How do great leaders create more great leaders?

The greatest leader I was ever privileged to know personally, albeit to a very small extent, was the commander of my unit, with whom I'd been allowed to chat at one point for nearly an hour when I'd been in, back when dinos roamed the Pleistocene, lol. I found out later he flew over something like 174 combat missions in Vietnam in an OV-10 Bronco, that light tail mounted turboprop aircraft depicted in the gene Hackman Danny Glover film bat 21, if any of you have seen it, a true story. The commander of my unit had given me an appreciation plaque that day, which is indelibly etched in my memory, for some work I'd done, which, candidly, and truthfully, I genuinely hadn't expected, in all honesty. I only recall the almost overawing sheer raw emotional power of the man, and the way he helped me, in speaking with him, to be, I think, genuinely all the better for having been able to speak with him at such length. He'd been a Col when I'd met him, though he'd been approved for BGen, and was just waiting for his pin-on date, the day all that happened.Thee PMS and Assoc PMS of my prior army ROTC unit, as I'd initially been slated to go army, rather than, as happened later on, USAF, had also been Vietnam war heroes, the PMS had given me an award for the AUSA-US Army ROTC for military history for a paper I did for him on wargaming, they, too, profoundly influenced me, many times. I'd also been able, once, while at USAF OTS then at Lackland, before Maxwell, to actually see, and ask a couple of questions of, one of the Apollo astronauts, who'd been invited to chat with us by the USAF OTS commandant, also a most impressive man, who was evidently a personal friend of his. I was also much affected by both of the USAF OTS flight commanders whom supervised me while I went through the program there, I was recycled once. I'd also been allowed, while in army ROTC, to go up to West point for drills with my unit, rappelling on the cliff there, as well as staying in the barracks with the cadets sevl times, and to eat with them in the famous dining hall where Gregory Peck had re-enacted the speech by Gen MacArthur in the film about him. I just thought you might all find that useful by way of some insights , hope was of interest, be eager for any thoughts, many thanks.

I use the hope Method.......Help Other People Evolve.

Team... I think its been said; however, I feel it merits further mentioning.

The first thing the leaders has to be is genuine and care for their charges. This is very evident to juniors and the false leader is discovered quickly.

The second is the environment the leader establishes for their charges to grow. This can be done in all operating environments.... and in my opinion a leader that can create this environment... when in a "poor" organizational environment... provide their charges with the knowledge that the "leader sets the tone"... don't ever blame upper management for the climate you can control.

Third.... Provide as clear guidance as possible... or be clear that the guidance you are providing is the best you can provide based on what you have been given.

Lastly.... the followers have to have trust that their leader has there back. This element is the one necessary for leader development... so that growth and education can flourish.

These blended together have worked well for me for over 20 years... and I feel that I have provided a pretty good legacy for the Army.

My 2 cents and hope they help.

Cam

The thing I passed on to all my Junior Marines is to observe the NCOs around you. Learn to tell the difference between a good leader and a bad one. See the kind of leader you want to be and emulate that person.

Don't promote or ignore bad behavior. Current administration is a good example of what not to do. Kill ego feeding practices and culture, and neuter the weasels. Promote builders, hang climbers out to dry. They're not always easy to spot but are usually the ones saying "must be nice" instead of being happy for others. Remember to teach that villains that twirl their mustaches are easy to spot; those that sink in dark corners and cloak themselves in good proclamations are much harder to recognize. Many leaders are either forged by circumstance or cultivated. I'm partial to cultivation. It takes time to become this type of leader, and impulse un-reigned is not a hallmark of a leader.

Lead by example, be approachable, be honest, be compassionate, be supportive, be fair, be tough, have a sense of humor, don't only listen BUT hear, asking questions or seeking guidance is the sign of strength not weakness, you are not the smartest one in the room, both E's & O's have much to offer, remember when you were coming up the ranks.

I had/have many simotaneous mentors over the years both civilian and military, I did my best to take the positive traits that I wanted to emulate . I approached several folks through out my career to be a mentor & I truly despised them AND never wanted to be like them made certain I NEVER acted the way they did!

Servant leadership is a great model. Lead people by putting their needs ahead of your own. Just a small piece of the puzzle. My personal recipe for success is this. In order for me to be successful, I need to help those around me become successful. That does not always translate to the business or political worlds, but in the world of true leadership, I think it is spot on.

Leaders involve themselves in meetings where he is proactively teaching processes, and have an open door policy.

Setting good examples build a solid foundation, for which a follower will one day lead.

I have to say my best leader from the officer side was my company commander with HHC, USACAPOC(A), back before they restructured us from reporting to SOCOM, to reporting to USARC. I was on Active Duty orders, and from day one, that man was present. He didn't need to be in anyone's face to get his job done. He had me working a mission for him, and I had no clue what to do. He told me point blank - "Specialist, there are a half dozen NCOs in that office. Use them. They won't let you fail." He had an officer that he'd had ongoing issues with, and at the very end, he finally lost his cool and went off on him. I could hear him down the hall yelling at him. When he wandered down the hallway later, he commented about being sorry for disturbing me, I just said it rattled me a little hearing an officer getting hemmed up like that. His response - "Even officers fuck up bad enough to get their asses handed to them. And Every so often, you guys need to see that they don't get away with fucking up, either. I handle them just like I'll handle you guys if I need to. But I should have closed my door so it didn't carry so loudly and clearly."

He always had time to talk to me, he reminded me of all the mentors I had in that building alone if I ever got lost, and he always reminded me that I had the full potential to accomplish anything I wanted with my military career. I just had to go after it. I hated leaving that unit.