Leadership 101

I’m asked, at times, what made me successful both in the Army and after leaving military service, taking over an organization fraught with union-management issues. I always harken back to the twenty seven years I spent in the Army where, almost unbeknownst to me, I learned a lot about leadership. The concept of leadership is a not as easily explained because it truly depends on the individual leader and the people being led. All that being said I know leadership when I see it and most especially when I don’t.

We recently had a leadership retreat where we put some of the subordinate supervisors through some leadership training. I presented a lesson where I highlighted what I believed to be the precepts of good leadership, taken from both my time in uniform and since:

Set the Example - a good leader is always being evaluated by those he/she leads and should model the behavior under scrutiny at least to the standards subordinates are held to.

Take care of subordinates – one of the most important aspects of my success has been enabling subordinates to make a hero out of me by overachieving themselves. A leader has to know his people, what’s important to them and do everything within his power to insure those needs are met so they can be successful.

Don’t Play Favorites – you’ll always have subordinates you like better than others, that’s basic human nature, but a leader has to hold everyone to the same standard. A cardinal sin in leadership is unfairness and a label almost impossible to shed once subordinates have assigned it to you

Don’t walk by a mistake – this is corollary to setting the example. If a leader sees something he/she knows is wrong and doesn’t address the issue, he/she has failed. The weak-minded subordinates will interpret this to mean that standards have been lowered while the stronger ones will rightfully question their own efforts. Perception can become reality very quickly in any situation the leader is involved in because, as I noted above, subordinates are continuously evaluating a leader

Make decisions – this is one of the most common failures I see in civilian leaders. Subordinates will come to you with problems and expect you to resolve them. I was surprised when one of the early comments I heard from my civilian employees was that while they didn’t always like the decisions I made, at least I made them. People do not like uncertainty and this serves as fertile ground for the bad ones to sow discontent.

Focus at least one level above – Everyone has a boss. If an organization is going to be successful the leader of that organization needs to understand what’s important to that boss one level above.  

Confident but not arrogant – A leader has to have the confidence in his/her ability to lead or to at least project an image of self-assurance (perception = reality). Some of the worst leaders I saw in the military were ones of believed themselves incapable of error and refused to acknowledge any fallibility. One should never invest too heavily in received praise such as a performance evaluation.

Communicate – A critical aspect to leadership is the ability to effectively and quickly communicate what is expected of subordinates and the standards they must meet. There are very few mind readers out there.

Honest – You can’t get around this one and it’s actually the easiest standard to meet. Never, ever lie to subordinates. The truth has this pesky, almost infallible, ability to eventually come out and once a leader’s lies are revealed he/she is finished.

So granddaughters, when you read this in a couple decades I hope it offers you some insight into the mystery of leadership or at least my poor attempt to capture what I have learned. I offer it because I have it on good authority you both will be called upon to lead early in your adult lives. Quality is hard to miss, even at your very young ages.

Wife with one of those Las Lajas Sunsets

Pillow on Condo Couch Says it All

My wife continues to enjoy her tropical sojourn at our condo in Las Lajas. She’s had the builders in over the past week to address some of the things we noted on a punch list to correct and is very happy with the results. She’s also hosted her mom, her aunt, and starting last night her younger sister, so they’re having a lot of fun. Friends and family up here were pissed at me for the continuous photos when I was down there while they suffered through a polar vortex in January will be happy to learn she’s doing the same thing to me now. One that shows a Panamanian eagle stopping for a rest on the beach showers in front of the condo. I can’t wait to get back there.

Eagle Stop

View from Condo Balcony