Acts of Leadership

2014-09-15T21:06:47-04:00

While I was at IBOLC I had an awesome instructor who is a CPT down in 3RD now. He has passion for what he did and did it well. Before he deployed to Afghan as a PL with the 101st he said he sent out an open invitation to have a meal with every soldier in the platoon. He wanted to go to the soldiers residence and break bread with them and their family. Not everyone took him up on it he said. But that struck me as somewhat inspirational. He would have to give up his own time and genuinely wanted to know each one of his soldiers and their family before they would go into combat.

What have you seen an leader do that reassured their passion for their men? Whether it be Active Duty or Guard. I might steal one of your ideas as I will be heading across the pond soon.

Response by PO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 15 at 2014 9:18 PM

2014-09-15T21:18:05-04:00

Sounds like an excellent leader! Leadership does not stop at 5pm! I like to think of leadership in another vein - Stewardship, Servant and Service. Too many take the approach that "I'm the boss and that's that!"....see that waaaay too many times in my life.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 15 at 2014 10:17 PM

2014-09-15T22:17:12-04:00

I had a Bn Cdr at Ft. Bragg, who made it a point to show up at a unit while they were either emplacing or breaking down to make a move. When he his driver pulled into the perimeter, he would go around and help Soldier's set up or tear down (whichever) before he would head over to the unit CP. He made it a point to do so as leadership tool after he heard me (HQs 1SG) raising hell with a couple "special" Bn Staff Officers who wanted to sit on their ass while Soldiers and NCOs were trying to make movement or set up times per Bn SOP. It worked and lasted long after he departed the Battalion. This simple act of taking a few minutes to be part of the Team was very positive influence on Soldiers and NCOs!

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 15 at 2014 10:30 PM

2014-09-15T22:30:06-04:00

As a 1SG, we returned from every FTX, deployment we went on as a unit, or a platoon returning, I would grab the commander and say, "lets go". Off we headed to the motor pool, washrack, or Platoon areas. We would spend a couple hours going around helping each platoon with part of their recovery. We made it to help our drivers either wash "our" vehicle and/or some type of recovery. Recovery was usually about a 3 day process for the unit, however the couple hours we used for Soldiers to see us actually out there working, getting dirty and sweaty with them went a long way. I made sure every NCO and young officer understood the purpose and the long term benefits it brought to the "unit" as a whole. When we were in the field, it was not unusal to see the commander and I either serving or actually cooking eggs in the MKT once or twice during the exercise, FTX, deployment, etc. The fact that we couldn't cook worth a damn didn't matter, but the time spent interating with the Soldiers as they went thru the chow line was priceless, kept the cooks motivation up, it made them want to put out a better meal and brought big "unit" dividends long term. When Soldiers see their leadership sharing in their hardships when you don't have too, but do it anyway, will go a long way in motivating them to give a little bit more when needed and the leadership is not present!

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 16 at 2014 12:00 AM

2014-09-16T00:00:29-04:00

I have had the privilege to know a leader who is the epitome of everything I aspire to be: professional, fair, and empathetic. His reputation was above reproach. He set a high standard, and encouraged me to not only meet it, but surpass it.
He began his career as a lowly enlisted combat Marine. And now he is a MAJ in the ARNG.
When we slept in the field, so did he. When we marched 20 miles in the sand, with bloody, blistered heels, so did he.
When I found myself in a situation in which I didn't think I could resolve, he was my light in the darkness.
He knows the names of my children, my husband. And has this distinguished distinction, of all the leaders in my career: Not a single person to whom I have ever spoken, has uttered anything negative about him. Not a single, solitary word.
"Leadership" means something to me. And his actions, words, knowledge, empathy, and sacredness of Oath are my standard in a leader. I see many of these traits on RallyPoint.
There are a few in whom I recognize these qualities, by the merit of their responses to other service-members, compassion, and their integrity of their world-view and sincerity in their answers. That, to me, is what composes, and ultimately develops, a great leader.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 17 at 2014 1:47 AM

2014-09-17T01:47:27-04:00

I don't think it's necessary to break bread with Soldiers to build camaraderie and show you care but asking them about their lives, talking to them with respect, and doing what's necessary to take care of them while still accomplishing the mission is paramount. The biggest thing that has made me respect my leaders, subordinates, amd peers has hands down been presence. That is, being where the Soldiers are when it's not necessary to be somewhere else. PT is the easiest and most notable place to be present as a leader. It's not as important to be the best at PT as it is to do the same PT as one's Soldiers every day as this shows them their leader cares and that they meet the same requirements and are subject to the same rules they set for their subordinates. It's really just leading by example when you boil it down.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 17 at 2014 2:20 AM

