Leadership Traits
You don’t inherit the ability to lead Marines. Neither is it
issued. You acquire that ability by
taking a honest look at yourself. You see how stack up against 14 well-known
character traits of a marine NCO. These are:
- Integrity
- Knowledge
- Courage
- Decisiveness
- Dependability
- Initiative
- Tact
- Justice
- Enthusiasm
- Bearing
- Endurance
- Unselfishness
- Loyalty
- Judgment
Then you set out to acquire those traits which you might
lack. You improve those you already have, and you make the most of those in
which you are strong.. Work at them. Balance them off, and you’re well on the
road to leading Marines in war or peace. Marines expect the best in leadership
and they rate it. Give them the best and you’ll find that you (1) accomplish
your mission and (2) have the willing obedience, confidence, loyalty, and
respect of your charges. In fact, you will have lived up to the official
definition of a military leader.
Now let’s take a closer look at each of each one of those
traits of character which a leader must have.
- Integrity. The stakes of combat
are too high to gamble leadership on a dishonest person. Would you accept
a report from a patrol leader who had been known to lie? Of course you
wouldn’t. All your statements, official or unofficial, are considered by
your marines to be plain, unadorned facts. Make sure they are. When you
give your word, keep it. There are people depending on you to come through
with the goods.
- Knowledge. Know your job, weapons,
equipment, and the techniques to be used. Master this GUIDEBOOK and your
other training material. Be able to pass that5 knowledge on to your
Marines. You can’t bluff them. They are expert at spotting a fake. If you
don’t know the answer to a question, admit it. Then find out. Most
important, know your Marines. Learn
what caliber of performance to expect from each of them. Put confidence in
those whom you can. Give closer supervision to those that need it.
- Courage. This comes in two kinds:
physical and moral. If you are in a tight place and feel fear, recognize
it. Then get control over it and make it work for you. Fear stimulates the
body processes. You can actually fight harder, and for a longer time, when
you are scared.. So don’t let a little fear make you panic inside. Keep busy when under fire. Fix your
mind on your mission and your Marines. Courage grows with action. When
things are really tough, take some action, even though it might be wrong.
Positive action on a poor decision is better than a half-hearted attempt
on the best possible one.
As for moral
courage, know that what is right and stand up for it. Marines are no plaster
saints by any means. But they serve God, Country and Corps – in that order. The
Ten Commandments are still a pretty good set of regulations, and they haven’t
had a change published for almost 2 thousand years. A Marine with the morals of an alley cat will never command the
loyalty and respect of other Marines. A combat leader must also be a moral
leader.
When you are
wrong, say so. Don’t try to weasel out of your mistake. Everybody makes a
mistake now and then. The trick is to not make the same one twice. When a job
is left undone, true leaders don’t harp, “Sir, I told those people….” They fix
the breakdown, not the blame.
- Decisiveness. Get the facts, all
of them. Make up your mind when you’ve weighed them. Make your mind up
when you have weight them. Then issue your order in clear, confident
terms. Don’t confuse your Marines by debating with your yourself out loud.
Say what you mean, and mean what you say. Make up your mind in time to
prevent the problem from getting bigger, but don’t go off while still at a
“half-cock” position. If the decision is beyond the scope of your
authority, take the problem up the chain of command to the person that
gets paid to make that decision. But if the decision is yours, make it.
Don’t pas the buck.
- Dependability. If only one word
could be used to describe Marine noncommissioned officers over the years,
that would have to be “dependable”.
They get the job done, regardless of obstacles. At first they might not
have agreed with the ideas and plans of their seniors. Being dependable,
if they thought they had a better plan, they tactfully said so. But once
the decision was made, the job was done to the best of their ability,
whether or not it was their own plan which went into effect. Orders were
followed to the letter, in spirit and in fact. The mission came first,
then the welfare of their men, then their own requirements.
Dependable
noncommissioned officers are solid citizens. They are always on time; never make excuses, and stay
hot on the job till it’s done. They’re aboard when needed and out of the way
when not needed. Duty demands that they often make personal sacrifices. They
sense what has to be done, where duty lies. Country, Corps, and their men need
and get dependability.
