Why are you in charge?
Borrow One Idea: The Mishap Library
My first official job as a young Second Lieutenant (2LT) in the US Army was temporary duty as an instructor at the ROTC assessment camp. Only a year removed from attending the camp as a cadet, I arrived to find myself assigned to the Land Navigation course. Thirty brand new officers were split between teams to manage the course at day and night (you were assessed twice). Each team was supervised by a Captain (CPT) and coordinated by a senior non-commissioned officer (not that it matters to the story, but the NCO working with us had previously been a sniper and then trainer at the sniper school…he was the most profane and emotionless people I’ve ever met…told great stories). This full team was led by an O-5 Lieutenant Colonel (LTC).
On our first day together, prior to setting up the course, the LTC brought all us young Lieutenants together for an introductory and inspiring speech. Let me paraphrase:
“Do not be nervous about your new roles. You still have a lot to learn. Let things develop naturally, do not try to force them. Even if you make mistakes you can recover from them. I ripped a finger off my platoon sergeant my first day on the job and I still made O-5!”
As a newly commissioned officer in 2002, as our country was already fighting in Afghanistan and agitating against the Axis of Evil, I had spent a lot of time considering the possibility of fatal mistakes. I had not considered the possibility of ripping off someone’s finger.
“It was his thumb.” Oh.
“I was just being introduced to him for the first time in the motor pool and he was working with a wrench to help a soldier tighten something on their Bradley. So I jumped up and said ‘I’ve got this’ and I helped apply more force. But the wrong way, and the platoon sergeant’s thumb got caught. But it wasn’t the whole thumb, just the end, and we became good friends, and I learned a lot from him.”
Twenty-three years later, I remember that story. I have never, ever, grabbed a wrench and tried to help. The lesson learned lives forever in my mental file of ‘things to not do and/or not do again’. We all have one of those files.
What if there was a collective version of it?
In 2021, the Marine Corps created a “mishap library,” which is available through MarineNet. This allows all Marines the ability to review cases of often-preventable tragedies and learn from them.
MCTP 6-10A, Section 8-6, PDF page 114
I spent the better part of my career with a consulting firm. To hear anyone tell the story of a prior project, it was a success. When I was a junior consultant, I’d hear partners discuss projects I had been on in glowing terms. Everything was great, everything went well, the client loved everything. My memories were sometimes quite different.
The human tendency to avoid discussing mistakes creates missed opportunities for learning. Especially in the development of leaders. It is even more critical when leaders are moving into environments and situations which are new to them and they do not have the benefit of time spent watching their predecessors.
This week, borrow with pride and evaluate how you can develop a mishap library for your team or organization. What painful lessons need to be recorded for the benefit of others? How do you share experience when the experience is not great? How do you lead in new and foreign situations? Why are you in charge?
Get Familiar With: Staying Relevant
Exercising leadership over the arc of a long career is challenged by a leader’s ability to stay relevant. Well beyond staying current on technology or pop culture, a leader must continually refresh themselves in the art of leadership so that those they lead are always comfortable with the answer to the question “why are you in charge?”
Everyone knows that if you have the opportunity to use a Latin word or phrase it is imperative you do so. It gives gravitas to whatever idea or concept you are discussing.
Inking your body with Latin is the sine qua non for conveying how serious and important you think you are (the opinions of others likely vary).
Some Latin phrases are, undoubtedly, very helpful in conveying concepts and have embedded in our common language. Carpe diem. Bona fide. Status quo.
Consider adding Ductus Exemplo to your Latin phrase list (but please not to your body).
Sustaining the transformation is not just about looking like a Marine in uniform but living up to what it represents. When in doubt, go back to the motto Ductus Exemplo—lead by example. Marines are not looking to their lieutenants for depth of experience. They look to them to be the embodiment of the standards of a Marine.
MCTP 6-10A, Section 7-10, PDF page 108
When we lead by example we are continuously attentive to the expectations of our role. We are staying relevant by knowing and modeling the standard. This is one method of staying relevant.
Relevance is not a given, it must be earned. If we are not relevant, then why would anyone trust our decisions?
The decisions they make as leaders will have outcomes, intended and unintended, that will affect the lives of the Marines they lead. As they learn from the outcomes of their own decisions, they will develop their own experience and wisdom for accomplishing the tasks before them. It is not enough to be a technical expert in one’s specialty. Emotional intelligence, temperament, and the ability to work with Marines through their personal and professional problems are part of being an officer. Unit culture is established at the highest level by the commanding officer, reinforced by junior officers and SNCOs, and exercised by all Marines throughout the unit. A junior officer must engage in these actions while exercising thoughtfulness, good judgment, and humility.
MCTP 6-10A, Section 7-1, PDF page 99
Leaders must continuously work to stay relevant, professionally, personally, physically, emotionally, and mentally. Being relevant maintains the connection points to those in your charge.
Why are you in charge? Are you earning the right to be in charge every day? Where is complacency sneaking in? What do you need to do to refresh yourself?
The Guided Discovery for this week will explore the US Marine Corps officer ranks, expectations of new officers, staying relevant as a leader, and the risks and requirements of more senior leaders as the organizational pyramid grows more narrow.
Learn More: Suggested Reading
MCTP 6-10A, Sustaining the Transformation
Pages 7-1 through 8-13, PDF pages 99-121
Description of general responsibilities and expectations of company- and field-grade Marine officers and the evolution of leadership requirements
Link to MCTP 6-10A on the US Marine Corps Publications Electronic Library
These materials will be the focus of Thursday’s Guided Discovery
Catch Up: Last Week’s Content
Study: First Salute
Guided Discovery: USMC How To: Age Gracefully
Always be asking:
1. What is the connection with my leadership development?
2. How does this change my thinking on management?
3. How does this influence planning for life?
4. What can I borrow with pride to use this week?