businessmen aiming for profit learn from warriors charged with defending our unique American freedoms on the battlefield? Plenty.
Three lessons stand out for me:
1) An authentic leader is passionate about the mission. Our soldiers’ passion is defending the United States of America. Business missions are more diverse—you may be about building the best company, engineering the best product, or serving the customers on your route better than anyone else. But your mission always comes first, and you’d better have some genuine passion about it if you expect others to follow you.
2) Credibility is essential, takes a lifetime to earn and a moment to throw away. Subordinates will listen to what you say but always compare your words to what you do and who you are. Hone authenticity and earn credibility if you expect to lead. Guess what? This is hard work—no shortcuts.
3) Leadership is mainly about service. It’s not about you; it is about your mission and your people. To be effective, solicit input from your subordinates and work hard at mentoring them—the goal is to enable your juniors to one day fill your shoes. Needless to say, most Hollywood treatments of military culture entirely miss this dynamic.
I would sign up to follow these men anywhere. Our sons and daughters are in good hands, as is our country’s security.
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Comments :
Jul '10
Re: Leadership Lessons from the US Military
George, you and I posted simultaneously.
I respect your admiration for those soldiers, but suggest that the further up the military hierarchy one goes these days, the more the tendency on the part of some "leaders" to shove their subordinates under the bus.
Oct '10
Re: Leadership Lessons from the US Military
What about the stupdity of Generals during WWI ? The trench warfare tactics of "going over the top" and running into machine gun fire for the same real estate that you lost yesterday was insanity. I've always wondered about the credibility of an authentic captain blowing the whistler ordering another wave.
Jun '10
Re: Leadership Lessons from the US Military
These men, maybe. But my experience was these kinds of men were few, far between, and rarely promoted. Maybe they should take these leaders off the promotional tour and give them a command somewhere.
Re: Leadership Lessons from the US Military
Many of the audience questions yesterday dealt with just the issues Kenneth and REL raise. Indeed, I wager that all of the officers present would have agreed with a more general version of the critique. No large, hierarchical organization is perfect--the Army alone has 1.2 million employees. Heck, once upon a time my small start-up was acquired by a larger corporation--tiny by Army standards. I was immediately terrified by all the dysfunction I saw around me. Nevertheless, the company was the top performing firm in its industry, a tribute to its focus on executing the mission and getting the most important things right.
Incidentally, all of the officers I met yesterday were recently in command of combat units. They were selected by the military for a year of continuing education at Hoover, a significant opportunity as I understand these matters.