My Anniversary

Today is my anniversary. Twenty three years of commitment to each other. Twenty three years of fouling up, getting upset with each other, and working things out. Twenty three years of moving, packing and unpacking, toiling, fighting, and working together on this unbelievable journey. Twenty three years of watching each other mature -- and yet still being excited to be together! Today is my anniversary.

Yes…twenty three years ago – 22 May 1985 -- Cadet Magness tossed his hat into the West Point sky and became, in an instant, 2nd Lieutenant Magness. Suddenly, the days of carefree, youthful, selfish behavior were replaced with the responsibilities of leadership. It was no longer about me. It was about my men, my mission. Four years of preparation and centuries of producing leaders up on the Hudson River resulted in – 2LT Magness, US Army! Wide-eyed, naïve, and ready to take on the world!

My transition from member of squad to leader probably went better than most who will read this post. I was blessed with four years of leadership classes, four summers of focused leadership training, and a variety of cadet leadership positions. I had been to the Army’s Air Assault School and did a summer internship with a military unit in Texas. I lived and breathed 4 years of West Point leadership in preparation for the day I would receive the gold bar of an Army 2nd Lieutenant.

Four years of Academy preparation. In the years to come I would have the privilege of attendance at four officer development schools to prepare me for increasing levels of decision making and responsibility. I graduated from some of the Army’s more intense field leadership schools (Air Assault, Airborne, Ranger). I have had both formal and informal mentors, coaches, and superior officers who have molded and shaped my understanding of the business of leaders. I have lived, worked, trained, and fought in assignments around the world. And I’ve been blessed with 23 years of increasingly more difficult and demanding leadership positions.

That’s quite an investment, wouldn’t you say? I’m not bragging about myself. But I am bragging about my organization and the commitment to excellence that they make to every member of the Army – whether military or civilian, from the minute we join the team. This is how the Army grows its leaders. It does not subscribe to the concept that leaders are born. Nope – they are made. They are produced through a continuous, consistent belief that each individual is worthy of development and that doing so brings out the best in people.

Amazingly, this commitment to training and leader development never stops. Generals get schooled and are assigned mentors or retired officers (“Gray Beards!”) who can provide them council. They get increasingly more difficult and challenging assignments – consistent with their preparation and demonstrated potential for higher levels of responsibility. No matter the position, the Army continues to invest in its own.

So what about you? Are you investing in your leaders (current and future) to the same degree? Are you managing the transition of your people from “member of squad” to “squad leader?” Are you seeking out opportunities for your own personal and professional growth through training, coaches, or your own “gray beards?” What could you do today to better yourself and your team?

As for me…I’m still a work in progress. Still learning, still growing, still working to achieve my potential and to live up to the high standards of an Army leader. But on my anniversary, I’m sure thankful for the opportunity to serve. And I am humbled by the investment in me by my organization and by those who have believed in me. That’s how leaders are made. Not overnight. And certainly not by pinning on a new rank. So each year, on May 22nd, I remind myself that I have come a long way from that bright-eyed lieutenant – and still have a long way to go!

That's Leader Business!

Military Leader Test

The web site, Military.com, has an interesting little test to see what historical military figure you are most like. Take the test and let me know who your military "kindred spirit" is.

Mine was Omar Bradley. The personality test described him this way:

Personally, Bradley was self-effacing and quiet. He was often overshadowed by the more flamboyant Patton and MacArthur — which suited Bradley just fine. But he was innovative in his conception of war.

Interesting. While I'm no Omar Bradley, I enjoyed the questions that formed the personality test...and was humbled by the comparison. What about you?

Keep leading from the front lines! Hooah!

Military Leadership in the Real World

Recently on LinkedIn, I answered a question on the applicability of military leadership to the business world.

Q? Is the military model of leadership really applicable to the business world?

A: Short answer...yes. I believe there is great applicability between the military model for leadership and the business world. I am still in the military but am in my second stint working within a civilian organization - now a public engineering organization with nearly a $1B annual program. I write extensively about leadership lessons from both worlds in my newsletter and my blog. Bottom line - in my opinion - business is not combat. But...leadership is leadership.

What is important to understand is that the leadership model seen in the movies, or even what is commonly understood as the top-down, command and control model - is not what you will see in today's military. This is especially true in places like Iraq and Afghanistan where this approach simply won't work. What you will find instead is much more aligned with today's business environment:

- Decentralized, intent-based, empowering leadership. When you cannot be everywhere in which your mission takes place (mid to higher level officer ranks to be sure), you cannot tell people how to do stuff. Instead, you focus on what must be done (tasks, mission orders) and why (purpose, intent). Empowered subordinates, trained and resourced for success, will take care of the rest. No difference.

- Information, network-centric operations. Today's military is totally wired, completely networked, often down to the soldier on the ground. Distributed operations based on a shared common operational picture allow leaders to make quick decisions, shift resources, and focus on what is (versus what was, i.e. traditional stove-pipe, analog reporting) and what will be (again, enabled by an understanding of the operational picture). All of this only works when people communicate, when leaders circulate the battlefield and move to where the action is, and when the team understands that information is everything. Technology, equipment, etc. are focused on enabling the success of the people who do the work. No difference.

- Values and culture. Military leadership focuses on creating a culture based on values (things like duty, honor, loyalty, integrity), trust, and a belief that every member of the team is important. It's not who you know, it's what you do. Successful leaders understand that it is all about people...and ethical performance. No difference.

Again, business is not combat. Life and death leadership principles may not work in the real world. But this is not the norm. What will work is selfless leadership, a passion for execution, and a belief in themselves (confidence and competence) and the team which they serve. No difference! Hooah!

I do feel pretty strongly about this issue (hence this blog site!). But I also know that not everything we do in the military is directly translatable to the business world. Pushups, marching, court martials, etc. won't necessarily work well in most organizations. But the core issues, things like empowerment, communication, values, learning, discipline, people...these are the components of military leadership that we would want to see in any team.

So what do you think? Did I answer this one right?

This is Leader Business.

America's Best Leaders

Nikki Schwab writes in this week's US News and World Report about a "National Crisis of Confidence" regarding our leaders:

Americans have steadily lost confidence in their leaders since 2005—the year the government bungled its handling of Hurricane Katrina—according to the third annual Center for Public Leadership/U.S. News poll conducted this fall. More than three quarters of the respondents say they believe the country is going through a leadership crisis, up 7 percent from last year, a trend stretching across all demographic and political groups. Nearly 80 percent feel that unless it gets better leaders, the country will decline, while 51 percent believe that the United States is already falling behind other nations. And about two thirds say that today's leaders pale in comparison with those of 20 years ago.

But who do you think comes in with the highest scores? Military leaders. Forty percent of respondents expressed the highest confidence in those in uniform. Now while the survey principally focuses on public leadership, it is interesting to note what leadership traits were deemed as important in effective public servants:

• Honesty and Integrity
• Intelligence
• Ability to Communicate well
• Ability to bring people together
• Decisiveness
• Having new ideas
• Understanding and sympathizing with others
• Experience

It's no secret formula. This is what I call the business of leaders. Whether in private or public sectors, we need leaders of character who have battle-tested leadership skills that are capable of inspiring people to change. It also highlights that critical leadership traits can be developed. Most of the skills on the list are part of military education programs (character, decision making, communication, consensus building). The rest come from OJT (On the Job Training) - with reinforcement coming in the way of feedback from caring leaders. This leadership stuff seems to be working pretty well for the military! That's what Leader Business is all about.

**Read more about this topic at Michael McKinney's Leading Blog. Hooah!