I have to admit it, my latest guilty pleasure is watching HBO’s “Generation Kill” (the story of the 1st Marine Recon Batallion in the first few weeks of the 2003 invasion of Iraq) on Sunday nights. The 7-part miniseries is currently on episode 3, and so far so good. Think “The Wire” meets “3 Kings” with a “Band of Brothers” vibe.
In terms of pure entertainment, it’s mostly a guy thing I guess, so it may miss the mark with broad audiences. But in terms of painting a pretty complex web of interactions between layers of hierarchy, leadership styles and gradients of professionalism, the show is pure gold. MBA students should be required to watch the show just to see what great leadership and bad leadership look like, and perhaps more importantly how they can work together hand in hand within a single, complex, diverse organization. Sure, the vernacular is more akin to military units and sports teams than the board room, but the principles of applied leadership are exactly the same.
Management Lessons from Generation Kill so far:
- As a leader, being competent matters.
- As a leader, being competent doesn’t always matter.
- Leaders who cultivate cults of personality don’t have to explain themselves as much.
- Expectations don’t have to be realistic. Instead, they should always be just shy of impossibly high and unwavering. (Shatter your people’s comfort zone early and consistently.)
- Clarity of purpose is key.
- Clarity of execution is key.
- Use a map or a diagram. Point at something and tell your team where they are, where you want them to go, how you expect them to get there, how fast, etc..
- If a process doesn’t exist, create one.
- If a process needs to be improved, improve it.
- Excuses have an effective range of exactly zero meters.
- Train harder and more often than any reasonable person would, then train some more.
- The mission is the mission. 99% completion = failure. 100% completion = success.
- Success is the only currency you have when it comes to securing a better place on the food chain.
- Not everyone in your organization is an A-lister. Too bad. Welcome to the real world. You still need to get the job done. (See #10)
- Mistakes may happen, but there will be no screwups.
- Every organization needs a ball buster somewhere towards the top of the hierarchy to keep everyone in line.
- The grooming standard must be maintained. It is the foundation upon which everything else either clicks like a well oiled .50 cal or falters like a one-eyed, three legged dog.
- Be the first to get the thing done. People don’t always notice the best, but they always notice the first.
- Do what the other guys are too afraid to do.
- Never let the enemy dictate the pace of your movements.
- Keep the violence of initiative on your side.
- Understand the rules of engagement.
- Communicate the rules of engagement to your team in real time.
- Let whatever you fear the most be the thing that drives you the most.
- Do not dwell on mistakes. Learn from them quickly and move on.
- Personal opinions are always irrelevant and unwelcome.
- Respect for authority doesn’t have to come from the heart, but it has to come anyway.
- Orders are orders. If they were optional, they would be called something else.
- Your job description is subject to change at a moment’s notice. Accept this and move on.
- If you want routine, you are in the wrong job.
- Following the same road as everyone else is no way to get in the game.
- How you phrase/present your report matters at least as much as what the report is actually about.
- Look after your people but never hold their hand.
- Hold your people to the highest standards.
- Get the job done. Every time. Faster than anyone else. Be that guy.
- Know how to sell your successes.
- Action wins. Hesitation loses.
- The shortest way between two points is exactly that: The shortest way. (See #18 and #35).
- The shortest way is rarely the easiest way.
- The easiest way is almost never the right way.
- Once failure stops being an option, it effectively cease to exist as a potential outcome.
- Nothing you do will ever work the way you expected it to. Embrace the elegant predictability of Murphy’s Law and get the job done anyway.
- Blind ambition and gross incompetence often get you there just as well as the other option.
- Know your place along the chain of command.
- Treat others with respect.
- Do not confuse treating people with respect with being polite.
- Your environment does not dictate the success of your mission. You do.
- Nobody cares about why something didn’t get done. They only care that it didn’t get done.
- If you don’t get it done, you probably don’t belong here.
- Your job isn’t to be cool or fun or popular. Your job is to kick ass.
And we’re only on the third episode. This is definitely a to be continued post.
With a few minor changes, you could sell this in posterized format as “The 50 Maxims of Business Management” for $35 bucks a pop.
Think of all the untold millions, Olivier!
Don’t think I won’t.
I like! Before you print the posters for sale I would make one recommendation, review your list in terms of what we call our current leadership – by that I mean the current administration in the White House. Once you do, I am sure you will change some of these because they don’t necessarily reveal true leadership. For example, number 43, “Blind ambition and gross incompetence often get you there just as well as the other option”, isn’t that how we got to Iraq in the first place? Is it really leadership? Or if you looked at number 28, “Orders are orders. If they were optional, they would be called something else” in this light would you still come to the same conclusion that these are real leadership lessons. Doesn’t that look like Alberto Gonzalez leadership?
Now, for the most part I agree and I am sure you will come up with more to get to 50. But, if you seperate the concept of leadership from the one who happens to be in the leader seat you might come to different lessons.
d a morton
http://www.hdleaderhip.blogspot.com
Thanks d.
I have to say, the quality of the comments has definitely improved since I switched to WordPress. You guys really give these posts some thought. I dig it.
I agree whith what you’re saying.
To answer your question, there are two types of leadership:
1. Natural leadership (what you and I would call “true leadership”), where the “leader” has a natural ability to lead. People look up to this person and tend to want to do what that person asks them to do. These folks are sometimes in positions of leadership, and sometimes not, and their ability to lead isn’t pass-fail: It comes in varrying gradients.
2. Organizational leadership, where the “leader” is appointed as such, regardless of whether or not they should manage or lead people. If they should be there and satisfy the requirements of natural/true leadership, great. If instead they are petty, incompetent morons, their leadership is still mandated by the organization they serve. If you fall below them on the food chain, you have a choice: Either follow orders/mandates/requests, or move to a different food chain.
I am blending two complete definitions of leadership in this post: One based on ability/talent and the other being organizational.
Note: [43. Blind ambition and gross incompetence often get you there just as well as the other option.] Note the use of “often” and not “always.” More often than not, poor leadership can be overcome by the sheer size and competence of the organization that is charged with executing a campaign/mission. Organizations have a natural way of self-adjusting, even when led by an idiot.
Note: [28. Orders are orders. If they were optional, they would be called something else.] Yeah. That one is a little more military-like than most. I agree. The way I see it, I have a silent agreement with my employer that I think is pretty standard for everyone who has a job: The guy who signs my paychecks gets to tell me what he wants done at work, and every day, I agree to be the guy who gets it done when he asks. I can argue about it and I can quit if I don’t like it, but ultimately, when I am told to do something, my job is to do it. This is purely an organizational leadership point, not necessarily “true” leadership one.
The trick here is to mesh the two types of leadership together within an organization, as you invariably never find one without the other.
Olivier,
Semper Fi, brother! Our common military background gives us a unique perspective when it comes to work ethic and what defines success. I would like to add my own list directly from Marine Corps Recruit Training. I respectfully submit the 14 Marine Corps Leadership Traits:
Judgment
Justice
Dedication
Initiative
Decisiveness
Tact
Integrity
Enthusiasm
Bearing
Unselfishness
Courage
Knowledge
Loyalty
Endurance
A little trick for remembering them, “JJ DID TIE BUCKLE.”
Semper Fi, Carry-on