2014-09-17T02:20:34-04:00

My platoon is actually trying to plan a sort of dinning out and fishing trip that the majority could attend but its difficult working around 18 peoples civilian jobs. Also we are planning a ruck march that involves a Zodiac and acting as if someone is injured and that is our best means to tranport him. Its going to be difficult to plan but i think we can get it to work even with planning around jobs and the distance that we live from each other. I personally think it will be fun and everyone is on board for doing it and I am probably the hardest to plan around being I work offshore and am only home for 2 weeks at a time.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 28 at 2015 11:17 PM

2015-01-28T23:17:48-05:00

I am a bit old-fashioned. I prefer face to face communication to text and email (as I write online...).

When I was preparing to deploy to Africa last year, I put together an event for family members to get together with my commander and I so we would have a chance to meet them and answer the many questions they had. My intent was to make every effort to circulate throughout the room, meet every last Mom, Dad, Wife, and Child, look each in the eye and let them measure whether I was worthy to take care of their loved one for a year. It was a resounding success, and I got an awful lot of feedback through the troops about how much that gesture meant to their family members.

Response by MSG Scott McBride made Jan 29 at 2015 1:14 PM

2015-01-29T13:14:48-05:00

That example you just shared is the perfect example in my opinion. It not only shows the Soldier that he/she has a leader who genuinely cares about them, but their family too. That particular act of empathy is rare and I hope more Leaders would conduct business that way but also the Soldiers allow that fave time in their homes. Great example LT, I'm sure you emulate the CPT.

Response by SGT Ben Keen made Jan 29 at 2015 1:29 PM

2015-01-29T13:29:40-05:00

I had the honor of serving with several leaders like the one you mentioned CPT Private RallyPoint Member. When I first got to my unit in Germany, my Platoon SGT picked me from Katterbach and drove me back to Shippton and made sure I was settled in to my room then took me around and personally introduced me to everyone in the platoon.

During my time at Ft Campbell, my unit looked after each other both downrange and back home. The CO would go out of his way to talk to every Soldier and learn about us and our personal life. Later he said that by knowing us and our families he could better understand how we would react in the heat of combat.

In Korea, which was a very difficult time for me, my Section SGT seeing that I was having issues transitioning to the unit following my time in Iraq went out of his way to ensure I was okay. He invited me to join him for dinner and he would check in on me on the weekends to ensure I was staying busy. He also made sure that the duty roster worked around all my appointments.

Lastly at Ft Huachuca, my 1SG was probably one of the best leaders I ever served with. He was there when my daughter was born. He came over and had dinner. He was fair, maintained the standard and never asked us to do something that he himself never did.

All this stuff might seem like routine things. Things that leaders should do; yet I ask, how many leaders here can say they have gone out of their way? I know as a young sergeant I found myself some days wanting to just go home and be with my kids when a Soldier would call from the barracks and need a ride or something. The ability to put others first is not one that is easily thought nor practiced. We are human after all. Thankfully, it was the leadership demonstrated by these 4 men and several others that helped to teach me what a true leader is and a true leader does. Having the bars and stripes are one thing, living up to them is another.

Response by SPC Stewart Smith made Jan 29 at 2015 9:16 PM

2015-01-29T21:16:00-05:00

There are two qualities I observed that made a soldier stand out among his/her piers.

Transparency - Anyone, NCOs included, who never hesitated to be honest with you, regardless of it hurting your feelings, was someone you can trust. If they said something that hurt your feelings, then that just shows you something you should change about yourself.

Ability to admit mistakes - This was mainly for NCOs. When I saw an NCO admit their mistake in front of their subordinates, it showed me just how much integrity they really had. I think there is a stigma of admitting you're wrong and that it will make your soldiers treat you with disrespect. From a personal experience, when my NCOs admitted to mistakes, my respect for them grew.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Jun 19 at 2015 4:32 PM

2015-06-19T16:32:59-04:00

One of my Battalion Commanders made it a point to recognize the soldiers who supported his unit. His staff lightly made fun of officers in a home made movie, and good door prizes to be won.