- Initiative. Think ahead. Stay
mentally alert and physically awake. Look around. If you see a job that
needs to be done, don’t wait to be told. If the squad bay is full of
newspapers and food wrappers on Sunday morning, organize a detail and get
the place squared away. Don’t wait for the Duty NCO to come around. If you
spot an enemy OP, it may have fire on you. Your situation and the lot of
your Marines can always be improved. Do what you can. Use the means at
hand. Think ahead, and you’ll stay ahead.
- Tact. The right thing at the right
time, that’s what we mean by tact. It embraces courtesy, but it goes much
further. It’s the Golden Rule; consideration for others, be they senior or
subordinate. Courtesy is more than saluting and saying “Sir”. It does not
mean you meekly “ask” your Marines to do a job either. You can give orders
in a courteous manner which, because it is courteous, leaves no doubt you expect
to be obeyed. The tactful leader is fair,
firm and friendly. You always respect another’s property. Learn to
respect feeling as well. If an individual needs “reading off”, then do it
– but in private.
Don’t make a spectacle
of them and yourself by doing it in public. On the other hand, when they do a good job, let their
friends hear about it. They will be a bigger
person in their eyes and you will too.
There are times,
particularly in combat, when a severe “dressing down” of one person or a group
of people may be required. Even so, this is tactful, for it is the right thing
at the right time.
In dealing with
seniors, the Golden Rule again applies. Approach
them in the manner you’d want to be approached were you in their position with
their responsibilities.
Use tact with
juniors, but remember, a Marine NCO coddles nobody. Use tact with your seniors,
but remember, nobody likes an “ear banger”.
When you join a
new outfit, just keep quiet and watch for awhile. Don’t noise it around that
your old outfit was a better one just because it happened to do things differently. Make a few mental notes when you
find something that is wrong. When
you have got your feet on the ground, then make those changes that you have the authority to make. You
might be surprised at how little really needs changing. Besides, you’ll have
learned another way to get the job done.
- Justice. Marines rate a
square-shooting leader. Be one. Don’t play favorites. Spread the liberty
and the working parties around equally. Keep anger and emotion out of your
decisions. Get rid of any narrow views which you may have about a
particular race, creed, or section of the country. Judge individuals by what kind of Marines they are; nothing else. Don’t let
your marines be overlooked when the PX ration is distributed in the field.
If you get an extra carton of smokes, divide them equally. Give every one
of your Marines a chance to prove himself. Help those who fall short of
your standards, but keep your standards high.
- Enthusiasm. It is a fact that the more you know
about something, the greater your interest and enthusiasm. Show it. Others
will follow your lead. Enthusiasm is more contagious than the measles. Set
a goal for your unit, then put out all that you have got in the
achievement of that goal. This is particularly applicable in training.
Marines are at their best when in the field. After all, they joined the
Corps to learn how to fight. They’ll learn, all right, but only when their
instructor is enthused about what is being taught. Show knowledge and
enthusiasm about a subject and your troops will want what is being taught.
Show knowledge and enthusiasm about a subject and your troops will that
same knowledge. Show your dislikes and gripe about what is going on and
you’ll still be leading – but in the wrong direction. The choice is yours.
Make the right one. Don’t get stale.
“Take your pack off”, can sometimes be good advice. Do it once in awhile.
Then come back strong with something with something new. When you find
yourself forced to run problems over the sane old terrain, run them from
the other direction.
- Bearing. Remember your DI? He was
lean, leather lunged, and tanned to a bone-deep brown. He had drilled
shoulders and knife-edge creases that sliced down his shirt and trousers
all the way down to a pair of shoes that looked back at you. His brass
glittered at every move and he didn’t walk, he marched! And he
taught you to do the same. He
knew that when he inspected a platoon of 70 men just once, he had been inspected 70 times by
70 different pair of eyes. Consequently, he has bearing. You learned from him that a uniform is
more than a mere “suit of clothes”. You wear a suit – but you believe in a
uniform. Therefore, you maintained it – all the time. People often ask why
Marines don’t wear shoulder patches, cords, decals, lops, discs, brass
crests, and so on. Marines don’t need such trinkets. The globe, eagle,
and anchor – set against an immaculate blue or well-pressed forest green
background – is enough identification. Besides every stripe, every ribbon,
every piece of metal, that you seen on a Marine was earned. It wasn’t handed out like an early chow pass. You
earned your uniform and everything on it. Wear it with pride.
