Understand Leadership before You Report It

[thedrifter]

-24-2004 <br />
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Understand Leadership before You Report It <br />
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First in an Occasional Series

[thedrifter]

Comment: After the first few sentences in the Plain Dealer article, I initially thought Captain Knight’s actions were in keeping with the spirit of this principle. My opinion began to change when I read the parts that dealt with judgment, rewards and punishments, and respect. My new, negative opinion was confirmed when I read the following three applicable principles.



Principle 5: “Refrain from ‘blowing up’ under stress or when irritated.”



Principle 7: “Never allow yourself to be unduly rushed or stampeded. There is usually ample time for considered judgment, even during battle. Dignity and poise are invaluable assets to a leader.”



Principle 23: “Encourage common decency – do not tolerate vulgarity or filthy language in your presence.”



I also have a few questions and comments of my own regarding Yarborough’s vignette of his superstar:



Where was the non-commissioned officer (NCO) leadership in that situation? Why was an officer micromanaging by doing NCO business in a combat environment? I believe that a sign of truly effective officer leadership is developing your subordinates’ leadership to deal with responsibilities commensurate with their rank, and not usurping your subordinates’ leadership. Whenever you have officers doing NCO work, what is left for the NCOs?



In my opinion, Yarborough did a great disservice both to the Army and to Captain Knight.



The vignette he chose to back up his point that Knight is a great combat leader paints the totally opposite picture: an out-of-control, micro-managing, rank-bully with no respect for her soldiers. A “superstar” destined to be a general officer in the Army deserves better than that. When Knight’s battalion commander was willing to be quoted, “If my sons want to join the Army, I'd be happy if they were led by Jennifer Knight," he was endorsing the spirit of LeJeune’s observations and refuting Yarborough’s choice of leadership example.



Joe DiMaggio, the legendary New York Yankees Hall-of-Famer, when asked why he always played so hard every game, replied that he never knew when somebody was watching him play for the first time. Leaders (and journalists) should reflect on the simple logic in DiMaggio’s response and then internalize their own lessons learned.



Lt. Col. Matthew Dodd USMC is a Senior Editor of DefenseWatch. He can be reached at mattdodd1775@hotmail.com. Please send Feedback responses to dwfeedback@yahoo.com.

http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=DefenseWatch.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=420&rnd=274.64580093986524


Ellie

[25snakeman02]

Thanks Drifter. Excellent Article. To this day I always try to apply Leadership, starting with my 7 year old Daughter. So far so good. I look forward to seing more of the Col's Articles on Leadership. Only a Marine can speak of NCOs. I am not very familiar with Army ways/or management for that matter. I would like to hear what those NCOs were thinking when she proved she could curse and lost all respect from her troops.

Snakeman

[MillRatUSMC]

There guidelines to how leadership should be applied.
Poise is one, self-control is another.
It's hard to judge from a distant.
She must been thinking about having to write a letter of condolences to this young soldier family.
That might explain why she went off the deep end.
She should have call this soldier's NCO to have him or her correct that soldier's direct disobedience to an order.
Every sitution is different and we can just be guided by what others have done before us.
When you're dealing with life and death situtions.
Things are different from everyday occurences out here in civilian life.
I for one would follow an Officer in the mold of Major General O.P Smith USMC Commanding Officer of the 1st Marine Division during the Chosen Reservior breakout back to sea.
He was a soft-spoken gentleman but he did what was necessary to ensure the safety of those under his command.
He was assisted by some of the best combat leaders in command of the 1st. Marines, 5th and 7th Marines.
Colonel Ray Murray USMC, Commanding Officer 5th Marines, Colonel Homer Litzenberg USMC, Commanding Officer 7th Marines and Colonel Lewis B. Pullers USMC, Commanding Officer 1st. Marines.
Closer to home, I look to my Commanding Officer of 2nd Platoon Bravo Company 1st. Lt. Frank S. Reasoner as a soft-spoken but effective leader.
Certainly all these men had poise and self-control in the most stressful situtions known to man.
I would not look to any of these Officers cursing someone under their command...

Semper Fidelisd
Ricardo