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Growing as a leader, I've learned some of my most valuable lessons from making mistakes.
People are so afraid to get it wrong, they sometimes cover things up, or plan things to perfection, or worse... PRETEND to understand. What is this really teaching? I would like to hear what mistakes others have made and how they grew from it.
I remember as a private I was assigned the M249 during the field. My squad leader was right behind me as we were getting "attacked." I couldn't remember how to put the ammo in. I thought he was going to yell at me, I felt like a complete baboon, but he just waited quietly, until I figured it out on my own. I put the blanks in and returned fire. I learned so many things from that. He let me try all the wrong ways, until I got it right.
A little further in my career, we were doing convoy live fire training, and I just didn't get it. I was in a unit with bad leadership. They yelled at me and called me insulting names each time I got it wrong. So I pretended to understand and hoped no one would notice. A month later we went downrange. I still didn't understand the basic TTPs because the fear of being ridiculed was worse for me than not knowing. I could have killed people. I COULD HAVE KILLED PEOPLE. I still feel sick about this, 7 years later. I never want to be that leader I had. I never want Soldiers to be afraid to make a mistake during training. When my subordinate makes a mistake, it is a great time to explain how to do it better, and why... then the lesson will stick.
People are so afraid to get it wrong, they sometimes cover things up, or plan things to perfection, or worse... PRETEND to understand. What is this really teaching? I would like to hear what mistakes others have made and how they grew from it.
I remember as a private I was assigned the M249 during the field. My squad leader was right behind me as we were getting "attacked." I couldn't remember how to put the ammo in. I thought he was going to yell at me, I felt like a complete baboon, but he just waited quietly, until I figured it out on my own. I put the blanks in and returned fire. I learned so many things from that. He let me try all the wrong ways, until I got it right.
A little further in my career, we were doing convoy live fire training, and I just didn't get it. I was in a unit with bad leadership. They yelled at me and called me insulting names each time I got it wrong. So I pretended to understand and hoped no one would notice. A month later we went downrange. I still didn't understand the basic TTPs because the fear of being ridiculed was worse for me than not knowing. I could have killed people. I COULD HAVE KILLED PEOPLE. I still feel sick about this, 7 years later. I never want to be that leader I had. I never want Soldiers to be afraid to make a mistake during training. When my subordinate makes a mistake, it is a great time to explain how to do it better, and why... then the lesson will stick.
Posted in these groups: 
Lessons Learned
Leadership
Lessons Learned Leadership
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 17
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MSG Wade Huffman
My thoughts exactly! While I'm sure I didn't learn from ALL of them (at least not the FIRST time), I like to think that I have learned from the vast majority of them!
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Never be afraid to ask for help. When leaders assume we have the knowledge it can be disasterous. There was a flight surgeon that died walking into a tail rotor because everyone asumed a flight officer knew everything about aviation. I was given the controls of an aircraft because the pilot didn't know I was a reclass E-5 and he always had NCO's who could at least keep the aircraft in level flight. What is worse? Not knowing and assuming, which can lead to disaster? Sound off. The life you save can be your own....or even theirs!
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SFC (Join to see)
@SFC Mark Merino. Thank you for sharing your story. It reenforces the fact it's OK to say you don't know! we can learn and go forward!
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The list is long and distinguished (and all actual blunders performed by yours truly) but the key is I learned:
The star on the red plate for a general's vehicle points upwards. And 100 pushups later...
When the horn goes off at 0300, do not ask, "is this an alert" over an unencrypted network while on the Korean DMZ - and I'm a Signal Officer.
When your CO throws a smoke grenade into the Bde CDR's tent at annual training, run! - that is not the time to stand there and be honest while the boss is steaming.
Be sure the driver knows you are adjusting the antenna on the hmmwv before you do it and he decides to make a call. OUCH!!!
Get your promotion and advancement required schools done as early as possible so you don't have to attend one the week prior to deployment.
Do not let your non military spouse keep driving on and off post because they think its cool that the gate guards salute them. Getting a "don't let it happen again" speech from the Provost Marshal at any post is NOT a good experience.
ALWAYS, always, always do a 360 degree perimeter sweep prior to saying anything remotely derogatory about someone, but especially one senior in rank by at least 2 pay grades. I still have the ass scars from that little ditty.
The star on the red plate for a general's vehicle points upwards. And 100 pushups later...
When the horn goes off at 0300, do not ask, "is this an alert" over an unencrypted network while on the Korean DMZ - and I'm a Signal Officer.
When your CO throws a smoke grenade into the Bde CDR's tent at annual training, run! - that is not the time to stand there and be honest while the boss is steaming.
Be sure the driver knows you are adjusting the antenna on the hmmwv before you do it and he decides to make a call. OUCH!!!
Get your promotion and advancement required schools done as early as possible so you don't have to attend one the week prior to deployment.
Do not let your non military spouse keep driving on and off post because they think its cool that the gate guards salute them. Getting a "don't let it happen again" speech from the Provost Marshal at any post is NOT a good experience.
ALWAYS, always, always do a 360 degree perimeter sweep prior to saying anything remotely derogatory about someone, but especially one senior in rank by at least 2 pay grades. I still have the ass scars from that little ditty.
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PO1 (Join to see)
And did he mention ALWAYS by any chance? That last one hit me dead center MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca . BTDT - felt your a$$ scars all the way to Florida......OUCH!
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MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca
The teeth marks have faded PO1 (Join to see) but sometimes on those really cold winter days, I gotta get the inflatable donut out for some relief :-)
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