Everything I Need to know, I Learned in the Airborne!

The purpose of my blogging, more than anything else, is to help guide my daughter Mariana.  I want her to know my thoughts on leadership.  I hope she will use these ideas as needed in her life.  The blog is also for friends, and perhaps some of their children.  It is kind of a rolling collection of my ideas and vignettes that have impacted me over the years, experiences that have formed who I am.  No greater experience impacted me more than my time in the US Army Airborne.  It defined who I am as an officer and leader.  It formed the basis of how I look at my professional life and to some degree my personal life.
 

Once a paratrooper always a paratrooper!  Paratroopers are tough and aggressive, they exemplify the warrior ethos...  They don't relent until the enemy is destroyed.and the mission is accomplished!  Paratroopers don't need to be pushed, they need to be held back.  As I write this blog, I celebrate my own selection to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.  I was recognized with an early promotion because, I believe, I have stayed true to the fundamentals taught by the Skysoldier officers who mentored me. Most continue to serve today as Brigade Commanders and General Officers.  I consider them among the finest Americans I have known.  I can't think of any place in the US military that offers a more challenging and opportunistic place for leaders to grow than the Airborne.  Indeed, today's paratrooper is worthy of the sterling legacy inherited from our fathers and grandfathers.  I think they would be proud of us...

I spent my formative Lieutenant years in the famous 173rd Airborne Brigade, the "Sky Soldiers" headquartered in northern Italy.  This video was made to commemorate the brigade's reactivation in 2000.  I am proud to have been in the ceremony and on the commemorative jump and training in the video.  SKYSOLDIERS!

Some lessons:

Lead from the front:  Paratroopers are smart and can smell an impostor so know in your heart you are there for the right reasons!  They are adapt at measuring leaders by actions more so than rhetoric, this quickly renders the amature impotent.  Credibility is everything to the leader.  Leading from the front means taking the initiative and being decisive.  A leader must constantly be thinking of creative and innovative ways to deal a death blow to the enemy (whoever that enemy is - very relevant in all aspects of life) and how to quickly exploit that success with follow up with another strike.  Leaders are not necessarily front line soldiers but they must go wherever needed and do whatever is required to bring decisive results.  Battlefield leaders can not be impeded by indecisive superiors or good hearted NCOs who, "don't want the old man getting killed".  Where is a leader suppose to be during the battle?  Answer: Wherever he/she can most effectively lead, and that will most assuredly not be in the rear.  To be effective, a leader should demonstrate grace under pressure.  Subordinates need to see their leaders sharing risk while actively engaged at his/her level of the operation.  This approach enables the leader to, as Sun Tzu recommends, "know himself, and know the enemy", this knowledge empowers the leader, enabling him/her to carry the day.  Further, this approach buys capital to assume the risk needed in future battles.  The leader shrewdly spends this capital analying what is to be gained by what it will cost. 

Leaders make hard choices: To be capable of making the hard choice a leader must have a strong appraisal of the capabilities of his/her subordinates, know just how to motivate and push them, and the credibility to inspire follower-ship.  An officer can give an order (make the hard choice) and if it is not illegal or immoral it must be obeyed.  But that will not automatically render greatness.  Achieving greatness requires the hard choice (to pursue when others (to include trusted advisors) say pursuit is not possible).  The real deal leader will use every ounce of his ability - motivation, trust, credibility, and determination to influence his/her superiors/subordinates to achieve.    

The importance of Integrity:  There is no worldly price worth your personal integrity, keep it, guard it, and cherish it forever.  Once your integrity is compromised it can never be fully recovered.  The airborne and to some degree, "the big army" taught me to, "do the right thing, even when no one's looking".  That's the way to live; both professionally and personally.  Your word is your bond!

