As I talked about yesterday I had the distinct honor of speaking at the Missouri State Certified Public Accountant Association's Annual Dinner to recognize all of the new CPAs who just passed their tests and received their licenses. What an unbelievable group of people. Incredibly smart and just truly genuinely friendly. My hat is off to them and all that they have accomplished.
I wanted to try to address a facet of all of our lives that was critical to both us in the military and to the civilian corporate world. Leadership was the facet that came to me time and time again. As you can read below, it is critical to all of us, in our personal and professional lives.
God Bless America
Bryan
GOOD EVENING LADIES, GENTLEMEN AND HONORED GUESTS. I AM HONORED TO BE ONE OF THE FIRST TO SAY CONGRATULATIONS! YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENT HAS TAKEN DETERMINATION, INTELLIGENCE, AND PRESERVERANCE. YOU HAVE MY COMPLETE RESPECT AND ADMIRATION.
WHEN ASKED TO SPEAK TO YOU TONIGHT, I WAS NOT SURE, AT FIRST, WHAT A MILITARY OFFICER AND A CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT HAVE IN COMMON. I AM CURRENTLY A STUDENT AT THE COMMAND AND GENERAL STAFF COLLEGE AT FORT LEAVENWORTH. OUR SCHOOLS SEEM TO BE OCEANS APART IN THE TOPICS DISCUSSED AND DEGREES AWARDED, BUT I THINK THE GOAL OF EACH IS THE SAME; EDUCATE AND PREPARE THE LEADERS OF TOMORROW. LEADERSHIP IS A VIRTUE OR PRINCIPLE THAT KNOWS NO BOUNDS. IT IS NOT SOMETHING THAT IS PRACTICED SOLELY IN THE MILITARY, BUT RATHER AN ISSUE THAT TOUCHES EVERYONE IN A SOCIETY. AN ESSENTIAL QUESTION ARISES FOR ALL THAT ARE WORKING AS LEADERS IN ANY TYPE OF ORGANIZATION. WITH ALL THE CHANGES THAT HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN THE WORLD TODAY, HOW HAS LEADERSHIP CHANGED AND HOW DOES THAT EFFECT THE WHOLE ORGANIZATION?
OVER FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, A MAN BY THE NAME OF GENERAL KRULAK, THEN THE COMMANDANT OF THE US MARINE CORPS, DESCRIBED A SITUATION HE CALLED THE THREE BLOCK WAR. AT THE TIME, THIS WAS A REVOLUTIONARY CONCEPT FOR US. HIS THEORY PREDICTED THAT A SOLDIER IN THE FUTURE WOULD FIND HIMSELF IN A FIREFIGHT ON ONE CITY BLOCK, HANDING OUT WATER TO CHILDREN ON THE NEXT, AND CONDUCTING A NEGOTIATION WITH A LOCAL LEADER ON THE THIRD. THIS THREE BLOCK VIEW OF WAR HAS COME TO FRUITITION IN IRAQ, IN AFGHANISTAN, AND IN A MYRIAD OF OTHER COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD. BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, IT’S IMPLICATIONS AND SECOND AND THIRD ORDER EFFECTS HAVE REACHED MUCH FARTHER.
WHAT WE HAVE SEEN IN THE MILITARY IS THAT LEADERSHIP HAS BECOME ESSENTIAL AT LOWER AND LOWER LEVELS. THE JOB THAT A MID LEVEL OFFICER, LIKE MYSELF, WOULD HAVE BEEN DOING EVEN SIX OR SEVEN YEARS AGO, IS NOW, MANY TIMES, BEING DONE BY OUR LOWER LEVEL OFFICERS AND ENLISTED. SPECIALISTS AND OUR YOUNG SERGEANTS ARE NOW MAKING DECISIONS THAT HAVE STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS THAT WHERE NEVER POSSIBLE BEFORE. GENERAL KRULAC DESCRIBED THIS EFFECT AS THE “STRATEGIC CORPORAL”. THE RANK OF CORPORAL IS THE FIRST LEADERSHIP POSITION IN THE ARMY. KRULAC THEORIZED THAT A CORPORAL WHO IS EXECUTING A SMALL MISSION ON A STREET CORNER SOMEWHERE CAN TAKE AN ACTION THAT WITHIN HOURS CAN BE BEEMED INTO EVERY LIVING ROOM AROUND THE WORLD FOR GOOD OR FOR BAD. ONE PERSON COULD HAVE A NATIONAL, IF NOT GLOBAL, IMPACT THAT IS PERCIEVED AS THE ORGANIZATION’S ACTIONS, NOT JUST HIS OWN.
