Posted on Jul 20, 2015
The Standard of Leadership - Do you consider it a critical factor in protecting people and preserving personal freedom?
7.82K
58
24
18
18
0
ENTIRE POST AND ARTICLE IS INCLUDED BELOW!
The Standard of Leadership
By Curtis K. Chocholous
World history abounds with lessons in leadership. We have an abundance of causation evidence of the rise and fall of nations throughout the millenniums of recorded time on earth. We can read of great triumph and success and dismal error and failure. Every great societal success and failure can be directly traced and linked to vigilant maintenance or permissive deterioration of standards, respectively.
REASONS FOR HUMAN ERROR
The Military Academy of West Point cited four major reasons for human error:
1. Standards are unclear, impractical or nonexistent: Standards Failure
2. Standards exist, but are not known or ways to achieve them are not known: Training Failure
3. Standards are known, but not enforced: Leadership Failure
4. Standards are known, but are not followed: Individual Failure
Reasons 1, 2 and 3 can be viewed and debated as Leadership Failures. Reason 4 appears to highlight a fact of human nature that people have an innate and compelling tendency to drift outside the safety and protection of well-meaning boundaries. Parents who have reared children quickly develop intuitive instincts regarding such behavioral patterns. Sadly, some children fail to leave their child-like behaviors behind well into their years of adulthood – a consequence that is often rooted in these reasons for human error.
ESTABLISHING & MAINTAINING HIGH STANDARDS
The key, or operative word within each reason for human error is ‘Standards.’ Without an appropriate Standard we have nothing to unify or measure against. A Standard can be defined as a rule or principle that is used as a basis for comparison and judgment. Morals, ethics and values define a society and resulting behaviors become evidence by which leaders should be evaluated and held accountable.
Great leaders understand the vital connection between human nature and a lack of standards. They know the world is not going to end when we fail or make an error. The Declaration of Independence teaches us, “That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among them are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Clearly, it is impossible to secure these rights without Standards and nations that have lessened, ignored or abandoned their Standards have suffered great decline or perished.
DEVOLUTION OF STANDARDS
Alexander Fraser Tytler in his book entitled, The Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic wrote, “The world’s greatest civilizations have all progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependency; from dependency back into bondage.”
Every society, community and organization rises and falls based upon its cultural standards and the character, competence and courage of its leaders to uphold them.
The Standard of Leadership is the most critical factor in protecting people and preserving personal freedom. It is where accountability and grace meet and good success and prosperity sustained.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/standard-leadership-curtis-k-chocholous?trk=hp-feed-article-title-channel-add
The Standard of Leadership
By Curtis K. Chocholous
World history abounds with lessons in leadership. We have an abundance of causation evidence of the rise and fall of nations throughout the millenniums of recorded time on earth. We can read of great triumph and success and dismal error and failure. Every great societal success and failure can be directly traced and linked to vigilant maintenance or permissive deterioration of standards, respectively.
REASONS FOR HUMAN ERROR
The Military Academy of West Point cited four major reasons for human error:
1. Standards are unclear, impractical or nonexistent: Standards Failure
2. Standards exist, but are not known or ways to achieve them are not known: Training Failure
3. Standards are known, but not enforced: Leadership Failure
4. Standards are known, but are not followed: Individual Failure
Reasons 1, 2 and 3 can be viewed and debated as Leadership Failures. Reason 4 appears to highlight a fact of human nature that people have an innate and compelling tendency to drift outside the safety and protection of well-meaning boundaries. Parents who have reared children quickly develop intuitive instincts regarding such behavioral patterns. Sadly, some children fail to leave their child-like behaviors behind well into their years of adulthood – a consequence that is often rooted in these reasons for human error.
ESTABLISHING & MAINTAINING HIGH STANDARDS
The key, or operative word within each reason for human error is ‘Standards.’ Without an appropriate Standard we have nothing to unify or measure against. A Standard can be defined as a rule or principle that is used as a basis for comparison and judgment. Morals, ethics and values define a society and resulting behaviors become evidence by which leaders should be evaluated and held accountable.