Work hard; play hard:  Paratroopers work until the job is done!  There is no room for slackers, everyone must pull their own weight and then some.  Missions require careful planning that often takes the best minds several hours and days to complete.  In many cases several missions are being planned at the same time.  At the end of each planning session is an order that will require soldiers to put their lives on the line to accomplish.  As a Lieutenant, most of us became pretty tuckered out after about 30 hours of work.  We were amazed at the staying power of the Majors who would work with no sleep for as long as 42 hours before going down for an 4 hour power nap, then they were back for another suckfest... They definitely set the standard.  In my 20+ year career I have never seen any organization better at planning than the Airborne.  Planning was called, "the wheel of pain" as it never stopped and we Lieutenants were ground up in it pretty good.  But in the end we produced well developed missions that achieved decisive results.  There were some casualties on the staff as the, "Sweitzenator" sacked incompetent officers and threw uncooperative computers out the window.  The work was hard but we could always blow off a little steam at the "Red Devil Cantina" during the lulls in the storms and the command was generous about letting us take leave in between training and deployments.  The point is that hard work is essential to any endeavor but to achieve balance one should be able to play hard also.  This can be done through sports.. or other means.  Certainly I used to enjoy drinking a few beers in the cantina where once everyone had relaxed enough we would sing old airborne songs like, "Blood on the Risers" or listen to one of our NCOs who hailed from Scotland play his bagpipes...  At the end of each rotation COL Kearney (Now GEN Kearney) would gather all officers at a German restaurant and we Lieutenants would perform skits, drink beer, and the group would sing more airborne songs..  It was a great environment... work hard; play hard!



1-508 Airborne Combat Team (ABCT), "Red Devils"

Never take counsel of your fears: It takes personal courage to be a paratrooper.  I am not talking about being a, "5 jump chump".  I am talking about doing it for a living.  Jumping out of a perfectly good airplane provides each soldier with the unique opportunity to immediately overcome personal fear,  in fact it facilitates the opportunity to do so often and under difficult circumstances - this builds character and courage.  I believe young leaders must learn to overcome these fears to be effective Army leaders.  You really can't lead and be worried about anything other than your mission and soldiers.  So you just have to learn to tune personal fears out and focus on the task at hand. 

Come in hard, you can always lighten up In the officer basic course we were always told to come in quietly and see how things ran for a couple of months before making changes.  We were told we needed to have finesse.  This was not my experience in the airborne and would not be my experience in subsequent assignments.  I have learned the best approach is to come in business first and if anything a little aggressive.  Some organizations have functioning systems that just need to be tweaked and then taken to the next level.  On the other hand many organizations are broken from incompetent and uncaring leadership.  These organizations are like a sick patient.  The sickness needs to be diagnosed, isolated, and treated.  Then the organization needs to be rebuilt with strong systems.  Broken organizations are the most work and the most rewarding.  They typically suffer from a cancerous culture of laziness, lack of care, incompetence, and leadership built on the cult of personality rather than a sustainable systems.  I learned in the Airborne to come in hard because there is no time to lose.  I learned to quickly assess the situation, and to immediately implement change (stop the bleeding).  It takes months to destroy an organization and years to rebuild it.  In fact some organizations implode so badly they destroy brand names and it becomes easier to build another from scratch.  Organizations are cultural in nature and a healthy, results oriented, culture is they objective. 

When to fight  Choose your battles carefully and win the ones you choose.  When committed to battle, fight with everything you have, but mostly your wits.  Don't be afraid to bend the rules to suit you.  As they say in the army, "if you ain't cheatin you ain't trying".  The savvy leader seeks to manipulate every circumstance that surrounds his situation into his favor (stack the deck).  In my 20+ year career I have seen one man removed from command for "bending" the rules too far and he is now retired and serving in the US House of Representatives.  Message:  Nothing is off the table!

AIRBORNE! ALL THE WAY!

Letter From A French Soldier in Afghanistan

Command Sergeant Major (Retired) Randy Leatherwood sent me this article a couple of years ago...  It has stayed in the pack of my mind since.  I think it is a great testimony.  It is not often we (US Military) receive such high praise from our allies, especially the French.  Never-the-less it is a compelling and inspirational letter drawn from an unorthodox angle.  Give a read and leave your comments... please.

Letter From A French Soldier in Afghanistan

We have shared our daily life with two US units for quite a while - they are the first and fourth companies of a prestigious infantry battalion whose name I will withhold for the sake of military secrecy. To the common man it is a unit just like any other. But we live with them and got to know them, and we henceforth know that we have the honor to live with one of the most renowned units of the US Army - one that the movies brought to the public as series showing “ordinary soldiers thrust into extraordinary events”. Who are they, those soldiers from abroad, how is their daily life, and what support do they bring to the men of our OMLT every day ? Few of them belong to the Easy Company, the one the TV series focuses on. This one nowadays is named Echo Company, and it has become the support company. They have a terribly strong American accent - from our point of view the language they speak is not even English. How many times did I have to write down what I wanted to say rather than waste precious minutes trying various pronunciations of a seemingly common word? Whatever state they are from, no two accents are alike and they even admit that in some crisis situations they have difficulties understanding each other.