AS I LOOK OUT AT THE CIVILIAN WORLD AND TALK TO MY FRIENDS IN THE CORPORATE WORLD, THEY ECHO THE SAME SENTIMENT. MORE AND MORE DECISIONS AND LEADERSHIP POSITIONS ARE BEING PUSHED INTO THE LOWER RANKS OF THE CORPORATIONS. GLOBALIZATION IS MOST LIKELY A LARGE FACTOR IN THIS. DIVERSIFICATION WITHIN COMPANIES IS ANOTHER. BUT THE SAME ISSUE THAT EFFECTS MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS, AFFECTS THE BUSINESS WORLD.
HOW WILL WE, AS LEADERS, OPERATE IN THESE NEW ORGANIZATIONS?
I HAVE BEEN TAUGHT IN MY MILITARY CAREER, AND HAVE COME TO BELIEVE, THAT IT IS CRITICAL FOR A LEADER TO HAVE VISION. IN ALL HONESTY, WE’VE STOLEN QUITE A FEW IDEAS FROM THE CORPORATE WORLD ON THIS. VISION IS THE ABILITY OF THE LEADER TO INSTILL IN HIS SUBORDINATES THE CONCEPT OF HOW THINGS WILL LOOK AT THEIR ENDSTATE. IT COULD BE AS SIMPLE AS HOW WE ARE GOING TO BE THE BEST SECTION IN THE COMPANY THIS QUARTER. OR ON A MUCH GRANDER SCALE HOW ARE WE GOING TO BE THE BEST CAR MANUFACTOR IN THE WORLD. IT IS THAT FINAL ENDSTATE THAT EVERYONE IN THE ORGANIZATION UNDERSTANDS AND WHOLEHEARTEDLY “BUYS INTO” THAT MAKES IT A SUCCESSFULVISION.
A KEY PART OF VISION, IS THE UNDERSTANDING OF WHO WE ARE AS AN ORGANIZATION, WHAT DO WE STAND FOR, AND WHAT COMES FIRST TO US. THAT WAY EVEN WHEN THE LEADER ISNT AROUND, OR THE EMPLOYEE OR SOLDIER IS AT A LOSS IN A CRITICAL SITUATION, THEY KNOW WHAT THE VISION IS, THEY KNOW WHAT THE ENDSTATE IS, AND THEY CAN TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION WITHOUT BEING MICROMANAGED.
A CORPORATE CEO CAME AND TALKED TO US ABOUT A MONTH AGO AND HE DISCUSSED HOW PART OF HIS COMPANY’S VISION WAS THAT THEY WOULD HANDLE EVERYTHING WITH THEIR CUSTOMERS AS RAPIDLY AS POSSIBLE. THE GOAL WAS TO EXPEDITE CUSTOMER SERVICE. WELL, UNFORTUNATELY, THE EMPLOYEES BOUGHT INTO IT SO WELL THAT CUSTOMER SERVICE WENT DOWN DUE TO THE SHEER PUSH TO HANDLE EVERYTHING SO QUICKLY. AS A CORPORATION, THEY HAD TO GO BACK AND ASSESS WHAT THEY HAD SAID AND RESTRUCTURE TO ACCURATELY REFLECT THE GOAL THEY WANTED TO ACCOMPLISH, EXEMPLARY CUSTOMER SERVICE.
HIS COMPANY HAD BEEN GIVEN A VISION, BUT WITH MORE PEOPLE FUNCTIONING INDEPENDENTLY AT LOWER LEVELS, THE VISION HAD TO BE CLEARLY UNDERSTOOD BY ALL. EACH CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER WAS LIKE A “STRATEGIC CORPORAL” IN KRULAC’S THEORY. THEIR IDEA OF THE VISION WAS BEING SHOWN TO EACH CUSTOMER THAT CONTACTED THE COMPANY. HUNDREDS OR THOUSANDS PER DAY. THE LOWEST LEVEL OF LEADERSHIP WAS MAKING THE MOST IMPACT.
