Leadership 1

The first principle of military leadership is this: "Nice guys get people killed." I have watched leaders in the infantry for 11 years and the ones that try to be civil are the ones whose organizations are filled with stupidity. Soldiers are humans, and as such, they will inherently seek the path of least resistance, which means that if there are no repercussions for stupidity (okay, call it their individual desires), then that is the path of least resistance. But if they get a coscaron (hit on the head) for frivolous actions, then they perform as expected. General Patton said it best, your men should be more afraid of you than of the enemy.

I remember, as a team leader, my guys hating me. I remember scuffing them up on a regular basis. I remember, going through the barracks every morning, waking them up, coming back through 15 minutes later, and inspecting their rooms. I don't ever remember sitting in Joe's room, playing video games. I don't remember a time when my Joes considered me their friend. I do remember that they never got where I wanted them to be, but sometimes coming pretty darn close.

Team leaders eager to get home so they can drink beer or watch TV are going to be poor team leaders. One trait that defined my career was being the last one out the door. And there wasn't a lot of sitting around time, in my youth. I remember this one Soldier, though his name escapes me, who commented that he liked SSG Shaw's squad because they were so knowledgeable. They would sit around and read the CTT manual, then practice. I started doing the same.

In my opinion, if you show weakness as a leader, you leave room for your men to challenge you. Train in the rain, in the snow. Enjoy it; relish it. Take your guys on 10 mile runs because you can. Put them in their MOPP suits and road march them, making sure you take the time for water and skin and pupil checks. Push them to their limits because I assure you, no one really knows what their potential is until they reach it. And every time you think they've gone as far as they can, you - and they - will be surprised when they go even further.