Heavily built, fed at the earliest age with Gatorade, proteins and creatine - they are all heads and shoulders taller than us and their muscles remind us of Rambo. Our frames are amusingly skinny to them - we are wimps, even the strongest of us - and because of that they often mistake us for Afghans.

Here we discover America as it is often depicted : their values are taken to their paroxysm, often amplified by lack of privacy and the loneliness of this outpost in the middle of that Afghan valley. Honor, motherland - everything here reminds of that : the American flag floating in the wind above the outpost, just like the one on the post parcels. Even if recruits often originate from the hearth of American cities and gang territory, no one here has any goal other than to hold high and proud the star spangled banner. Each man knows he can count on the support of a whole people who provides them through the mail all that an American could miss in such a remote front-line location : books, chewing gum, razorblades, Gatorade, toothpaste etc. in such way that every man is aware of how much the American people backs him in his difficult mission. And that is a first shock to our preconceptions : the American soldier is no individualist. The team, the group, the combat team are the focus of all his attention.

And they are impressive warriors! We have not come across bad ones, as strange at it may seem to you when you know how critical French people can be. Even if some of them are a bit on the heavy side, all of them provide us everyday with lessons in infantry know-how. Beyond the wearing of a combat kit that never seem to discomfort them (helmet strap, helmet, combat goggles, rifles etc.) the long hours of watch at the outpost never seem to annoy them in the slightest. On the one square meter wooden tower above the perimeter wall they stand the five consecutive hours in full battle rattle and night vision goggles on top, their sight unmoving in the directions of likely danger. No distractions, no pauses, they are like statues nights and days. At night, all movements are performed in the dark - only a handful of subdued red lights indicate the occasional presence of a soldier on the move. Same with the vehicles whose lights are covered - everything happens in pitch dark even filling the fuel tanks with the Jappy pump.

And combat ? If you have seen Rambo you have seen it all - always coming to the rescue when one of our teams gets in trouble, and always in the shortest delay. That is one of their tricks : they switch from T-shirt and sandals to combat ready in three minutes. Arriving in contact with the enemy, the way they fight is simple and disconcerting : they just charge ! They disembark and assault in stride, they bomb first and ask questions later - which cuts any pussyfooting short.

We seldom hear any harsh word, and from 5 AM onwards the camp chores are performed in beautiful order and always with excellent spirit. A passing American helicopter stops near a stranded vehicle just to check that everything is alright; an American combat team will rush to support ours before even knowing how dangerous the mission is - from what we have been given to witness, the American soldier is a beautiful and worthy heir to those who liberated France and Europe.

To those who bestow us with the honor of sharing their combat outposts and who everyday give proof of their military excellence, to those who pay the daily tribute of America’s army’s deployment on Afghan soil, to those we owned this article, ourselves hoping that we will always remain worthy of them and to always continue hearing them say that we are all the same band of brothers.

Read the Original Translation here..

Forbes' Five Leadership Lessons of James T. Kirk.. My take..

Alex and I are not too far apart on his analysis. If you haven't already read the article, click the link Forbes - Five Leadership Lessons from James T Kirk before continuing. It's a quick enjoyable read.

I concur with his assessment of the captain's service record and would amplify his accolades by stating that the captain not only saved Earth, but also, the galaxy.. let's not forget the Borg.. and anyone who defeats Nazis is an absolute hero on my book. I will comment on the lessons and quibble a bit with Alex:

1. Never stop learning. I consider this a life lesson more than a leadership lesson. However I would point out that the leader is responsible for creating a culture of intellectual curiosity within their organization. To do so the leader must dedicate resources and manage expectations carefully. And while, Alex is correct, that the captain had a voracious appetite for information, he kept much of it to himself. Leaders inspire others to learn, unlock their possibilities, form the team, and create synergy.

2. Have advisors with differing world views. I agree. The sign of a confident leader is a healthy respect for the dissenting voice. This is insurance against "Group Think". The leader should seek to surround him/herself not with,"yes men" but with the best qualified people that produce a fountain of ideas to choose from. The leader makes the choice, but should see every possible angle.. Not just nuances of his own. I tend to agree with Alex on this 100%. It wasn't only Spock and Bones but Sulu, Ahura, and Scotty all played critical parts.