That’s part of
what is meant by bearing. The rest of it
is how you conduct
yourself, in or out of formation,
ashore or on board, verbally and emotionally. Learn control of your voice
and gestures. A calm voice and a steady
hand are confidence builders in combat. Don’t ever show your concern over a
dangerous situation, even if you feel it.
Speak
plainly and simply. You’re more
interested in being understood than in showing off your vocabulary. If you ever
rant and rave, losing control of your
tongue and your emotions, you’ll also lose control of your Marines,
Swearing at subordinates is unfair. They can’t swear back. It’s also stupid, since you admit lack of ability
to express displeasure in any other way. Don’t lose your temper. Master
yourself before you try to master others.
There may be one exception to this rule. The time may come, in battle, when tough talk, a few oaths, and the right amount of anger is all that will pull your outfit together. Even Christ got mad when he drove the money changers from the temple. But save your display
of temper until it is absolutely needed. Otherwise it won’t pay off, because
you’ll already have shot your bolt.
Sarcasm
seldom gets results. Wisecrack to Marines – they’ve been around – they’ll
wisecrack back. Make a joke out of giving orders, and they’ll think you don’t
mean what you say. This doesn’t mean
to avoid joking at all times. A good
joke, at the right time, is like good medicine, especially if the chips are
down. As a matter of fact, it is often the Marine Corps way of expressing
sympathy and understanding without getting sticky about it. Many a wounded
Marine has been sent to the rear with a smile and a remark about, “What some
people won’t do to get outta’ work!”
Dignity,
without being unapproachable – that’s what bearing is. Work at it.
- Endurance. A five-foot Marine sergeant once led his
squad through 10 days of field training in Japan. He topped it off with a
two-day hike, climbing Mt. Fuji on the 36 miles back to camp. When asked
how a man his size developed such endurance, he said, “It was easy. I had
12 guys pushing me all the way.” What he meant, of course, was that 12
other Marines were depending on his endurance
to pull them through. He couldn’t think about quitting. Every leader must
have endurance beyond that of his troops. The squad leader must check
every position, then go build his. On the march he will often carry part
of another’s load in addition to his own. He also has the burden of command
upon him. An unfit body or an undisciplined mind could never make it.
Keep yourself fit,
physically and mentally. Learn to stand punishment by undertaking hard physical
tasks. Force yourself to study and think when tired. Get plenty of rest before
a field problem. Don’t stay on liberty till the last place is closed. The town
will still be there when you get back. You’ll enjoy it more then anyhow.
A favorite saying
of Marines is that you don’t have to be trained to be miserable. That’s true.
But you do have to train to endure
misery.
- Unselfishness. Marine NCOs don’t pull the best rations
from the case and leave the rest to their Marines. They get the best they
can for all unit members, all the time.
Leaders get their
own comforts, pleasures, and recreation after the troops have been provided
with theirs. Look at any chow line in the field. You’ll see squad leaders at
the end of their squads. You’ll find staff noncommissioned officers at the end
of the company. This is more than a tradition. It is leadership in action. It
is unselfishness.
Share your
Marines’ hardships. Then the privileges that go with your rank will have been
earned. Don’t hesitate to accept them when the time is right, but until it is,
let them be. When your unit is wet, cold, and hungry – you’d better be too.
That’s the price you pay for leadership. What it buys is well worth the cost.
The dry clothes, warm bunk, and full belly can come later.
Give credit where
credit is due. Don’t grab the glory for yourself. Recognize the hard work and
good ideas of your subordinates and be grateful you have such Marines. Your
leader will look after you in the same way. They know the score, too.
- Loyalty. This is a two-way street. It goes all
the way up and all the way down the chain of command. Marines live by it.
