614dc3ba-a088-4258-aeb4-0e62200a88ff by Mark Divine

Author:Mark Divine
Language: eng
Format: epub

Humility

Following and leading are two sides of the same coin; you can't have one without the other. Those who seek to lead without being willing to follow may gain some ego blast in the short run, but they typically fail in the long game. This attitude of serving through being a great follower is not

a trick or tactic of leadership but rather another character trait that developed through the twin forces of experience and intent.

Taking your eyes off yourself and serving your teammates requires the humility to follow and support them most of the time. When the time or circumstances are appropriate for you to lead, you bolt out front and lead by example, with integrity and inspiration.

Thus, I feel the best way to cultivate character excellence and authentic leadership is not to leap in immediately to "earn your leadership stripes" (unless you have no choice) but to act with humility by watching carefully and being helpful as a follower. In the SEALs, officers are the leaders responsible for the mission, but at every phase there is usually someone else leading the charge—for instance one SEAL will lead the dive, another will lead the jump, a third will lead the direct action raid, and so on.

It is expected that the officers get out of the way and let these guys do what they do best. The officers who don’t learn to trust their teammates, and to follow, usually don’t fare well. In allowing subordinates to lead key parts of the mission, I’m giving them the opportunity to grow, to learn, to fail. And in reality, most of those SEALs, in those situations, had more skills and experience than I in that arena. So yeah, I often found myself serving and supporting others to lead in my stead. I had to develop the humility to check my ego and say, “This is their turn. They’re smarter at this or they’re better at this, or they’ve got the better idea, or they’re stronger.” I had to recognize that there may be instances where I would be fatigued or injured, or for whatever reason just wouldn’t be as equipped to make the right call. I had to learn to say, “You’ve got this, buddy, because you’re going to do a better job than I am.” You can’t be good at everything, all the time. Knowing that is the kind of humility that earns trust and loyalty.

When I was a newly minted ensign in the SEALs, I knew I was supposed to lead, but it would have been my ego up on stage if I had tried to take control before I had any experience of what it really meant to operate in the field. So when I was recruited into my first platoon, I didn't set out to actively lead the men but rather to follow and learn from them, seeking to earn their trust. They knew I outranked them and that I would be held accountable if anything went wrong. But because of the way leadership is shared in the Teams, I also knew they would protect me in that event.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.