Leadership: What's Love Got to Do With It?

[Seahawk]

A friend of mine and his wife were over last night. He is a retired USMC Colonel and we worked together on a few projects when we were active duty.

We got on the subject of our sons...his is an Army Captain mine is at VMI on an ROTC scholarship and will be a 2nd LT in two years. We talked, and laughed, about our separate journey's in the military and about leadership.

He said that the best overview on leadership he has seen is a video series by Arther J. Athens, a retired USMC Col..

I am taking a day off today so I watched the series this morning...easy to do since I have a lot of farm work staring me in the grill. In any event, I found Col. Athens compelling and worth sharing. Part One below: What's Love Got to Do With It?

[beepbeep]

I'm puzzled by a lack of comments in this thread. It was indeed a great speech.

[mreid]

Leadership is the make or break difference between success and failure. We send all of our leaders through leadership immersion experiences like Gettysburg, Nimitz museum, Little Bighorn, etc. Athens has spoken at our leadership summits several times and is outstanding. Tom Flick is another great speaker (not military, but he will tell you his time in the NFL was like going into battle).

[Hard-Deck]

COL Athens is an engaging speaker and a mentor to many leaders; both budding and seasoned ones.

mreid, while Mr. Flick is also a good speaker, I have to call foul on his claim that playing football is like going into battle.

One thing I tell young leaders is that after they learn their job in the platoon (competence), go out and learn every other person's job in the platoon, and then the job of the company staff. That foundation of knowledge lasts a lifetime and it indicates who the professionals are from who the participants are.

[VincentVega]

Thanks for posting this

[crustychief]

Originally Posted by Snapper33

COL Athens is an engaging speaker and a mentor to many leaders; both budding and seasoned ones.
..........
One thing I tell young leaders is that after they learn their job in the platoon (competence), go out and learn every other person's job in the platoon, and then the job of the company staff. That foundation of knowledge lasts a lifetime and it indicates who the professionals are from who the participants are.

When I put on E-5 I had a Chief (E-7) that had us cross train on different gear and made a competition out of it. He also knew my divisions spouses names, kids names and birthdays for everyone, we would have little b-day celebrations at quarters in the morning while underway. I started to do the same when I transferred. I learned a lot from him and would follow him anywhere anytime.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by crustychief

When I put on E-5 I had a Chief (E-7) that had us cross train on different gear and made a competition out of it. He also knew my divisions spouses names, kids names and birthdays for everyone, we would have little b-day celebrations at quarters in the morning while underway. I started to do the same when I transferred. I learned a lot from him and would follow him anywhere anytime.

Awesome.

I was the Line Div O as a LTjg in my first squadron, which was the first H-60 squadron flying the newest helo in the Navy. I decided to qualify as a Plane Captain, so I could relate to the young men doing what are called "dailies and turns" on the helicopters. The "Line" Division handles all routine maintenance, launch and recovery of aircraft, etc.

The Maintenance Master Chief, the best leader of men and smartest person in real time I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with, told me, "First time I've seen this, jg. If you are serious, I recommend you do not F it up".

[Captain Ahab Jr]

In the video when his 5th word was 'me' I nearly switch it off, glad I stuck with it as is was worth watching, thank you for posting.

I don't work in a combat situation (full respect to those that do) but I have only ever worked as part of a tight team trying to be the best or trying to beat the best in extremely competitive environments. Most of the time I have been lead but I have tried my hand at leading and found it very difficult so could in no way say I'm a natural at it.

Over the years I found there is only one true way to know how to measure someone's leadership abilities, who to count on and who not to. It is when it all starts going wrong, not just one of the regular challenges thrown at you but like wrong in a big way with your backs into a corner.

There are leaders who will protect you, guide you, inspire you, impress you with their knowledge rather than telling you what they know, listen to you, believe in your knowledge and expertise, willing to learn from you, pick you up when you are down rather than point the finger, believe in your ability to fix a problem even when the odds are stacked impossibly against you and smooth the path ahead of you so you fix what is broken as quickly as possible. These are the only guys I would follow and they are far and few around.

There are only two guys I have had the pleasure to work with that can tick the above list which made them stand head and shoulders about the rest are Gordon Murray and Rory Byrne, both are humble, super nice guys to deal with. I'm sure their names mean nothing to most people on here but do a Wiki search and count up how many world championships they have notched up.

[DByers]

Thanks for posting this Paul.

Do you have links to any of the others?

I am in the long process of changing the culture at my office. I have been in the same business, working for the same company, at the same location since I was 19. I have done everything and everyone's job and still can and do today. 7 years ago I took over the office and run it as my own business. Recently I came to the realization that if I want my business to grow I need to be a better leader.

Thanks

[Seahawk]

You are more than welcome.

Hit the "play all" button on the embedded link. Then, in the playlist section in the upper left you can find them all.

Good luck with your company...you can do it!

Originally Posted by DByers

Thanks for posting this Paul.

Do you have links to any of the others?

I am in the long process of changing the culture at my office. I have been in the same business, working for the same company, at the same location since I was 19. I have done everything and everyone's job and still can and do today. 7 years ago I took over the office and run it as my own business. Recently I came to the realization that if I want my business to grow I need to be a better leader.

Thanks

[Gretch]

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

Over the years I found there is only one true way to know how to measure someone's leadership abilities, who to count on and who not to. It is when it all starts going wrong, not just one of the regular challenges thrown at you but like wrong in a big way with your backs into a corner.

Agree. The true measure of a man's character is when he is up to his ass in alligators......

MOST men who take this test fail it......... and MOST men never take the test. Leadership skills are much like athleticism. Some of it can be learned, but most of it is genetic, born ability.