Introduction

I've never considered myself a natural or influential leader. I'm far from the typical officer, relatively introverted and full of self-doubt. So, imagine my face as an unsuspecting junior officer thrust into the limelight to command, manage, and – most importantly – lead a talented group of people for the first time.

It was a diverse pool of individuals from all walks of life and with varied education, experiences, and expectations. I was a fresh-faced 18-year-old with almost no relative life experience, how was I going to achieve this monumental task? If you're about to call my bluff and say, "there's no way he magically developed the leadership skills of Hornblower overnight and nailed the assignment", you'd be 100% correct. I failed, miserably. I didn't set boundaries, and I didn't use the assets around me, but I did start learning (even when I didn't realise it).

John F. Kennedy once said, "Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other." It allows for reflection, development of skills and knowledge, and puts us into a position to better support those within our charge. For the longest time, I focused purely on experiential learning. As I grew older, progressed in my career, and gained more exposure; I remediated that shortfall and shifted my learning strategy. I expanded from role models (good and bad), to then include readings, external short courses, and professional coaching. This exposed me to the ideas of servant and adaptive leadership concepts that I still review and improve my understanding of to this day.

Values and Philosophies

All the aforementioned learning wouldn't have been much use if I didn't have a method of application. To better enable myself as a leader I decided to understand myself more through determining my values and to develop a set of philosophies/questions to ask myself.

Philosophies are important for me as they guide who I am as a leader by being intrinsically linked to my personal values. Spend some time reflecting on what matters most to you, those things that if you were to go against them, you would feel a deep sense of dread. Values are integral to our personas and don't change (vice beliefs which can). Personally, my values are:

Family – always be there for them; you can't replace them. The work will either still be there when you come back or it will be captured by someone else.

Trust – critically important that you trust your team and that they trust you. You can't be everything, everywhere, all the time; so trust in your people.

Honesty – linked very strongly to trust, honesty will drive trust but presents opportunities to show vulnerability and humility. Two key traits essential for good leadership.

Getting back to the philosophies, they help set a framework around how you approach your leadership role. Whilst there are a significant number of books on this topic (Marcus Aurelius' Meditations is an excellent one), I have picked up a few throughout my career which I hope strike a chord:

Never make the team/your subordinates do things you wouldn't be prepared to do yourself. This drives resentment, breeds distrust, and ultimately results in a breakdown of team dynamics. Get in there and help out – bonding through shared events has great relationship building traits.

Without the team, you are nothing, but together you can be unstoppable. For the military, being a leader is generally associated with a position of authority e.g., a platoon commander. I would extend this to those of us who are single points of failure as subject matter experts. We all know them, they're the person who becomes or makes themselves a centre of gravity for an activity. This philosophy focuses on ensuring you build up those around you in such a way that if you leave, there is minimal impact to achieving the objective. The team should be able to pick up the ball and keep running in your absence. If they can't, you've failed them.

Context is everything. When a situation occurs, take a little time to understand and consider the context of those involved. Ask yourself questions such as: What are they thinking about, what pressures are upon them, what is their background or external factors which may be influencing their actions. This will assist in holistic decision making as well as reducing emotionally driven responses.

Look after yourself. Despite hearing this often as a young lieutenant, this took me far too long to truly understand. It's one of those sayings which while often touted, we are culturally indoctrinated to work ourselves to the bone. This really hit home for me during a recent period of long-service-leave. I was worn out from multiple high-tempo roles (a lot self-inflicted) and decided I needed a break to detach.

What concerned me was the amount of affirmation towards my decision being "courageous". Whilst I appreciated the sentiment, collectively we need to take better care of ourselves. Learn and recognise the signs of burnout (for both you and the team) then take action. Leaving it too late can be disastrous. As leaders, if we don't look after ourselves, we can't look after anyone else – which ultimately results in mission failure.

Questions for Context

As a new leader, or even as someone with little exposure to situation management, having a simple framework can make dealings that much easier. It helps to keep you grounded and focused and to prioritise the right information and/or actions. What I have developed over the years is as follows:

How can I help? It seems simple but considering and asking how you can assist is important not just for those potentially requiring support but to highlight you care. This helps build trust and openness within the team who will be more willing to come to you in the future.

What is within my ability to control or influence? Sometimes the only 'how' in helping is by raising the situation higher as authorities in that instance may sit above your level. Read and understand the policy, consider how to best support the member, and provide recommendations. This should still be done even if the authority has been delegated to yourself (the recommendations are for you alone to consider this time). It demonstrates deliberate thought in your judgements and ensures you can justify your actions.

What is the right action/decision? This is the tricky part, because 'right' generally means the most difficult. It may also mean a negative outcome for a subordinate, peer, superior, colleague, friend etc. The commander's guide to decision making can help here but I would offer that it's a balance of what is best for the member (including their needs and desires) against the needs of/impact to the organisation.

What can I learn from this? Take time to reflect. Capture your reflections so you can reflect on them again in the future. If we don't continually learn, we're bound to have history repeat itself. A real-life example relates to multiple units in my career not using the after-action review from the previous iteration of that activity (or similar ones) as a start state for planning, resulting in the same mistakes being made again. If we reflect and fail to learn from them, then it becomes a lesson in superfluous staff work.

Conclusion

Not everyone is born to be a leader. Whilst there are those who naturally thrive in leadership positions, others need a bit of assistance. Some jump into the spotlight without a full appreciation for what they are getting into. And some don't seek it at all but unwittingly find themselves at the front with the whole room looking at them. The philosophies and considerations above are not exhaustive, nor all-knowing. They're an anthology of experiences gained throughout my career; one which I hope help all those who read it in some way, shape, or form.