[April 12, 2021] Leadership is the ability to get people to do things they would not ordinarily do. Great leadership is getting them to do it because they want to. Leadership is not resource management, it’s not team-building events where everyone gets a trophy, and it’s not being the boss who sits back in a leather chair tossing out orders to his minions.
Leadership is an upward grind, creating a distinct persona wrapped around practical achievements. It is the core of hierarchies, understood and embraced by everyone no matter where they are within the chain of command. Great leadership is a spark that builds civilizations.
“An army of principles will penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot.” – Thomas Paine
There are five critical leadership principles. Are there more? Yeah, but these are the personification of great leaders:
- Human Understanding: Leadership means understanding how to get along with others. Giving guidance to the right people at the right time and providing them with the right resources is a start. A leader must know the human element, for, without it, all is lost.1
- Professional Competence: Mastery of one’s profession is not easy, and thus leadership is incredibly difficult. Leaders organize and lead those within their trade. A basic understanding of their jobs is crucial.
- Seek and Accept Responsibility: A popular boss seeks credibility, the modern boss seeks money, a real leader seeks responsibility. A leader that puts aside glory and personal gain can properly focus on his authentic self and take on the world around him, come what may.
- Know and Develop Your Men: We are all replaceable in the scheme of the world. But it is the leader who can recognize his men as individuals and shows them their value. Know your men, care for them, and show them how to be leaders themselves.
- Lead by Example: Set a standard for others to aspire to. Be the solution, never the problem.
Every one of us will be leaders at some point in our lives. Whether we are a machinegun crew team leader or general of the army, we are a cog in a massive machine that values those who do their part and do it well. Leadership may be a learned skill, but leaders know that it is far more than a scientific endeavor. It requires heart,
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People are like dirt. They can either nourish you and help you grow as a person or they can stunt your growth and make you wilt and die.
Great comment Plato.
Human understanding is the real one that we should focus on. All others fold up under it.
Gen. Satterfield, while I am new here to your blog, I did find time to read many of your articles and found them of great value to me personally. I’ve sent the link to your site to many of my friends and got back a number of positive comments, so thanks for what you do. I hope to make a contribution in the forums so that others, less experienced, can gain from what I’ve done.
Welcome aboard Pooch T. I hope you enjoy and learn from the forums section.
Welcome Pooch. 👍
If we apply this logic to our current political class, we will be very disappointed. Take Joe Biden and K. Harris as two supreme examples. Neither has the talent, character, or smarts to be leaders for good.
Ha, you got that right. Many will, naturally, disagree. But those of us who do not lie to ourselves know better.
I would add, Standing Strong against all enemies. Just like Israel did in their cyberattack against the Iranian nuclear enrichment facility just yesterday. Good for them.
LEAD BY EXAMPLE, Gen. Satterfield writes about this subject often. I recommend you search his articles in the search feature and read what he has for us. https://www.theleadermaker.com/leader-trends-lead-example/ This is one article that questions whether or not many leaders (esp at the political level) are actually following this well-developed principle. Many don’t lead by example, in fact, we see more who are in the “do as I say, not as I do” way of conducting themselves. The hypocrisy is damning and show poor leadership.
Karl J., well said. I know that there are leaders who fail the test. They will never be great leaders because they will do damage to whatever and whomever they lead.
Professional Competence is where most of us are on target. But I see more and more going the other way.
Excellent list here Gen. Satterfield. I would add that we must also show great moral and sometimes physical courage as well. We cannot be a leader without courage. And, I know you would agree.
“Every one of us will be leaders at some point in our lives.” I would like for Gen. Satterfield to expand on this. I think I know what he means but in the sense of an organizational leader, perhaps not. But as a leader somehow, even to lead our kids to do good, is along this line of thinking. Great article. Thanks.
Came up today to see what Gen. Satterfield wrote for us and, of course, not disappointed. Well written and to the point. I would like to see a part 2 that goes beyond these five.
Good point, McS. I see you are new to the forum’s section …. so welcome here. I would like to point out that this is where we can share ideas and bounce concepts off one another and expect a respectful reply. Hope you say here and learn.
Yes, welcome McStompie. Are you a veteran?
Yes, 8 years enlisted, US Army.
Welcome aboard, McStompie. I’m sure you and any new folks joining will be happy about how we conduct this forum.
Yes, I agree, a part 2 or 3 would be good for us all. See below what Army Captain wrote on the military’s chapter on leadership principles. Actually I think it was an Army product.
#1 Human Understanding. I know you wrote about this issue earlier (and linked to it as well) but I would like to read more about it and how it can ensure we are better leaders. Just a thought. Can you point us to a book on it that uses the military as an example? If not, okay but just asking.
Excellent list of critical leadership principles. I think that if you look at what the US Army has written on leadership principles you will gain a better understanding – not to take away from what is written here.
https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/NCO-Journal/Archives/2018/May/12-Principles-Part1/
https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/NCO-Journal/Archives/2018/June/12-Principles-Part2/
https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/NCO-Journal/Archives/2018/June/12-Principles-Part3/
Very good expansion on Gen. Satterfield’s article. Thank you Army Cpt.
Army Captain, I appreciate the NCO Journal approach here and I read them all for a better look at how others see leadership principles. Gen. Satterfield and the NCO Journal are not that far apart. In fact, they are completely compatible.
Yes this is a great list of leadership principles.