3. Be a part of the away team. I guess here is where Alex and I have to part ways. While all leaders have to "pet the dragon" to remain relevant, leaders at Kirks level are not front line foot soldiers.  A dynamic environment requires a deep bull pen of well trained young leaders to fill those away team positions.  People in the position of the captain are indispensible highly sought after commodities. They lead at a different level. Where's the leaders place on the battlefield? The textbook answer is wherever he/she can exert the most influence over the critical event. If the Enterprise (at least 200 strong) has to rely on the captain (equivalent to a Colonel in the Army) to save the day in every cage match then there are leadership issues inside the organization.  Doesn't Starfleet produce enough squads of Infantry? World class organizations, in this case Starfleet, are not built on the cult of personality. They are built on strong institutions who systematically produce leaders, some of which will become great - the successors of Kirk. Therefore the most physically able, best equipped, and most educated get there turn to vanquish the Gorn. This is not to say that I don't think leaders have a place in the trenches.  I do agree with his pizza story. The best time to visit the troops and show presence (pet the dragon) is when the pressure is on and the chips are down. Alex is right, it makes a difference for the troops to see their leaders at the front but the role is either diplomatic or inspirational.

4. Play Poker not Chess. Again, I find myself agreeing with Alex. And I would add that the savvy leader will get there first and choose the game. The bluff only works when the leader has placed his organization on the sound footing that enables him a seat at the table.  In other words, there needs to be some kind of a track record behind that bluff.  Effective bluffing requires a reputation of action.  Kirk clearly had this.. Leadership is about stacking the deck in your favor ahead of time. The battle should be won before it is fought. In this sense the leader uses skill and influence to the manipulate circumstances surrounding the event.  He/she arranges them in his/her favor rendering the bluff a more potent instrument.

5. Blow up the Enterprise. Yes.. every leader should be ready to do whatever it takes to save his team even if that means sacrificing himself/herself.  In my experience building strong teams around proven systems frees the leader to think and chart the way forward and avoid the type of nightmare scenario so burned into Alex's memory.

Parting thoughts.  I think Alex has brought a strong case.  He makes valid points that should be a part of any leaders kit bag.  But does,"Blow up the Enterprise" really make the top five?  I think there are other more valuable leadership lessons such as, "Understand the problem", "Be Decisive", or "Assume Risk".  Captain Kirk was very successful at using his subordinates and the instruments aboard his ship to understand exactly where the critical point was.  Once he discovered this he marshaled all of his resources and focused them on achieving success.  He was decisive and more importantly he was ready to assume great risk with the knowledge that his diverse team was capable of overcoming any threat that came his way. And though flawed (as we all are) James T. Kirk believed in people (and a few aliens).  He remains a great leader!

Followership!

The old saying goes, "we have too many chiefs and not enough Indians". In my one year assignment in Rome to attend the Italian Joint Services Staff College I was overwhelmed by this. To put it simply, with no followers there are no leaders. And as leadership must be developed so must followership. I never realized the importance of this until the staff college.

 The US Army develops followers and leaders concurrently. The idea is simple, when placed in charge - take charge, when not in charge follow the leader. This approach worked into unit or organizational culture is effective because it demonstrates to all how difficult leadership is and the importance of followership. The Situational Training Exercises (STX) is a great tool to flush out and develop these qualities when applied to a group.  The group simply rotates leaders per situation so each member gets to be a leader but spends more time as a follower.  It guarantees that all, to include, the smart ass who armchair quarterbacks the decisions of the leader that he/she will get a turn in the hot seat. This approach builds humility and respect for others (basically lets you know when to shut up).  Leaders-in-training should arrive ready to follow orders from superiors and at times follow the lead of peers. And, on occasion, the follow subordinates.. (we will discuss more on this later).

What does followership look like? Well, in its simplest form, it is compliance. The first action of the subordinate is to ensure he/she understands what is expected by listening and then repeating what is desired, back to the leader (kind of a backbrief to ensure you are on the same page of music).  Then the follower moves out smartly to execute the task. There is nothing wrong with offering suggestions to the leader, but in the end the leader is the one who will make the final call. Followership means doing what you are told in an expeditious manner. Followership means helping solve problems by way of the leaders vision. Followership means helping to organize the team while respecting the leadership position. Followership is absolutely not about advancing your agenda, it's about supporting and serving the leader of the group/team/company, they are the star of the show.. the rock star so to speak.. The band is the supporting cast - the followers.

