Leadership

America lost a great leader. Richard Winters of Band of Brothers fame passed away. It is becoming a very common occurrence. America is losing 700-900 World War Two vets daily. It’s a function of age and time. It is the major reason that I am on the Board of Trustees at the National World War Two museum. America has got to get that museum built before they all pass away.

Winters was a hero to his men and his country for deeds on the battlefield, but I think there is a much broader concept to contemplate. Dick Winters was a great leader. He didn’t lose those skills when he left the military. It is something that America is sorely lacking. He was taught how to lead throughout his life, and his skills were refined in the training he received to become a military officer.

Unfortunately, most of the public displays of leadership these days are lacking. Kids are exposed to the bombastic leadership of politicians and celebrities. They don’t see the quiet, steady hands of great leaders. Great leaders are not necessarily born, it is an acquired skill that can be taught. However, it has to be taught correctly. The service academies of the US have a singular mission, to create and teach leaders. They do a fantastic job of it. Sully Sullenberger, the pilot of the plane that crash landed on the Hudson River was a product of that program.

Interestingly, many business schools don’t even attempt to teach leadership. They fill their students with financial knowledge, and then expect them to be able to acquire the skills for leadership on their own. Obviously, a civilian graduate or undergraduate school program is far different than a service academy, but the skill should certainly be taught in graduate schools. Ron Burt and Michael Gibbs teach different, but very interesting classes on leadership at the Booth Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago. If you are enrolled there, you should take each one.

Leadership is hard to quantify. But, certain characteristics transcend from leader to leader. One, is their ability to make decisions efficiently. They are decisive, but they have something behind that decision that gives them confidence in it. Might be math, might be probability theory-but they don’t go just by the seat of their pants or gut. The other thing that good leaders understand is that once you enter the field of battle-things change. CEO’s are no different than generals in this regard. The best laid plans always get screwed up by something.

Great leaders have a quiet self confidence about them. Other people say they can “sense” it, but it’s more than that. It’s in the way that they carry themselves, and the way they say something. Plus, over time they build up a track record of success. In my life, I have had the good fortune to be exposed to some really great leaders.

I have also been around some people that are viewed as fantastic leaders but they really aren’t. Their mission is all about themselves-and not about the organization that they are working for. It may not be apparent at first, but they are really about enriching their own pocket and will pick yours to do it.

One other characteristic of leaders is not only their passion, but their passion for what they are doing.  They love it.  They couldn’t imagine themselves doing anything else, or being anywhere else.  Their passion infects the people that are below them in the leadership food chain.  It’s a pollination concept that filters through organizations.  That’s what gives a leader the power to motivate.

Another is the ability to take calculated risks.  If the plan fails, the good leader doesn’t blame others, or point fingers.  They thump their chest, say, “It’s on me.”, and move on.  Even in times of the most adverse stress, there usually is a lowest “cost” way out.  That’s why good leaders understand operations. All leaders make mistakes. The best ones know how to recover quickly from them.

The intangible quality that most great leaders have is trust.  Trust in themselves, and from people around them.  Trust gives them the ability to delegate to subordinates very important jobs. The leader trusts that those things will get done because they have inspired the subordinate to do it, and both have the passion to accomplish the task.  Poor leaders have to have incredible control-and wind up doing everything themselves.  Jimmy Carter was an example of a President that couldn’t delegate, didn’t trust his subordinates, and wound up doing a terrible job.  Richard Nixon was similar.

America generally has been blessed with having great leadership in business, and sometimes in politics. Arguably, the two greatest heads of State we ever have had are Washington and Lincoln. Reagan was a great leader too.  In business, the bad leaders lead their companies into a ditch and they go out of business-so you don’t read about them so much!

Great leaders, and leadership, don’t have to be as dramatic as a Presidency. You can lead in your church, block, team or school. Just matters that you are leading in the right direction for the force of good-not evil. Because Hitler and the rest of histories despots exhibited characteristics of leadership too. They used those skills to terrify and destroy civilization, and take away freedom.  In America, we want leaders that further the cause of freedom, raise up civilization.  Too often we don’t get that.

For an example of really good leadership in a mundane industry, read about how Lincoln Electric‘s management team navigates the eddy’s of their business. They make industrial welding equipment. In the Rust Belt.  That’s not a sexy business.  They have never failed to pay their employees a bonus.  It’s truly great leadership through many tumultuous times, and I am not just referring to the last two years.

There are many examples and quotes on great leadership.  You can pull them from all kinds of sources, but since we started talking about the military at the top of the post, I’ll leave you with what is called the “discipline quote”.  It is memorized and internalized by every cadet that goes through every academy.  Major John M. Schofield’s graduation address to West Point in 1879.

“The discipline which makes the soldiers of a free country reliable in battle is not to be gained by harsh or tyrannical treatment. On the contrary, such treatment is far more likely to destroy than to make an army. It is possible to impart instruction and give commands in such a manner and such a tone of voice as to inspire in the soldier no feeling, but an intense desire to obey, while the opposite manner and tone of voice cannot fail to excite strong resentment and a desire to disobey. The one mode or the other of dealing with subordinates springs from a corresponding spirit in the breast of the commander. He who feels the respect which is due to others cannot fail to inspire in them respect for himself. While he who feels, and hence manifests, disrespect towards others, especially his subordinates, cannot fail to inspire hatred against himself.”

Rest in Peace Major Winters. You did your duty, and you were a good man. Our prayers are with your family today.

Read more at Points and Figures