They even quote Latin for it – “Semper
Fidelis.” As a leader of Marines, every word, every action, must
reflect your loyalty – up and down. Back your men when they’re right.
Correct them when they’re wrong. You’re being loyal either way. Pass on orders
as if they were your own idea, even when they are distasteful. To rely on
the rank of the person who told you to do a job is to weaken your own
position. Keep you personal problems and the private lives of your seniors
to yourself. But to help your Marines in their difficulties, when it is
proper to do so. Never criticize your unit, your seniors, or your fellow
NCOs in the presence of subordinates. Made sure they don’t do it either.
If deserving persons get into trouble, go to bat for them. They’ll work
harder when it is all over.
- Judgment. This comes with experience. It is simply weighing all
the facts in any situation, application of the other 13 traits you have just read about, then making the
best move. But until you acquire experience you may not know the best
move. What, then, do you use for experienced
judgment in the meantime? Well, there are about two hundred years’
worth of experienced judgment on tap in the Marine Corps. Some of it is
available to you at the next link in the chain of command. Ask and you’ll
receive. Seek and you’ll find.
Principles of Leadership
Now that you’ve had a
look at the character traits required in a leader, let’s see how these are
fitted into what we call the principles
of leadership. Eleven are set forth just for the sake of discussion. You
may want to add or delete some. That’s OK. We’re not concerned as much about
the words and phrases as we are about their application. They’re all common
sense items, anyway. When you get right down to it, a discussion of leadership
is only common sense with a vocabulary. You’ve got the common sense. Let’s put some of
that vocabulary to work.
- Take responsibility for your actions
and the actions of your Marines. The leader, alone, is responsible for all that the unit does
or fails to do. That sounds like a big order, but take a look at the
authority that is given you to handle that responsibility. You are
expected to use that authority. Use it with judgment, fact and initiative. Have the courage to be loyal to
your unit, your Marines, and yourself. As long as you are being held
responsible, be responsible for success, not failure. Be dependable.
- Know yourself and seek
self-Improvement. Evaluate yourself from time to time. So you measure
up? If you don’t, admit it to yourself.
Then turn to. On the other hand, don’t sell yourself short. If you
think you are the best NCO in your platoon, admit that also to yourself.
Then set out to be the best NCO in the company. Learn how to speak
effectively, how to instruct, and how to be an expert with all the
equipment that your unit might be expected to use.
- Set the example. As an NCO, you are in an ideal spot to
do this. Marines are already looking to you for a pattern and a standard
to follow. No amount of instruction and no form of discipline can have the
effect of your personal example. Make it a good one.
- Develop your subordinates. Tell your Marines what you want done
and by when. Then leave it at that. If you have junior leaders, leave the
details up to them. In this way, kill two birds with one stone. You will
have more time to devote to other jobs and you are training another
leader. An NCO with confidence will have confidence in subordinates.
Supervise, and check on the results. But leave the details to the person
on the spot. After all, there’s more then one way to skin a cat. And it’s
the whole fur you’re after, not the individual hairs.
- Ensure that a job is understood, then
supervise it and carry it through to completion. make up your mind
what to do, who is to do it, where it is to be done, when it is to be
done, and tell your Marines why, when they need to be told why. Continue
supervising the job until it has been done better then the person who
wanted it done in the first place ever thought it could be.
- Know your men and look after their
welfare. Loyal NCOs will never
permit themselves to rest until their unit is bedded down. They always get
the best they can for their Marines by honest means. With judgment, you’ll
know which of your troops is capable of doing the best job in a particular
situation. Leaders share the problems of their Marines, but they don’t pry
when an individual wants privacy.
- Everyone should be kept informed. Make sure your Marines get the
word. Be known as the person with the straight dope. Don’t let one of your
group be part of the so-called “10 percent.” Certain information is
classified. Let your Marines have only that portion that they need to
know, but make certain they have it. Squelch rumors. They can create
disappointment when they’re good, but untrue. They can sap morale when
they exaggerate enemy capabilities. Have the integrity, the dependability to keep your unit correctly
posted on what’s going on in the world, the country, the Corps, and your
unit.
