General Colin Powell’s Rules:
1. It ain’t as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning.
2. Get mad, then get over it.
3. Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.
4. It can be done!
5. Be careful what you choose. You may get it.
6. Don’t let adverse facts stand in the way of a good decision.
7. You can’t make someone else’s choices. You shouldn’t let someone else make yours.
8. Check small things.
9. Share credit.
10. Remain calm. Be kind.
11. Have a vision. Be demanding.
12. Don’t take counsel of your fears or naysayers.
13. Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.
I woke up at 3am on the morning of my 38th birthday with a persistent muse (which was preceded by a persistent co-sleeping 3 year old and a hungry 3 week old wanting second breakfast).
I want to consider a concept that has been in much of my reading, thought, and discussion lately. It is a concept that has spiritual connotations for some, but whose value in application for the military leader is indispensable.
Gratitude. I believe it’s time we place a higher premium on gratefulness as a leadership trait.
U.S. Army Maj. Paul Bollenbacher shakes hands with a Si Av village resident from the Bawka district in Farah province, Afghanistan, June 12, 2010. U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Rylan K. Albright.
Link to photo.
Whether you’re battling the crashing waves on Coronado Beach, slogging out mile after mile in the sugar sands of Fort Bragg, or trudging your way up and down the deceptively steep Appalachian Mountains…attending selection for one of America’s elite special operations force units is a gauntlet of physical and mental endurance.
The fitness demands exceed what you could have hoped to train for. You face each day not knowing which of your professional (and personal) talents you’ll be called upon to validate. Your career ambitions…and often your life’s goal…rest on the assessment of operators who have forgotten more about combat than you’ll ever know.
But if you make it through…if they accept you…you’re set. You’re on the team! You can go no higher. And can brag for the rest of your life about how you were “one of them,” earning instant respect in any circle.
…Right?
Special Operations Soldiers conduct a full mission rehearsal in Afghanistan in preparation for a night combat operation April 22, 2013.
U.S. Army photo by Spc. Ryan S. Debooy.
Link to photo.
Updating Your Leadership Arsenal
What parts of your leadership skillset have you not examined, evaluated, and improved lately because you feel like you mastered them long ago?
Maybe, listening to others?…Delegating?…Leading by example?
Ask yourself if you can afford to neglect those skills as your professional responsibility increases…then change accordingly.
One interesting aspect of hosting The Military Leader is that I get to see the website’s viewership stats. Unlike counterinsurgency, online writing has a clear way to measure results. Google Analytics provides detailed reports on the number and locations of visitors, time spent on pages, number of shares, and lots more data that I don’t get into. (Here’s a post about The Military Leader data.)
What’s neat is when people discover and share some of the older posts, causing a spike in that page’s traffic for a day or two. This happened recently and I found it fascinating that thoughts I had months ago were continuing to provide meaning and value for people. The metaphor to leadership hit me like a truck.
In his search to be a great leader, the young centurion sought out the Republic’s veteran warrior. Looking up from his labor, the sage spoke:
“I know not what beats beneath your tunic, but what I saw in a leader from foot soldiers to proconsul is thus:
One who makes drill bloodless combat and combat bloody drill…
One who disciplines the offense and not the offenders…
One whose heart is with the Legion and whose loyalty is to the Republic…
One who seeks the companionship of the long march and not the privilege of position…
One whose commission is assigned from above and confirmed from below…
One who knows the self and, therefore, is true to all…
One who seeks to serve and not to be served…
This is the one who leads best of all.”
I learned an important lesson on the first day of my new command in a headquarters company in 2007. I had already commanded a rifle company and thought that I had pretty much honed the skills needed to succeed again. (Maybe I was giving myself too much credit?…a topic for another post.) The change of command ceremony concluded and I walked into my new office to find my First Sergeant waiting. He said, “Sir, do you have a few minutes?” “Of course,” I replied.
What followed was one of the most enabling and professionally developing exchanges I’ve had in my entire career. Yes, this First Sergeant is exceptionally talented and would teach me more about leadership than any other NCO I’ve worked with, but the conversation was powerful because he and I synchronized how we would lead the company together. We discussed everything from combat to family readiness to weight control. We spent hours together that day and set the tone for success because we got aligned from day one.
Today, I think back on that experience and realize that I would’ve been a fool NOT to have had that conversation, and that there are actually a few more areas in the military leader’s life where a frank and honest conversation is necessary to enable success.
Command Sgt. Maj. Frank A. Grippe, command senior enlisted leader for U.S. Central Command, speaks with soldiers of Apache Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, on a foot patrol in the Panjwaâi district of southern Afghanistan, Sept. 22, 2012. Grippe visited the soldiers as part of his visit to Regional Command (South).
Link to photo.
