Late in my tenure as an Army Officer (probably when I was a Major General around the year 2000), I found myself being asked about and required to speak about leadership in front of groups and classes. Of course, the Army is a leadership factory and publishes many documents regarding the subject. It also teaches seemingly endless leadership classes in its many professional development schools and courses. The same is true for the other Military Services — the Air Force, Navy, Marines, and Space Force. Nonetheless, when asked about or teaching leadership myself, I almost always had to revert to “you’ll know it when you see it” positions. I learned that specifics of leadership are pretty hard to specify.
So 20 years ago, I wrote down my eight “Fundamental Leadership First Principles” involving “how to stuff” that I had learned since my first leadership experiences as a second lieutenant patrolling the East-West German border during the Cold War. That said, my sense is that all these principles apply across the board from individuals, through small units and organizations, to large million Servicemember Joint formations or even businesses.
Even though I had not written the principles down earlier, I learned about them through hard experiences and used them throughout my career, including my final assignment as Commander of Combined Korean and American Military Forces in Korea from 2006 to 2008. So, let’s take a look at them. And please know that when I use the word “he,” I am referring to both men and women.
What is Leadership?
I’ve decided that leadership is defined as follows: Determining what has to be done and articulating it as a mission for the organization; figuring out what is right and wrong (this is crucial) along the path to mission accomplishment; making decisions based on that understanding; taking decisive personal and directive action toward the mission’s accomplishment; and seeing those decisions through to successful mission completion, while assuming the same physical and mental risks and trials as your subordinates. If you do all this stuff, the organization will almost always follow and achieve great results. That’s my definition of leadership. Of course you must do all this with a “can-do” personal attitude and always exude confidence and enthusiasm. Look worried and your subordinates will be worried also!
Executing leadership is being a leader. What follows are eight “nuggets” that I found crucial (again, some the hard way) in exercising leadership and making decisions. These are mine and you won’t find them published this way anywhere. Perhaps in bits and pieces along the way, but here I present them to you as my fundamental “First Principles” roadmap to leading a small squad or million-man Army; or for that matter a Publix Food Store. I hope you will find them useful.
1.) Establish within your heart your set of values and follow them throughout your life. Determine what is right and what is wrong. Judeo-Christian values are the very best path to this discovery. They will tell you what right looks like. Establish this set of values and live by them. Effective leaders do what’s right every day and all the time. Follow a values-based life. Without a set of values, we do not know if we are doing the right thing and, therefore, we never know if we’re going in the right direction. Subordinates must know that their leader does what’s right and is headed in the right direction. While on active duty, I looked in some sort of reflective surface daily (a mirror when I could find one) and asked myself a simple question, “Did I do what’s right today?” Soon I began to comfortably answer “yes” because I truly believed I was doing so. When faced with an “easy” wrong choice, I’d always stop and say to myself, “Bell, No! Don’t do that! Do what’s right!” You can too!
In Judeo-Christian life, our understanding of values comes from the Old Testament Bible (Jewish Hebrew Bible), and they are based on the Ten Commandments. See my paper entitled “What Right Looks Like” for details regarding Judeo-Christian Values. The U.S. Army expresses its institutional values as the following: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal (physical and moral) courage. In the Army, we try to live by them. I have always felt that these Army values are based on an extraction of Judeo-Christian values and the Ten Commandments. So, that’s where I put my trust and confidence. Again, see my short paper entitled “What Right Looks Like.”
2.) Lead from the front, both physically and philosophically. Assume the same risks as your subordinates. “Do as I say, not as I do” does not work — ever. You must do as I say and as I do! When your troops see you leading from the front and assuming the same risks you are facing, both physically and philosophically, they will follow your example. “Follow Me and Do as I Do” is the motto. When “leading from the front” one must have a positive “can do” attitude and encourage your subordinates to achieve at a level of their maximum capability. Human beings can achieve a lot more both individually and as a team than they ever dreamed. Your capabilities and your subordinates’ capabilities are almost unlimited. I learned this in Ranger School, and it is so very true.
3.) Your subordinates will mimic your actions, so seek the tough jobs, set the example and let them mimic and follow you — they will! Your subordinates and many of those around you will mimic your actions, mannerisms, statements, and personal conduct. Take advantage of this, seek the tough jobs, and lead by example. This puts you in an environment to transfer your values and goals to others. It’s the best way to establish trust between you, your peers, and your subordinates. When you do the right thing, they likely will also. A simple analogy is that if, as a leader, I drink alcohol too much, it is likely my subordinates will also. If I drink in moderation or not at all, my subordinates will likely follow my lead. The same old military leadership saying applies to this principle: “Follow me (in knowing and doing what’s right) and do as I do.”
