The Military Leader

From “Having Influence that Echoes”:
Leadership is clearly about influence. Passionate leaders spend night and day discovering ways to improve their organizations and have an impact that endures. The best leaders inspire growth that survives their tenure, even their lifetime, and continues to echo positive influence through time.

From “How Do You Spot a Leader?”:
In case you haven’t realized it, the energy your followers apply to their jobs is directly tied to your enthusiasm for the mission, your passion for the organization’s purpose, and your ability to communicate both.

Inspiration does not have a duty-day. Soldiers will need to see your internal drive despite the fact that it’s 0200, cold, raining, and miserable. They will look to your example as a measure of performance expectation. And if you aren’t getting after it, you can almost guarantee that they won’t be, either. Never forget, the energy comes from you!

From “Systems that Stifle”:
While processes allow us to efficiently execute tasks within a predictable system, they can also stifle. There exists an intangible line where the procedures we rely on begin to dilute both individual cognitive agility and collective organizational adaptability. Teams and their members take fewer risks and stop fighting for new insight when they have processes to protect them. It's not intentional, it's a function of our innate propensity to seek homeostasis...a comfortable, predictable environment.

From “What Becoming a Parent Taught Me About Leadership”:
“Pick your battles”… My toddlers teach me this lesson every day. There is plenty that they do that I don't like, but trying to reason my way through a tantrum is hopeless. So, my wife and I do a lot of ignoring. We prevent dangerous acts and correct mean behavior or disobedience, but the rest we let go. The connection to organizational leadership is clear, but I didn't understand this lesson until I had to live it at home. The lesson is that not every problem deserves your attention. The most efficient way of solving problems might not be the most effective way. Subordinates can learn a lot from having the freedom to figure out problems on their own. Leaders need to avoid the temptation to rush in and fix everything.

From “9 Misguided Reasons to Go to Special Operations Selection”:
Many people try to join special operations because they need to validate their personal or professional worth. This reason is very common, yet no one will admit it. They apply for SOF because they need it to justify their military service. The mindset is usually phrased like this, "I just have to go and find out if I have what it takes." People with this mindset aren't happy in their current professional (sometimes personal) situation and need acceptance from the toughest units in the military to fill the void. It won't work. A military unit can't validate a man or give him purpose.

From “On Good Ideas and Hard Work”:
Military leaders have a hard time saying no to a good idea, even at the expense of stated priorities. Because we care so much about development, we evaluate the idea in light of its contributor instead of in light of the idea's usefulness to the team. It's as if simply having a good idea is the benchmark of high performance. It's clearly not...but we can't say no, ideas get implemented, and people get run into the ground because of it. Leaders bear the responsibility of distilling the best ideas from the organization and crafting them into effective activity.

From “Being ‘Somebody’ Isn’t Good Enough”:
Without intention, life will direct our personal growth along paths of least resistance to arrive at a place that falls short of our potential. The same goes for professional and leader development.

The good news is that you have control over this process. YOU choose when to start defining the leader you will become. YOU filter who you will surround yourself with to shape your development as a leader (friends, peers, mentors). YOU choose what inputs will define your growth (books, classes, movies). YOU direct the quality of your thoughts, which shape your outlook and attitudes. YOU commit to the habits that will shape who you become. YOU control your response to the world when it doesn’t conform to your ambitions. Decide today to make the necessary changes to become a leader of growth and influence.