ROVIN’
& RAVIN’ WITH MIKE
Presented by Michael Segers, brought to you by Peanut.org
Once again, I welcome Col. Kirkbride to rove and rave along with us. Read,
ponder, digest, and keep your feet dry and your heart full of noble thoughts
under his good leadership.
Copyright
© 1999 by LTC Wayne Kirkbride, US Army, Retired, all rights reserved
When we analyze the style of famous leaders, we
strive to determine what made them successful. There are numerous books written
on leadership, and experts have developed lists of leadership styles, leadership
traits, leadership values, leadership principles, and on and on.
When we look up to our supervisor, we want to see
someone for whom we would march to the ends of the earth if called. When we look
to our soldiers, mechanics, teachers, or any other group of which we are in
charge, we want to see someone who will accomplish the assigned mission
regardless of the cost.
We have studied Patton’s Third Army in World
War II and found that he was a man who accomplished much in a critical time in
history. The soldiers who admired "Old Blood and Guts" would do
anything for him. Those who did not admire him still knew that he would
accomplish the mission and bring them back home. "His guts, our blood"
put the entire leadership question in perspective.
We could go on and on with World War II heroes,
with heroes of other wars and with heroes who rose up to lead men and women in
difficult times. Churchill. FDR. MacArthur. Colin Powell. Robert E. Lee. Ulysses
S. Grant. George Washington.
Yet, what is the one underlying aspect which
makes all leaders successful? When I was serving in Panama, our United States
Army South Commanding General, Major General Bernard Loeffke, suggested that
great leaders are those people who can keep hope alive. When we look at all of
the above individuals and when we think of other men and women whom we consider
to be great leaders, we can see that the common bond is the fact that people
followed them because of a hope of a better tomorrow. We can think of Churchill
during the bombing of Britain, of FDR as he led the nation out of a depression
and through the long years of World War II, of MacArthur as he promised to
return to the Philippines, of Colin Powel during the Gulf War and even how he
brings hope to many people in his retirement, of Lee and Grant during the Civil
War, and of Washington at Valley Forge.
Why does the young infantryman, sailor, marine,
or airman do his or her job in miserable conditions? Is it because of the payoff
at the end of the tunnel? It may be because there are dry socks and hot coffee
on the objective. The hope of this better condition keeps soldiers marching and
doing the things that they need to do. And it is simple for the leader, to allow
them to change into dry socks and give them coffee and they will march and fight
forever, march to the sound of the guns. Make them stay wet and drink cold
coffee when they could have had better, and they will go no farther than
directed. Hope is the key. Squelch hope and there will be no morale. Keep hope
alive, and morale will be high.
This leadership trait works in all areas of life.
I have often wondered why the little Korean farmer who lives in the blue-tiled
roof where the dirt road turns into a path farms his little rice paddy year in
and year out. It is because of the hope that he has that he will provide for his
family. The campesino in Honduras does the same. As do our farmers here in
Georgia. Without hope, it is easy to call it quits. Will hope, we will continue.
As leaders, we must keep hope alive. Hope that
springs from the breast of every man and woman will not be suppressed if there
is confidence in the leader. Yet, that hope will be erased when a leader does
not inspire the feeling of success along the way and of the ultimate mission
accomplishment. I can only tell you the what, I can not tell you the how because
each one has a different circumstance and a different leadership style. Yet, we
must keep hope alive to be successful leaders.
This
is Mike here, again, with some links to help you continue your exploration of
leadership that Col. Kirkbride has gotten you started on. Don’t blame our
visitor for these.
Army
Management Staff College—
www.mdw.army.mil/cpd/sustaining_base_leadership__faqs.htm
Donald
Clark’s "Big Dog’s Leadership Page"—
http://www.nwlink.com/
donclark/leader/leader.html
Educational
leadership—
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/le0cont.htm
Leadership
Trust Foundation—
ProActive
Leadership—
http://www.mbsnet.com/leadfyi.htm
Women
of the World Leadership Development—
http://www.wownow.org/wow/index.html
You
can e-mail our guest raver at—