“Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.”
-Colin Powell
As a young private just joining the Army, I thought I knew everything. Hindsight shows me that if it wasn’t for some great Non-Commissioned Officers, and some not-so-great ones too, I never would have learned the importance of being a leader and not just a boss.
SGT Clark’s recent article in the NCO Journal “Why Are the Basics Important to a Leader” (read more here https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/NCO-Journal/Archives/2018/June/Basics-Important/ ) reminded me of one of the most important points about being a true leader, in the Army or any management position.
Take Care of Your Soldiers
Reiterating what previous National Security Advisor General Colin Powell stated above, when your soldiers stop bringing you their problems, you know you have failed.
Ensuring all of your Soldier’s needs come before your own helps build trust and confidence that you will take care of them as a leader.
If you ask one of your subordinates to do something that you have not done, or aren’t willing to do, you’re showing that you’re a weak leader.
SGT Clark also reminds us in his article to check on our subordinates. He states “soldiers are not all the same, they all do not come from the same place, speak the same language or have the same dialect. Most of all, we were not all raised the same way.”
Once I arrived at Ft. Huachuca in Sierra Vista, Arizona, my assigned supervisor was SFC Pierce. The thing that stands out most in my mind about her was when we formed for the day, she would ask her soldiers “what’s going on?” She meant by that question “what are problems or issues you are having right now?” This is important to learn as a leader because
- She would ask subordinates what their problems were (and didn’t just assume all soldiers were the same and would bring her their problems on their own)
- She gave you the confidence that if you brought something to her, she would write it down and then she would take care of it. She gave every single one of her subordinates faith that she would take care of them
Conclusion
There are many managers, but few leaders. Knowing how to lead by example not only teaches your subordinates what they should do one day when they’re in your position, but it also gives you a better relationship with your subordinates right now.