WITHIN OUR MILITARY ORGANIZATION’S WE HAVE A TRAINING STANDARD THAT EVERY SOLDIER MUST KNOW THE JOB OF HIS BOSS, AND HIS BOSSES BOSS. THIS HAS TWO EFFECTS FOR US. OBVIOUSLY, THE FIRST IS IN COMBAT WHEN A LEADER IS FATALLY WOUNDED OR OTHERWISE INCAPACITATED. IT PROVIDES FOR A CONTINUITY IN THE COMMAND STRUCTURE. CONTINUAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING IS KEY TO ACCOMPLISHING THIS STANDARD. COMBINED WITH THE VISION, THE TRAINING GIVES THEM A UNIQUE UNDERSTANDING OF THE HIGHER LEVEL LEADERS INTENT AS TO ACCOMPLISHING THE MISSION. BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY IN PEACE TIME, IT TRAINS THEM TO BE ABLE TO MOVE UP WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION. NOW, THIS “STRATEGIC CORPORAL” IS ABLE TO TAKE COMMAND DURING A FIRE FIGHT AND ALREADY KNOWS THE JOB HE IS EXPECTED TO DO AT HIS NEXT PROMOTION.
I BELIEVE THAT IN THIS ASPECT IT IS NO DIFFERENT THEN IN THE CORPORATE WORLD. WE ALL WANT OUR SUBORDINATES TO KNOW HOW TO FUNCTION WITHOUT US BEING THERE. WE ALSO WANT TO MENTOR THEM SO THEY CAN ADVANCE. IN THIS WAY, THE FOUNDATION OF THE ORGANIZATION IS EMPOWERED. THUS, ENTIRE WHOLE IS STRENGTHENED AND MADE INTO A BETTER TEAM.
CRITICAL TO ALL OF THIS, THOUGH, IS THE LEADER. WE’VE DISCUSSED HOW HAVING A VISION AND TRAINING SUBORDINATES IS SO IMPORTANT. BUT EVEN MORE SO IS HOW THE LEADER DEVELOPS ALL OF THIS AND TREATS HIS MILITARY ORGANIZATION OR HIS COMPANY. WITHIN THE MILITARY, WE HAVE CALLED SOME NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF LEADERSHIP “TOXIC.” BEFORE AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ, WE WERE BEGINNING TO SEE HOW THIS TOXIC LEADERSHIP WAS DESTROYING INITIATIVE. IT WAS MICROMANAGING AND STIFLING CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING FOR US. THE WAR IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN HAS BROUGHT THIS TO THE IMMEDIATE FOREFRONT AND PROVED WE WERE RIGHT.
TO TRULY HAVE AN ORGANIZATION WHERE SOLDIERS OR EMPLOYEES WILL BUY INTO A VISION THEY MUST FEEL AS IF THEY ARE PART OF A LEARNING ORGANIZATION. THEY MUST FEEL LIKE THEY CAN MAKE A MISTAKE AND LEARN FROM IT AND THEN MOVE ON. THEY MUST KNOW THAT THEIR INITIAVE WILL BE APPRECIATED AND LISTENED TO. IF A WORK PLACE, WHEITHER IT IS THE MILITARY OR A CIVILIAN CORPORATION CAN BECOME A LEARNING ENVIRONMENT WHERE EVERYONES IDEAS ARE LISTENED TO AND IMPORTANT THEN THEY WILL ONLY SUCCEED AND PROSPER. THE ASSISTANT MANAGER THAT IS TRAINED AND EDUCATED AND KNOWS WHAT TO DO AND HOW TO DO IT, WILL NOT TAKE ACTION WHEN HE NEEDS TO IF HE HAS BEEN IGNORED, CONTINUALLY CRITIZIED OR TOLD HE HAS NO VALUE. THE ORGANIZATION AND ITS LEADER HAVE JUST FAILED.
LEADERSHIP IS THE COMMON TIE THAT BINDS ALL OF US TOGETHER. WHEITHER WE ARE WORKING IN THE CIVILIAN WORLD OR THE WORLD OF THE GOVERNMENT AND THE MILITARY. LEADERSHIP IS ALL THE SAME. WE USE IT IN OUR PROFESSIONAL LIVES, OUR PERSONAL LIVES, WITH OUR CHILDREN AND WITH OUR CO-WORKERS. IT HAS SIMPLY BECOME THE ASPECT OF BUSSINESS AND LIVING THAT WILL MAKE US SUCCESSFUL OR CREATE A FAILED SITUATION.
WE ALL LIVE IN, AT LEAST, A THREE BLOCK WAR ENVIRONMENT. . MY CHALLENGE TO YOU ALL TONIGHT IS TO BE THAT ONE PERSON THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE, WIN YOUR WAR IN YOUR PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL LIVES. IN THAT WAY YOU WILL BE THE BEST KIND OF LEADER.
AGAIN I WISH ALL OF YOU CONGRATULATIONS AND THE BEST OF LUCK AS YOU GO FORWARD. AND I HOPE ALL OF YOU WILL BE GREAT LEADERS. THANK YOU
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