Quote:
Originally Posted by tabs
I don't find that military officers of high rank have that much sagacity.
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Often true, tragically. But also often not true, in my experience. I've met some very wise senior officers. History books are full of generals who look like what you're describing, but a lot of the day-to-day executive leadership in the military is done by men who quietly do great things and will never have their name in the history books.
@Superman -- thank you for the points. You've clearly done this a LOT. Thanks also for the encouragement -- this is something that's important to me, so I am definitely trying to "be something that I'm not," in the sense that I need to improve in this area.
@gatotom -- Congratulations to your son! My brother was USNA '05 (now flies for the Marines out of Japan), I was USNA '99, and my father-in-law was USNA '76. Go Navy, beat Army!!
(My Dad had to offer a lot of similar encouragement to get me through as well, btw.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by VaSteve
The question you ask is more fundamental. You mention looking like your in command but refer to first impressions.
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True. Over time, people tend to realize that I am a leader. After a while, people -- my peers, even people senior to me, positionally -- follow me because I care about them, because I listen, because I don't ask of them anything that I wouldn't do myself, because I build teams and take people to successful places, because I make carefully considered decisions. While I am not the Great Leader that I want to be, I understand that this is a long process of slow daily improvement, and I am working on that path. But unless someone actually says, "Dan over there is the leader," people don't know up front. That's what I'm asking about here, really. How do you develop that assertive, confident, silent authority?
@tabs and Hugh -- is it worth hunting down video of these people to study and emulate their persona? Should I work to mimic their body language?
Thanks,
Dan