Building Leaders the West Point Way: Ten Principles from the Nation's Most Powerful Leadership Lab by Joseph P. Franklin

Author:Joseph P. Franklin [Franklin, Joseph P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: book, ebook
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2007-05-06T04:00:00+00:00

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Here’s something you should always remember: if you are the boss, if you are the leader, everything you do sends a signal of one sort or another. You have the ability to control the message.

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Conversely, if you are proactive, forward thinking, and involved—a real live human with thoughts and foibles you share with peers and subordinates—that, too, has an effect on the organization. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that the latter approach is far more likely to yield positive results. Perseverance makes this possible. It’s not just showing up; it’s when you show up and the attitude you express when you are visible. Perseverance, like all of the principles of leadership, can and must be communicated to those around you.

It’s not uncommon to hear someone suggest, rather matter-of-factly, that leadership requires communication. And it does. Why then is communication not one of the principles of leadership I cite in this book? The answer is simple: communication folds into every one of these principles, since what you are trying to do is communicate with subordinates that you have faith . . . confidence . . . courage . . . perseverance. You’re communicating these things all the time through deeds, words, and body language.

Here’s something you should always remember: if you are the boss, if you are the leader, everything you do sends a signal of one sort or another. You have the ability to control the message. Do you want to be perceived as having courage and faith? The messages you send in so many ways overtly or sublimely, tell your subordinates who you are, what you expect, and what they should do to respond to your leadership. If you don’t send those messages, they’ll make up their own . . . of that you can be sure. So would you prefer that they fabricate what they think is your message because they find you arrogant and aloof?

You have the power to convey an image. It’s up to you. But it takes perseverance to do that and to make that image stick.

Perseverance, I can assure you, is a hallmark of the cadet experience at West Point. From the first moments as plebes to graduation day, cadets are tested and pushed; more is demanded of them, and they demand more of themselves than they ever thought possible. It isn’t supposed to be easy. Nothing worthwhile is achieved without considerable sweat equity, and cadets understand from day one that quitting has consequences far more severe and long-lasting than failing.

We expect mistakes and setbacks; we do not expect the officer-in-training to be perfect, or anything close to it. The West Point experience is all about teaching and learning; it is about growth and maturing. The principles of leadership are not internalized in a single night or even a single year. They are adopted and absorbed over time, slowly and steadily, until the cadet is transformed into an officer . . . into a leader.

Whether one survives

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