Stand Up Straight by Paul Nanson

Author:Paul Nanson [Nanson, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781473576858
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2019-12-26T00:00:00+00:00

6. DON’T GET LOST, READ YOUR MAP

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How Do You React When Things Go Wrong?

Life’s most valuable lessons are often learned when we leave our familiar comfort zones. Once we move into uncharted territory, we can really discover more about ourselves and grow. However, it’s only natural that, in these strange places, we can sometimes find ourselves lost. It’s easy to lose confidence and feel like other things are quickly spiralling out of our control. Similarly, when our cadets are high up in the Brecon Beacons, in freezing weather and blanketed in fog, one rocky outcrop starts to look like very much like all the others in the low visibility and, before they know it, they have become hopelessly disoriented. It is at moments like this – when we lose sight of our path, and our sense of direction – that we can take measure of ourselves, for better or worse, both as leaders and as people.

At Sandhurst, we teach cadets how to find their way, both practically and figuratively. Practically, we teach navigation; how to get from A to B using a map and compass. In this age of satellite navigation – of watches that can tell you which way to go and apps that can direct and guide – some find it strange that we go back to basics, but plotting a course is a basic leadership skill. Your soldiers will expect you to guide and lead them, by day and night, through fog and under fire. At the Academy, we start by teaching the basic navigational principles like using a compass, calculating a route time, and understanding contour lines, before moving on to individual navigation across the training area at the back of the Academy, known as Barossa. Many residents of Camberley will have their own tales of being asked, Which way to the back gate? by hot-and-bothered cadets staring helplessly at an upside-down map!

But getting yourself lost is the least of your issues. The main test at Sandhurst is when you’re placed in a position of authority, charged with navigating for your section, patrol or platoon. Now you are the one responsible for not getting your entire team lost – and the one to blame if a wrong turn is taken. That kind of pressure continues throughout your career. I have personally endured many a sweaty map-reading moment of this sort, be that in the backstreets of Belfast, or the prairie in Canada, or leading my company of Warrior armoured vehicles (all fifteen of them) down a dead-end road in Germany. Not getting lost really is a key leadership skill.

We teach cadets to navigate using waypoints or rendezvous points (RVs). We use these points along the route to pause and check the map, as well as to check in with the rest of our team. They provide an opportunity to ensure we are well set for the next leg of our journey and confirm we are still heading in the right direction. But what happens

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