Great leaders understand the vital connection between human nature and a lack of standards. They know the world is not going to end when we fail or make an error. The Declaration of Independence teaches us, “That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among them are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Clearly, it is impossible to secure these rights without Standards and nations that have lessened, ignored or abandoned their Standards have suffered great decline or perished.
DEVOLUTION OF STANDARDS
Alexander Fraser Tytler in his book entitled, The Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic wrote, “The world’s greatest civilizations have all progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependency; from dependency back into bondage.”
Every society, community and organization rises and falls based upon its cultural standards and the character, competence and courage of its leaders to uphold them.
The Standard of Leadership is the most critical factor in protecting people and preserving personal freedom. It is where accountability and grace meet and good success and prosperity sustained.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/standard-leadership-curtis-k-chocholous?trk=hp-feed-article-title-channel-add
Leader
Leadership
Leadership Development
Standards
Edited 10 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 13
1
1
0
Sir,
Great article! I completely agree with the author and also believe that the decline of upholding/enforcing the standards is occurring too frequently within our organization.
1SG Rivera
Great article! I completely agree with the author and also believe that the decline of upholding/enforcing the standards is occurring too frequently within our organization.
1SG Rivera
(1)
(0)
1
1
0
Funny that you are using quotes from Ray Kroc. The standards that his company have set are less than marginal and are part of the problem of the US. As Americans we have embraced sub-standard as, "Just the way it is." When you go to McDonald's and order a $4.00 hamburger that looks amazing on the menu and accept the thing that slopped in a box, that makes you part of the problem. You should demand that you receive exactly what is on the menu and settle for nothing less.
It is the same thing as leaders. You, as a leader (No matter how far down the food chain you are), accept marginal performance because, "That is the way it is." and you blame leadership above you, then YOU ARE THE PROBLEM!
Can you tell I have no use for Ray Kroc or McDonald's?
It is the same thing as leaders. You, as a leader (No matter how far down the food chain you are), accept marginal performance because, "That is the way it is." and you blame leadership above you, then YOU ARE THE PROBLEM!
Can you tell I have no use for Ray Kroc or McDonald's?
(1)
(0)
SGT William Howell
Ray Kroc and Sam Walton would have never ran their companies the way they are now. I do think they are great examples of where we as a nation are going. The good news is these companies are not bring in the profits that they once did.
COL Mikel J. Burroughs Being a Full Bird you see the higher leadership that is lacking. Us lower enlisted NCOs see the lack of leadership not nearly as high up and we tend to see it at the O-4 on down level. The key for the NCO Corps is not allowing our standards to diminish where the rubber meets the road. That comes from the NCO Corps accepting nothing less that the standard and from grooming the next generation of leaders. I am sure the office side works some of the same way. We don't have nearly as much political clout and games as the Officer Corps does so it is much easier to stay the course. If you want to see the military succeed in the PC world, lay out the rules, empower your subordinates, and accept nothing less than the standard. Don't worry about what happens on the Hill.
COL Mikel J. Burroughs Being a Full Bird you see the higher leadership that is lacking. Us lower enlisted NCOs see the lack of leadership not nearly as high up and we tend to see it at the O-4 on down level. The key for the NCO Corps is not allowing our standards to diminish where the rubber meets the road. That comes from the NCO Corps accepting nothing less that the standard and from grooming the next generation of leaders. I am sure the office side works some of the same way. We don't have nearly as much political clout and games as the Officer Corps does so it is much easier to stay the course. If you want to see the military succeed in the PC world, lay out the rules, empower your subordinates, and accept nothing less than the standard. Don't worry about what happens on the Hill.
(1)
(0)
COL Mikel J. Burroughs
SGT William Howell Great candor and advice. My goal is to provide as much ammunition for young leaders to caputre and put away in their toolbox for use in the future, whether it be for the next grade or rank, or transition into the world of business.
(2)
(0)
SGT William Howell
COL Mikel J. Burroughs Great advice. I have taken everything the army gave me and have tried to apply it to my civilian job. I had to put knife hands away though. It was freaking some people out.
(1)
(0)
1
1
0
Leadership ability is only for the ones who can be accountable for leading and taking care of the well being of others who he/she leads and influence.
(1)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google