Charles Krulak, a retired General in the US Marines, created some powerful insights about leading a group or team of people. Namely that the closer you get to the front lines (or customers) the more power you have over the brand.
He postulated that within the space of just three adjacent city blocks, Marines may be required to conduct full-scale military action, peacekeeping operations and humanitarian aid. Krulak’s conclusion is that modern militaries must be trained to operate in all three conditions simultaneously, and that to do so, leadership training at the lowest levels needs to be high.
Substitute the words ‘modern militaries’ with ‘modern companies’ and I believe this applies to your firm just as much.
A Leader’s main responsibility is to ensure that their team makes the right decisions. So, how to do this?
- Offer them freedom to fail and the opportunity to succeed
- Micro-management must be a thing of the past
- Supervision must be complemented by proactive mentoring
- Empower them, hold to strict accountability for their actions
- Allow the leadership potential within to flourish
These principles were so effective that in 2015 the Krulak Institute for Leadership, Experiential Learning and Civic Engagement was formed.
Remember the future of your organization is in the hands of the privates (team members) not the generals (officers) back home.
You can read more here: https://bit.ly/2V7iIsK
Hope you find this helpful.
Steve Brody