“You will ask yourselves: ‘Of just what, then, does leadership consist? What must I do to become a leader? What are the attributes of leadership, and how can I cultivate them?’ Leadership not only demands but receives the willing, unhesitating, unfaltering obedience and loyalty of other men and a devotion that will cause them, when the time comes, to follow their uncrowned king to hell and back again if necessary.” They don’t go very far, and they stop as soon as they can. “Great results are not achieved by cold, passive, unresponsive soldiers. Their legs carry them forward because their brain and their training tell them they must go. Of devotion to their commander, of exalted enthusiasm which scorns personal risk, of their self-sacrifice to ensure his personal safety, they know nothing. “Such men obey the letter of their orders but no more. They go with doubt and trembling, and with an awful fear tugging at their heartstrings that prompts the unspoken question, ‘What will he do next?’ “Men must and will follow into battle officers who are not leaders, but the driving power behind these men is not enthusiasm but discipline. But you must make good-not so much with the men over you as with the men under you. They will place you in a position where you can become leaders if you possess the proper attributes. These commissions will not make you leaders they will merely make you officers. “In a few days the great mass of you men will receive commissions as officers. Therefore, when I say leadership, I mean military leadership.” “It is in the military service only, where men freely sacrifice their lives for a faith, where men are willing to suffer and die for the right or the prevention of a great wrong, that we can hope to realize leadership in its most exalted and disinterested sense. In all this leadership it is difficult, if not impossible to separate from the element of pure leadership that selfish element of personal gain or advantage to the individual, without which such leadership would lose its value. We have religious leaders, and political leaders, and society leaders. The professions have their leaders, the financial world has its leaders. “From the standpoint of society, the world may be divided into leaders and followers. Your usefulness in that organization is at an end.” When the time comes that they are satisfied you do not possess them you might as well kiss yourself goodbye. “They are perfectly ready and eager to follow you so long as you can convince them that you have those qualities. “When you join your organisation, you will find there a willing body of men who ask from you nothing more than the qualities that will command their respect, their loyalty, and their obedience. Your clothing, your carriage, your vocabulary, your manner of command will be imitated. Your most casual remark will be remembered. You will have in your charge loyal but untrained citizens, who look to you for instruction and guidance. Major Bach begins, “In a short time, each of you men will control the lives of a certain number of other men.
Highlighting the need for strong leadership from the start This was prior to them being commissioned and potentially being sent to Europe in charge of troops in the First World War. Providing motivation, encouragement and mentorship are all key factors leading to your team’s accomplishments and are qualities we can help you develop.Ī great example highlighting these qualities is a speech given in 1918 by United States Major, C.A.
There is so much more to leadership than just running a successful team.
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