The are a zillion books and articles on the topic of leadership. I usually try to consume at least one article about leadership and technology each morning as part of my daily reading. However, when it comes to leadership books, one of the best I ever read was, Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead, by Marine Corps General and former Secretary of Defense, Jim Mattis. I have had people in business whom I respect tell me that the “military model of leadership” was “outdated.” Quite the contrary, I have found the precepts I learned from my time in the Marine Corps to be invaluable – in business and in life. I have said many times that, apart from my father, there is nothing that had greater influence on me than the Marine Corps; Mattis captures a number of reasons why I hold that opinion in his book. There is far too much wisdom to in the book to do it any kind of justice in a LinkedIn post, but I did want to highlight several: - The “Three C’s” of leadership fundamentals: - Competence: be brilliant in the basics. - Caring: nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care. - Conviction: know what you stand for and for what you will not stand. - Recruit for attitude; train for skill (Marines believe attitude is a weapon system) - Trust remains “the coin of the realm.” - If you cannot create harmony, your leadership is obsolete - Regardless of rank or occupation, all leaders should be coaches at heart. - Every institution gets the behavior it rewards. - George Washington’s approach to leadership: “Listen, learn, help, then lead.” - Inner circles should include only those who unhesitatingly point out bad personal behavior/decisions. There are threads/themes throughout the book, but a major one, and one that resonates with me is attitude. Leaders serve foremost; I believe that. Mattis wrote, “You will neither eat, nor drink, nor sleep, nor smoke, nor even sit down until you have personally seen you men have done these things.” He believes attitudes are caught, not taught – they are contagious. If you are an authentic leader who cares about people and execute the other two “Cs” of leadership: competence and conviction, you will succeed.
Thought Leadership
Leadership Lessons From Mattis's 'Call Sign Chaos'
Competence, caring, and conviction — why the Marine model of leadership holds up in business and life.