Principles of Leadership

For the next several posts I will expand on some principles of leadership as defined by the military.

• Know yourself and seek self-improvement
• Be technically and tactically proficient
• Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions
• Make sound and timely decisions
• Set the example
• Know your soldiers (employees, co-workers, etc) and look out for their well-being
• Keep your subordinates informed
• Develop a sense of responsibility in your subordinate
• Ensure the task is understood, supervised, and accomplished
• Build a team
• Employ your unit in accordance with its capabilities

So I have a good mountain to climb and vet out.

Know Yourself and Seek Self-improvement

...he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV)

Part of understanding ourselves is learning to recognize our weaknesses. preferences, and strengths. The more you understand these areas of your life, the easier identifying the unknown becomes. Not knowing can either be from ignorance or from fear.

The Bible verse shows us that weakness is not a bad thing. In fact, weakness can be your greatest asset or strength. In weakness we learn to partner up with those who are stronger or we can seek the knowledge we need to help us. As a Christian, I rely on the strength promised by God and on the fellowship my relationship with God creates with other believers.

The key here is not to work in our weakness.

Leaders who spend all their time working in their weaknesses are detrimental to their organization. By understanding our strengths we can build confidence in our leadership. Why? Operating in our immediate strengths leads to small victories. People like celebrating small victories much more than facing the mundane and the mediocre. Accomplishment helps to build confidence in your leadership while giving those following reason to buy into the vision or purpose of the organization.

President Obama, in his campaign, used small victories to build a support base that led to his presidency. He took he momentum and won. This could not have happened if he campaigned on issues on which he did not have a passion for or understanding of (regardless of your political views).

The other key is that we are not to neglect our weaknesses.

Time must be spent and devoted to study and implementation and experimentation and failure in order to create an environment for growth in our lives and for those around us. How many times have leaders failed to grow because they were either overly certain of themselves or overly fearful of proceeding in a given direction?

So, increase your competence by learning who you are and what you are capable of. Be honest with yourself and then ask others you trust to be more honest. You may not like what you hear but in the long run you will become a better leader due to it. Mixed with humility and a love for God, you too will be able to say that you are strong.