By – Farzana Suri, Victory Coach
I met him in New York. He was in his late 70s. He had a shiny pate and his sin bore the remnants of his experience. His eyes were what struck me the most – there was a steely resolve and yet tenderness to it. He was wearing worn jeans and plaid shirt over a white tee. He was walking tall and seemed taller than his height of 6’3”. I was lost. I had taken the wrong turn and for some reason, I couldn’t decipher the map in my hand. I walked across the street and said, “Sir? Could you help me? I’m trying to reach Chinatown?”
He stopped and looked down at me. All of 4’11”, I craned my neck, shielding my eyes from the warm sun, now piercing through my jacket. “Sure, hon” he smiled. “In fact, I could walk you there, myself. I’m Jon”
I was thrilled. I had company. We sauntered along together – a picture of the short and tall across the Brooklyn Bridge.
During the course of our conversation, Jon mentioned, he had served in the war and his family in WWII. The family, he said were patriots and had a history of loyalty and duty towards the country for generations.
He shared a few stories on valour. One of them related to a brother from the army, Bren.
It was an incident during the 2003 Iraq invasion. Bren encountered a group of militants while travelling towards Baghdad. His platoon was accosted from all sides. He had the choice of saving his life and his platoon’s or simply firing and backing off. He chose, differently. He directed his tank towards the militants and kept firing away with the mission to cross over the enemy lines. At one time, he saw one of the soldiers buckling with the shot he’d received on his shoulder. He was holding his shoulder tightly, with the blood gushing out in spurts while his other arm extended to reach a crumpled, half-torn photo of a family. Bren got on his knees and handed it to him. He was one of the militants. Emotions ran deep, yet he had a job to do. He turned away hitting out at every target perceivable.
During the course of the attack, one of his young soldiers, pointed towards a hidden trench. Without losing time, Bren charged into the enemy trench, himself with complete disregard to his life. His platoon followed him and kept firing the shots. Pellets flew all around till there was no ammunition left. Bren bent and picked up the grenade launcher one of the militants had left behind and continued to fight. The screams were muffled by the thunderous and continuous rainfall of the shells. It was deafening. Bren and his platoon fought valiantly, crushing one target after another. His platoon, loyally followed every instruction and signal, accurately. Their faith in Bren was uncompromising. He was awarded a medal of valour for his courage upon his return to NYC.
Being in the army, Jon said is all about duty, self-service, dedication, respect and personal courage. Millions of those who choose this life, do so and uphold the mission of loyalty toward the country – the only goal.
I distilled all I learnt on the walk towards Chinatown with Jon, into 7 leadership skills you learn, being in the army.
For starters, leaders are not your average souls. They stand out from the din, have the mettle to go against the tide, zag when the world around them is zigging away.
- Accountability
Leadership is about taking responsibility. You are responsible for your team and accountable for their actions. It’s about you, doing your job towards the goal enlisted. You make a visible commitment and stick to it. There are no reasons, no excuses, no voices of defence. You accept and perform knowing that the buck stops at your door. You accomplish what’s laid out as a team. The army with its hierarchy encourages this mindset.
- Personal Courage
No matter how much the ground beneath your feet is slipping, you don’t display your negative emotions – fear, worry or indecisiveness. You learn to demonstrate a high degree of confidence and personal courage that exudes faith and a can-do-spirit within the team. Your team is driven by the energy you exude. Their life depends on the moves you make. Leading a team, in times where the only distance between life and death was the way you led a team that had given away every ounce of everything they had within themselves, and barely had anything left to put out there. The courage and resolve, in the face of challenges with the highest stakes and incredible pressure, where you made the toughest decisions on the spur of the moment with equal calm. Courage speaks volumes.
- Respect
This is unique to the army. It doesn’t matter which background you come from, the ethnicity, race, religion or gender, in these new times we live in – all are treated with respect – same rank and file. You are a part of a team whose objective and mission are defined on the values of integrity. A rank or title does not earn you the right to command, being competent at your work does. All are married to that mission. Nothing comes in the way because respect is earned by giving.
- Training
“Victory smiles upon those who anticipate changes in the nature of war.” – Giulio Douhet
War can happen anytime. How prepared are you? Practice and learn. No matter at what level you are, training is needed for you to gain higher endurance, be more swifter and up to date with new technology and methods, the need for integrated and collective training. Survival depends on adaptability to change.
- Learn to Follow
Leadership is about knowing when to follow, too. When you’ve learnt to follow, you learn how to lead. It strips you of any ego whether you’re rich or poor or are better than your mate. It returns the focus towards the mission.
- Team comes first
You can’t lead if you didn’t have a team. You are the guardian. You mentor them and watch their backs. Show compassion. Be accessible. Listen to them. Make the environment conducive so that they can do their job well. Success cannot be got until each member is operating as one.
- Communication
The army thrives on effective communication through the chain of command. Life or death depends on this level of clarity in communication. How clear, concise and effective can you be in defining the mission so all speak with one voice and one message? In fact, Jon spoke of something called a “briefback” communication in the army. He said that your communication to be effective and understood should have a three-part process. You give orders, the person receiving it reiterates those orders back to you, and you clarify if everything is right or that which may have been misunderstood.
The conversation with Jon was illuminating. To most of us, the army commands respect and admiration in securing and protecting our country. In my view, its realistic leadership inspires you like no other organisation. Leadership Authority, teamwork, humility, work ethics, honour, management, planning, discipline and communication – above all, the army teaches you that all are equals on the same team – no caste, creed, colour, religion, race. All belong to one team.
Farzana Suri is a Victory Coach and Corporate Trainer residing in Mumbai, India. Visit www.farzanasuri.com for more details. Or reach her on mail@farzanasuri.com
