Disciplines cowardly leaders don’t practice-So You Should!
Sergeant Major Dailey is an E9- the very highest ranking an enlisted member of the U.S. Army can attain. So he’s been around, has shown excellent leadership over his career, and knows a few things. He wrote a “Top 10 to Sergeants Major” Army-wide, so I’m borrowing significant points and broadening it for use by leaders anywhere.
Set The Example
If you’re not out there saluting the flag and performing PT (Physical Training, i.e. running) every morning at 6:30, you can automatically assume your soldiers are not. Soldiers don’t care if you’re in first place. They just want to see you out there. This is a team sport.
Moral: Same goes with any employee anywhere. Set the example. Be the first in to the office- maybe not every morning, but enough mornings for people to notice it. Be there at the events, the meetings, the facilities.
Think before you Speak
Think about what you’re going to say before you say it.
I’ve never regretted taking the distinct opportunity to keep my mouth shut.
You’re the sergeant major. People are going to listen to you.
Moral: It’s a great reminder: you’re the boss- people are going to listen to you. So when you speak, make it significant. Then they will listen longer and harder.
Understand the difference between power and leadership
If you find yourself having to remind everyone all of the time that you’re the sergeant major and you’re in charge, you’re probably not.
That one’s pretty self-explanatory.
Moral: Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said it best.
Maintain Your Credibility and Capability
You have to work very hard at being more informed and less emotional.
Nobody likes a dumb loudmouth.
Moral: In PARC Leadership, I talk about the importance of being credible and capable. If you aren’t capable of doing, and learning, the basics, you will never be credible, regardless of how much and how long you speak. Being more informed- able to talk the talk- is the first step in being able to walk the walk.
Take Time to Smell the Roses
If you can’t have fun every day, then you need to go home.
You are the morale officer. You don’t have to be everyone’s friend, but you do have to be positive all the time. The sergeant major is the one everyone looks to when it’s cold, when it’s hot, when it’s raining, or things are just going south. Your job is to keep the unit together. That’s why you’re there.
Moral: Stop and think why you are doing what you are doing. It’s easy to forget the strategic importance and accomplishments. I had a staff member many years ago remind me, when I was lamenting something we hadn’t gotten accomplished, to look back and remember all we had gotten accomplished. It was good advice, and is always good advice.
Don’t be the feared leader. It doesn’t work.
Most leaders who yell all the time, are in fact hiding behind their inability to effectively lead.
Moral: I would go a step further: most leaders who yell all the time are battling an inferiority complex regarding their ability to lead, and are hiding behind the noise. Your people should feel comfortable coming to you asking for guidance without fear of recrimination, or a low grade at evaluation time due to lack of knowledge. Flaunting your authority isn’t leadership. But it is most definitely cowardly.
Understand that it’s OK to be nervous. All of us are.
This happens to be my favorite. It came from my mother. My mom always used to tell me that if you’re not nervous on the first day of school, then you’re either not telling the truth, you don’t care, or you’re just plain stupid. [Being nervous] makes you try harder. That’s what makes you care more.
Once you feel like you have everything figured out, it’s time to go home, because the care stops.
Moral: I’d never really thought of this, but it’s true. When you start taking things for granted, you start slipping. When you stop being nervous because you assume you have it all figured out, it’s a dangerous and slippery slope. You have been before City Council dozens of times, why prepare this time? You know the ins and outs of the issue on the table, no real need to bring notes and back-up material with you to the meeting with the Chairman of the School Board, right? When you go down that road, one thing is certain: it’s going to dead-end.
Accept That What You Used to Know Doesn’t Count
If your own justification for being an expert in everything you do is your 28 years of military experience, then it’s time to end your military experience.
Not everything gets better with age. You have to work at it every day. Remember, you are the walking textbook. You are the information portal. Take the time to keep yourself relevant.
Moral: This is really part 2 of capability and credibility. Staying credible means staying up-to-date and relevant.
Know This: You’re No Better Than Anyone Else
Never forget that you’re just a soldier.
That’s all you are. No better than any other, but just one of them.
You may get paid a little more, but when the time comes, your job is to treat them all fair, take care of them as if they were your own children, and expect no more from them of that of which you expect from yourself.
Moral: If anything defines, in one sentence, the difference between a Real Leader, and a cowardly leader, it’s this one. Real Leaders know they are part of the team- the leader, but still a part. Cowardly leaders inherently feel they are separate, apart (ironically the opposite of a part), and most importantly, above the rest of the crew. They were elected, or appointed, and are therefore special. When you wake up and feel that way, you are, without question, a cowardly leader.
Either celebrate it and run with it, or become a better human being and start the process to become a Real Leader.
II-63