Followership is not blind obedience.. No one should follow an incompetent leader off a cliff, there are some limits and legitimacy and influence are important.  No one is obligated to obey an immoral leader.  However followership needs to be a part of the leadership culture. There are many leadership lessons to be learned as a follower. Especially what it feels like to be at the bottom of the food chain.

Support your boss..  Good followership means supporting your boss.  His orders become your orders.  So there shouldn't be any of this, "we are doing this because the boss said so..."  Followership means you take ownership of the order.

I mentioned earlier that I attended the Italian Joint Services Staff College in Rome and was overwhelmed by too many, "Chiefs". My working group conducted weekly group exercises. It was always the same story. Monday morning at 8am the small group instructor would open the door and throw a packet on the table. He would point at the officer in charge, give a little guidance and walk out the door. The chaos began almost immediately. There was a quick ramp-up to full blown screaming and wild gesticulations amongst the students. The fighting went on for hours and sometimes days. And usually the same officer won because he was the loudest. He wore everyone else out. He applied no problem solving methodology, once everyone acquiesced he just dictated the answers without engaging the talents of others (this is not leadership or followership - it's garbage that produced the same one dimensional result every time). At first I was frustrated, but later came to understand that these officers have received neither leadership nor followership training. You can't expect results from untrained people. if you want to be a leader, you gotta start by learning to be a follower.

Leadership never goes out of style!

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!!

Leaders vs. Managers

I offer my own perspective on leadership.  In order to do this I will discuss my thoughts on leadership and management.  I believe leadership is a critical component of progress of any kind.  Without leadership nothing new is created or accomplished.  Leaders break brush and chart new paths (Lewis and Clark were leaders) in every aspect of life.  To steal an old Star Trek catch phrase, "they boldly go where no man has gone before". Leaders live on the peripheries and manipulate change to their advantage.  They set goals and objectives as they lay out their vision.  They provide purpose, direction, and motivation to all that surround them and focus their sphere of influence on achieving the vision.  Leaders transform chaos into order and often leave a system in their wake that managers use to maintain what the leader created. 

A leader can be a manager but a manager can’t always be a leader.  Decision makers sometimes make a poor choice when selecting someone for a leadership position.  They mistakenly place a manager in a position that requires a leader.  This is equivalent to attempting to hammer a square block into a circular hole.  Knowing the difference can be difficult and positioning a manager into the role of leader can have disastrous effects.  

I previously mentioned that managers maintain systems leaders create.  They keep systems running.  This is not a dynamic position but can be a stepping stone towards becoming a leader.  An apprentice leader will want a strong understanding of systems, how they are created, how they run, how they are fixed, and how to update them.  Managers don’t chart new paths and often demonstrate an inability to change with the times (Walmart vs. Sears and Roebuck). 

This is my perspective.  Not all will agree and there are undoubtedly better leaders out there than me.  This blog is my perspective.  If others care to weigh in on this topic they can publish their comments and we can discuss.

Introduction

I have served with a full spectrum of leaders, some great, mediocre, poor, and just plain losers.  I have learned from all and it is my sincere desire to improve the first three and marginalize the latter two.  This is the purpose of the blog.  I believe everyone deserves first-class leadership.  However good leadership is not mathematic, there is no magic equation that will bring it about.  There are natural leaders who soak up the instruction and others who possess minimal natural talent but can be taught and excel through determination and mentorship.  Unfortunately there are some who will never be leaders.  Human beings are complex, amazingly talented in some ways, yet limited in others. 

I will share guidelines and concepts I believe will help ground young leaders (get them thinking straight) and move them in the right direction.  I will offer some ideas on more advanced leadership ideas that can help mid level leaders in what many in the military refer to as “herding the cats”… that is leading the experienced.  This requires a different leadership dynamic. 

The first concept I will discuss is brevity, “keep it brief.”  This blog will be an easy read.  I believe people are more likely to absorb the concepts if I keep it brief and simple.  If I can provide one or two take-aways, I will consider myself a success.

As a young Army leader in training I was told that leadership is the ability to influence others to do something they wouldn’t otherwise do.  I have always liked this as a base line definition.  I believe this is appropriate.  In this blog I intend to build on this and add concepts by offering simple strategies and personal anecdotes.  But first we need to take a look at the basics.