- Set goals you can reach. Don’t send two Marines on a working
party that calls for five. Your Marines may be good, but don’t ask the
impossible. Know the limitations of your outfit and bite off what you can
chew. In combat, a “boy sent to do a man’s job” can lead to disaster. In
peacetime, it leads to a feeling of futility. Conversely, those who have a
reasonable goal and then achieve it, are a proud lot. They’ve done
something and done it well. Next time, they’ll be able to tackle a little
more. Don’t set your sights clear over the butts; keep them on the target.
- Make sound and timely decisions. Knowledge and judgment
are required to produce a sound decision. Include some initiative and the decision will be
a timely one. Use your initiative and make
your decisions in time to meet the problems that are coming. If you find
you’ve made a bum decision, have the courage to change it before more
damage is done. But don’t change the word any more than you absolutely
have to. Nothing confuses an outfit more than the eternal routine of
“brown side out…green side out.”
- Know your job. This requires no elaboration. It
does require hard work on your part. Stay abreast of changes. War moves
fast nowadays. Look up the dope on the latest weapons and equipment. Read
up on recent developments. Don’t be the type who can only say, “Well, that
ain’t the way we did it in the old Fifth Marines.”
- Teamwork. Train your unit as a unit.
Keep that unit integrity every
chance you get. If a working party comes up for three, take your whole
fire team. The job will be easier with an extra hand, and your unit will
be working as a team. Get your
outfit out on liberty together now and then. They work as a team; get’em
to play as one. Put your Marines in the jobs they do best, then rotate
them from time to time. They’ll learn to appreciate the other person’s
task as well. When one member of your team is missing, others can do their
share. But don’t ever permit several men to do another person’s job when
he’s around. Everybody pulls his load in the Marine Corps.
When you and your unit have done
something well, talk it up. This builds
esprit de corps. Every Marine knows
enough French to tell you what that means. You can’t see it but you can feel
it. An outfit with a lot of esprit holds
itself in very high regard while sort of tolerating others. There’s nothing
wrong with that. All Marines have a right to figure their outfit is the best in
the entire Corps. After all, they’re in it!
What You Can Expect
We’ve spent some time on what the
Corps expects of you as a junior leader. It’s not all one way. There are
certain things which you have a right to expect in return. First of all, since
you are the link in the chain of command that lies squarely between your senior
and your subordinates, you can expect the same leadership from above that
you’ve just read about.
Then there’s the additional pay
you’ll be getting along with every promotion – and promotion comes to real
leaders, regularly. Also with promotion comes additional authority. It’s
granted to you on a piece of paper known as a Certificate of Appointment,
commonly called a warrant. Take a look at it.
You’ll see more there than simply a
piece of paper – much more. First, there’s an expression of “special trust and
confidence” in your “fidelity and abilities.” That is recognition of the
highest order. It’s appreciation for your hard work thus far. But look further.
You don’t rest on your laurels in the Marine Corps. There’s a charge to
“carefully and diligently discharge the duties of the grade to which appointed
by doing and performing all manner of things thereunto pertaining.” That means
additional responsibility, which, when you think about it, is also a reward.
Next, you’ll find that additional
authority we mentioned a while back. It’s in the words, “and I do strictly
charge and require all personnel of lesser grade to render obedience to
appropriate orders.” Commanding officers who sign that Certificate are
delegating a part of their authority to you. They get their authority from the
President of the United States and have chosen you to help them in the
execution of their responsibility. Notice, however, that they haven’t delegated
responsibility. That isn’t done in the Corps, by them, by you, or by anybody.
When it comes to leadership, there’s
no truer statement. Only the noncommissioned officer is in a position to give
the close, constant, personal type of leadership that we’ve been discussing.
When you, as a Marine NCO, have provided your unit with that type of
leadership, then you already will have reaped the greatest return. By
definition you’ll (1) Have accomplished your mission and (2) command the
willing obedience, confidence, loyalty, and respect of the United States
Marines under you. There is no more satisfactory reward, anywhere.