4.) Issue instructions and guidance as your own. Always issue instructions or guidance as your own, especially when they come from those occasional bosses you don’t like or don’t agree with. If you do not issue instructions as your own, you will be relegated to being “just the messenger” and you will never be viewed as a leader. Your subordinates may not like your instructions and guidance, but knowing that they come from you, they will do their best to achieve the results you’re looking for.
A way to put this is as follows: Here’s the wrong way — “Colonel Smith told me that we must go up the hill and destroy the enemy. I think he’s wrong, but we have to do it anyway since he said so.” Here’s the right way — “Men, our mission is to go up the hill and destroy the enemy. We can do it! Help me figure out the best way.”
Always try to get your boss to understand why you do or don’t like what he is saying or the instructions he is issuing. Try to get him to change his guidance if it does not make sense or if you have a better way, especially if it puts you and your folks at risk physically or mentally. That said, if you can’t lead your outfit to accomplish orders and instructions you still don’t like, instead of blaming your boss, resign or quit the outfit.
5.) Never advance yourself at anyone else’s expense. Never advance yourself (make yourself “look good”) personally at another person’s or organization’s expense. Always advance yourself based on your own successes and accomplishments. Put simply, never “talk down” another person or organization to your boss, especially if he supervises the same person or organization. Don’t “talk down” concerning one of your peer workers or organizations. Of course if the other person is doing something that is clearly wrong, you may have to report it if you can’t get him to fix it; but, never have a hand in advancing yourself or your outfit at the expense of another person.
Here’s what not to do — “Sir, I know you know that Jim’s platoon scored poorly in rifle marksmanship. Just watch, my platoon will do better.” Here’s the right way to say it — “Sir, my platoon is well trained with highly motivated men. I’m confident we will perform superbly in rifle marksmanship.” Leave it at that and go out and do the job superbly! The boss will see the difference between your outfit and Jim’s without your helping him.
6.) Reward subordinates / associates for their excellence, never to gain their favor. If everyone receives a reward, then nobody receives a reward. Reward people for their excellence. Sometimes we try to motivate subordinates by handing out undeserved awards, decorations, and recognitions. Never do this. Ensure your subordinates fully earn their awards, rewards, and recognitions, then publicly acknowledge their accomplishments. Others will see this and work harder to achieve the same recognition. If you reward everyone, soon it will mean nothing and just become the norm. And don’t forget, when you see someone doing well in the workplace, a pat on the back and a simple thank you goes a long way.
7.) Turning your back on a standards failure in your organization sets a new and lower standard. As a leader, turning your back on a standards failure sets a new and lower standard. First, make sure your outfit has clear and well-defined standards for performance and outcomes; then, when you see something that’s wrong, fix it. Hold individuals and the organization to established standards. If you don’t do this, you will have inadvertently set a new and lower standard for your organization. As such, your organization will be on a path to unwanted and unexpected lower expectations and fewer accomplishments.
A simple example of this in the Army is the required use of human ground guides for armored vehicle movement in close and constricted environments. When seeing a tank move around without a ground guide in one of these environments, it is crucial to go to the vehicle and correct the tank commander and driver then and there. “Sergeant Smith, Stop! Get a ground guide. No options!” Otherwise, unsafe operation will become the new, albeit unwritten and unwanted, standard. Someone will needlessly be hurt or killed. Never turn your back on a standards failure.
8.) Never take counsel of your fears. Most importantly regarding fundamental leadership first principles is perhaps found in the American Civil War words of Stonewall Jackson, “Never take counsel of your fears.” As a leader, do not allow your decision-making processes to be sidetracked because you fear failure. All decisions entail risks on the way to achievement. Ensure the decision you are about to make is feasible, get everyone “on the team,” make the decision, supervise execution, achieve the end state, and ensure everyone sees the tangible positive results of their efforts. There are always risks, but do not look back!
For example, all combat operations have a myriad of incorrect and inaccurate inputs during planning and execution. “Intelligence and first reports are always wrong.” These can make you timid and hesitant, which will always — always — lead to failure. Never take counsel of your fears. Move forward, make adjustments in the face of the enemy or difficulties, then accomplish the mission!
Stonewall is said to have had the following conversation with one of his subordinate generals. Subordinate: “I fear we will not find our wagons tonight.” Stonewall: “General, never take counsel of your fears. Go find the wagons!”
One thing we used to say to ourselves in the Army is that “We may be going in the wrong direction, but as long as we stick together and we’re all going the wrong way together, we can course-correct and accomplish the mission.” But, if due to fear and indecisiveness a leader “herkie jerks” the unit around, you’ll have people going in all sorts of different directions and mission accomplishment will be impossible.
There are many other aspects of leadership, and they are important. They are in the books. Yet they are not necessarily “fundamental first principles.” Get the first principles right and you will be on your way to success. Get them wrong and it will be tough to move forward. God bless you and good luck in reconciling your current situation and setting your sights on a values-based future of successful leadership.
