Posted on Feb 17, 2018
What is the best lesson an NCO/Officer has ever taught you?
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What is the best lesson/piece of advice an NCO or officer has ever taught you? Personally, I would say the most impressionable advice an NCO has ever taught me was that at the end of the day, my military career is in my hands. My decisions reflect my career and at the end of the day, if I want something done (schooling opportunities, career advancement) to ALWAYS push and never give up.
What's the best advice you have ever received?
What's the best advice you have ever received?
Advice
Lessons Learned
Leadership
Training
Military Career
Posted 6 y ago
Responses: 132
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From MSgt Green, 1STMARDIV Operations Chief - 1990ish: There are those that command respect and those that demand it. Those that command respect do it through positive personal example and infectious enthusiasm. Those that demand respect are quick to remind you of the rank on their collar or their position. Work to be the former and avoid the latter.
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"To be a good leader, you must first be a good follower." MSGT Loreman, USAF (RET). I was bitter about not being the FLT LDR my freshman year of JROTC and 27years later, I believe I am the highest ranking and most successful military wise from that class.
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Let others fail in a safe and controlled environment so they can learn to stand on their own two feet, ask for help and become better assets to you later. SSG (Join to see)
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In every decision, think first about your subordinates, then your assets, then your mission. If you satisfy the necessities in that order, you can't go wrong.
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LCDR (Join to see)
Nah. It's more like, "How will this decision affect my subordinates? Is there a decision which is better for them?" So you find the best decision for your people. Then you do the same thing for your assets. Now, your people and your assets are in the best condition and readiness they possibly can be. Mission comes along, "How do I complete this mission?" - Looks like some fighting is involved and some people might die? Back to the "People" portion; how do I minimize the expected casualties or exposure for my subordinates? How do I minimize the potential threat to my assets? Then, "Did those decisions affect the effectiveness of the mission?" If so, take a look at other options for the mission.
Rinse, repeat, about a billion times until you're led yourself to find the solution which most protects your people and your assets while still accomplishing the mission.
Rinse, repeat, about a billion times until you're led yourself to find the solution which most protects your people and your assets while still accomplishing the mission.
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MAJ (Join to see)
LCDR (Join to see) - Yes, we choose a course of action that minimizes casualties and we assess the risk versus reward of each operation. But mission always comes first.
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Arsenio Ibay
Apologies if this sounds like classroom indoc, but ... Mission is inextricably tied to people - until the day robots populate the battlefield, you are a leader of people, not machines. Your soldiers are your primary assets, the ones tasked with carrying out the mission. They need to be deployable: properly trained, physically able, have serviceable equipment to do the job, sufficient supplies. They need to get paid, especially if they leave a family behind. And they are people, who want to their lives to be valued.
Soldiers understand that they might be asked to ordered to risk their lives, but knowing their non-trivial needs - personal and mission-related - are addressed is essential for morale and lets them focus on execution.
Mission is "what I have to do", but people are "who I lead to get it done".
At least that's my take on how the two are linked.
Soldiers understand that they might be asked to ordered to risk their lives, but knowing their non-trivial needs - personal and mission-related - are addressed is essential for morale and lets them focus on execution.
Mission is "what I have to do", but people are "who I lead to get it done".
At least that's my take on how the two are linked.
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LCDR (Join to see)
I can't tell by your comment if you're agreeing with me or rebutting my statement. But I agree with yours, if that makes a difference.
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SFC Greg Bruorton
I like your comment! It's important to get in with the troops to let them know you're human too and are willing to listen and help. Expressing thanks to others is always a great thing to do.
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MAJ Ken Landgren
SFC Greg Bruorton - My Armor BN CO taught me that. He went out of his way to thank the support folks.
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I have 34 years of service both in active and reserve service. Was the S3 if a Brigade and also the President of a 610 person company of a logistics concern. One of best pieces of advice I ever got was from an officer early in my career. Simplistically put, he said, communicate tough/bad news up the chain the moment you become aware of it. This advice saved me many ass chewings and endeared me to my superiors as a guy who would communicate early and often. Many times I saw other younger guys scramble to avoid / or hide bad news that invariably blew up on them. I learned the value of communication with bosses who appreciated the heads up and also mentored me at the same time. Many times, they asked me “now that we all know that, WHAT are YOU going to do about it? P S: it also works in a good marriage (35 years married)!
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SPC Tom DeSmet
I have lived my entire life by that standard. The best advice I ever got was "don't just come to me with the problem, think of a solution and run it by me."
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"Sergeants eat Last". This quote has a whole lot of meaning to me. The statement entails many leadership traits that are often used. I have many book titles that have yet to have prints. One of them is " Sergeants Eat Last" . I still use that attitude as a retired soldier in a civilian world.
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When you screw up, own it. And the job of any leader is to prepare their subordinates for their next promotion.
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Listen to your men. You cannot anticipate every possible scenario that might occur when devising a plan. Having stripes (or bars) does not make you an infallible God. You don't listen, people die.
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