Advice on Conduct Toward Friends and Enemies
23 There is a supreme rule of conduct required in these good men-at-arms…they should be humble among their friends, proud and bold against their foes, tender and merciful toward those who need assistance, cruel avengers against their enemies, pleasant and amiable with all others, for the men of worth tell you that you should not converse at any length nor hold speech with your enemies, for you should bear in mind that they do no speak to you for your own good but to draw out of you what they can use to do you the greatest harm.
Speak of the achievements of others but not of your own, and do not be envious of others. Above all, avoid quarrels, for a quarrel with one’s equal is dangerous, a quarrel with someone higher in rank is madness, and a quarrel with someone lower in rank is a vile thing, but a quarrel with a folk or a drunk is an even viler thing.
And make sure that you do not praise your own conduct nor criticize too much that of others. Do not desire to take away another’s honor, but, above all else, safeguard your own. Be sure that you do not despise poor men or those lesser in rank than you, for there are many poor men who are of greater worth than the rich.
The Fort Benning summer heat baked around us as a crusty Sergeant First Class shared sage advice from his long career in the Infantry. He was the senior trainer at the Infantry Officer Basic Course, tasked with imparting leadership and combat wisdom upon the Army’s freshest crop of Lieutenants. We, being that group of new Lieutenants, knew almost nothing about life in the Army and hung on his every word.
The experienced trainer talked about foot marching, “Listen, men…you’re gonna walk a lot of miles during your career as a grunt. And it’s time to start toughening up your feet.” He relayed his methods for ensuring his feet could take him as far as he needed to go:
“Wear your boots as often as possible…hell, I wear my combat boots out to dinner with my wife. You can put on foot powder before a march, if you want. I don’t. And I don’t wear socks because I want those calluses to stay tough, like leather.”
We followed his advice…and we all got blisters.
Noncommissioned officers conduct a ruck march during an NCO Development Program event at
Smith Lake Recreation Area, Fort Bragg, N.C. May 11, 2012.
Link to photo.
One of the constants of military life is the cyclic change of scenery and organizations. While this iterative churning serves many purposes, it has a clear drawback in that with each new assignment, leaders and subordinates must learn to work with each other. What should be a simple task, managing group dynamics distracts from more pressing issues at hand and is often in conflict with other priorities.
Perhaps it is precisely because of these other demands that what I’m about to propose is not widely used in most organizations. What if it were possible to bridge that psychological gap more quickly and reduce the friction between leaders and their teams? Can we accelerate Tuckman’s Form-Storm-Norm-Perform cycle of organizational development? We can.
U.S. Army Second Lt. Mark Lucas, a platoon leader with the 82nd Airborne Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team, briefs his soldiers before a logistics resupply mission July 8, 2012, at Forward Operating Base Arian, Ghazni Province, Afghanistan.
U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod, Task Force 1-82 PAO.
The Military Times recently published an article discussing the usefulness of the 360 degree reviews in assessing leaders. This study (which was not included in the article) concluded that 360 degree reviews “probably should not be used as a part of the formal military evaluation and promotion process.” It cited “a long list of legal, cultural and practical concerns…(and that) Stakeholders were overwhelmingly against using the tool for evaluation.”
Given the integration and widespread use of performance feedback tools, this topic is clearly relevant. This year the Defense Entrepreneurs Forum asked its followers and readers to offer their opinion.
Here is my take.
Nathan Wike is an officer in the U.S. Army, and an associate member of the Military Writer’s Guild. The opinions expressed are his alone, and do not reflect those of the U.S. Army, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.
If you enter my office you would see what I call my propaganda wall. From the top of my desk to almost the ceiling I have taped up various quotes that inspire me. Closer to my computer, I have a printed slide of our organizational priorities and a broad list of tasks that frame what I do day-to-day.
On this wall of words, there is one piece of paper that is different from the others. Rather than being neatly printed, this one is a mix of printed text and my handwriting using various colored pens. The title across the top of this unique document, which garners both laughter and respect from those who see it, is: Phil’s Self-Limiting Career Behaviors.
Cpl Peyton L. Simmons, a scout sniper with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit’s Ground Combat Element, Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, sites through an M-110 Semi-Automatic Sniper System, or SASS, during a Visit, Board, Search and Seizure exercise at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., July 17, 2014.
Photo by LCpl Dani A. Zunun.
Mentorship in the military is one of those concepts that everyone agrees with but almost no one does. Plenty of up and coming leaders get advice from commanders, senior leaders, and enlisted advisors, but seldom does the intensity of influence extend beyond the time served together or delve into areas of personal development.
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Jo Marie Rivera, left, and U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Rebecca Hamby provide security in the Tarnek Wa Jaldek district in Afghanistan’s Zabul province, Sept. 18, 2013.
U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Kandi Huggins
As a follow-up to Part 1 in the Habit Series from Marshall Goldsmith’s “Twenty Habits that Hold You Back from the Top,” let’s take a look at why military leaders are routinely addicted to winning, which turns out to be both helpful and potentially destructive.
A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft assigned to the 18th Aggressor Squadron takes off for a sortie at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, Oct. 15, 2014, during Red Flag-Alaska 15-1. (
Link to DoD photo by Senior Airman Peter Reft, U.S. Air Force/Released)
