American values light the way!! I am impressed by the Army values of Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless service, Honor, and Personal courage. Because the Army just loves jazzy little acroynms they add up to LeaDerSHiP or (LDRSHP). These values should be reflected in yourself and how you treat others.
Any approach to leadership must include a strong moral base (a sense of wrong and right). This is a fundamental characteristic of American leadership. Without it we are rudderless and unable to ascertain the right way forward. Few would argue that Hitler was a leader, unfortunately the change he led resulted great devastation and the loss of millions lives. Living abroad has taught me that American values are the envy of the world. They are time tested relevant.
Leadership will never go out of style. The U.S. is built on leadership. Leadership moves us forward every day.. This is our natural edge. It is the underpinning of our progress and the generator of our wealth. Our country is built on competition, teams, companies, sports, competing to see who the best is. Every football team needs a quarterback, every platoon needs a leader, and everyone needs leadership. When an organization has a competent, principled and active leader it will succeed. Leadership is the essential ingredient of success that can’t be copied because it is dynamic and unique to every situation. It is the genuine article and it burns in the American heart, we need to understand how to bring it out. We urgently need more and better American leaders working inside our country.
The modern corporate structure is a product of World War II military staff system, a part of our history where millions were exposed to principled moral leadership and the modern military staff system. When these men returned home they brought these ideas (discipline, honesty, hard work, staff system) into every other aspect of American life, especially business and used these ideas to build the strongest economy the world has known. The “Captains of World War II” literally became the, “Captains of industry”.
The leader, Commander or Chief Executive, has always been the single point of failure for an organization. In the end the leader alone makes the difficult decisions and is accountable for them. The buck stops with him/her and if he/she is not qualified or doesn’t understand the totality of his/her position he/she shouldn’t be there. In the words of Niccolo Machievelli, “let only those lead that are qualified”. Without these qualities in a commander or an organization can not achieve greatness. I attribute failed organizations to failed leadership. Young leaders must understand there is no earthly reward worth their personal integrity. Integrity is one of the few things in life that is real and it should be judiciously guarded. For some reason the generations after the, "Greatest generation" of World War II have allowed LDRSHP (as a values system) to fade into the background. We risk becoming leaders with a weakened moral compass. This is evident as one observes how self serving, immoral leaders have weakened our financial system and stimulated a crisis. The Army values of LDRSHP are its cornerstone in being considered a world class organization. At the end of the day leadership will never go out of style because it is moral, dynamic, admired, and unique.
The reading list.
I recommend: A Message to Garcia by Hubbard: This is a basic message on the importance of mission focus and accomplishment. It also defines the “slacker” pretty well. The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli: This is an interesting study on leadership that is not always guided by a strong moral base. The author asserts it is possible to be successful without being moral as long as you appear to be moral. I disagree but there are some interesting vignettes that provide prospective. The Art of War by Sun Tzu: This is a strategy book that offers some interesting perspective on human behavior. For the true warrior I recommend Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield: This book is all about leading by example. No matter how great a leader you are this book will make you feel like a wuss!!
No comments:
Post a Comment