What the army concept of leadership can teach us about how
to be better leaders ourselves.
One of my friends sent me this link: http://www.pisd.edu/news/documents/2010_MLK_Principles_of_Leadership.pdf
It is a list of 11 leadership principles as stated in a
JROTC document. It is titled 11 Army
Leadership Principles. What is
interesting to me about this list is that everything on it is part of the
humanist approach to leadership. The 11
rules can be broken down into 3 categories:
Critical Thinking:
- · Principle #1 – Know Yourself and Seek Self Improvement
- · Principle #4 – Make Sound and Timely Decisions
- · Principle #9 – Ensure Each Task is Understood, Supervised and Accomplished
Personal
Responsibility
- · Principle #2 – Be Technically Proficient
- · Principle #3 – Seek Responsibility and Take Responsibility for Your Actions
- · Principle #5 – Set the Example
- · Principle #7 – Keep Your Followers Informed
- · Principle #8 – Develop A Sense of Responsibility In Your Followers
Compassion:
- · Principle #6 – Know Your Personnel and Look Out for Their Well Being
- · Principle #10 – Build A Team
- · Principle #11 – Employ Your Team In Accordance With Its Capabilities
What I find interesting about this list is that the emphasis
is on personal responsibility. 5 of the principles are about this topic. Critical Thinking and Compassion have 3
principles each.
And I basically agree with this. Mostly. I personally feel
that in order to do the job of a leader, you do have to recognize your team as
fully human and support them accordingly.
But responsibility is huge too. Without that, you won’t make the effort
to make good sound timely decisions.
It’s a good reminder as I focus on ethics and critical
thinking and compassion, that responsibility is equally important to my
practice as a Humanist.
What do you think of this list? Do you agree with it? What
would you change?
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