Leadership

Vaughn L. Johnson 

“I expect you to lead at the upper levels of your knowledge, skill and authority. Be a teammate. What is good for the team has priority over what is good for you. Demonstrate professionalism in all that you do. Be sharp, look sharp. Teach, coach, guide and mentor your force, but don’t claim experience that you don’t have. 

Never sacrifice what you know is right for what is convenient or expedient. Live the life of a leader – one of values, character, courage and commitment. What you do and what you tolerate in your presence best demonstrate your standards.”  
-  Rear Admiral Eric Olsen, U.S. Navy, to the instructor cadre of the Naval Special Warfare Training Center upon his assuming command of the Center, 1999. 

“The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them.  They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care.  Either case is a failure of leadership.”   
- General Colin Powell  

Lead-er: noun
-One that leads or guides
-One who is in charge or in command of others
-One who has influence or power
-A person who rules or inspires others 

If you asked two hundred people their definition of a leader, I feel safe in pointing out that you would get two hundred different answers.  Some would have similar answers, there would be extremes of one opinion or another and odds are good you’d rarely get the same answer out of two hundred civilians. 

Step into the realm of law enforcement (LE) or military (MIL) circles and the numbers of similar answers changes dramatically.  Oddly enough, while the politicians and general population would like LE and MIL personnel to be separated by an impenetrable wall, the two groups have many similarities when asked to define a leader.   

Through my contacts with LE and MIL personnel, I received a number of thoughts on what they wanted to have for leaders/supervisors.  Many of the following thoughts are gritty, straight-forward and very much not politically correct.  If you are offended by these types of responses and continue on reading after this sentence, consider yourself warned.  Italics print is from the responses, my follow-up is in regular print. 

It is my hope that the information shared here will give many of us the feeling that we’re not alone in feeling the way we do, as well as to perhaps open some eyes of the folks that are given the title of supervisor yet don’t rate the rank of Leader. 

“A leader is someone who inspires following and devotion. It is the inspiration rather than the requesting that defines the difference.” 

“To me, a leader is someone who doesn't mind getting their "hands dirty" to make sure the job gets done. Also, a leader displays good moral character and attitude. The phrase "Lead by example" comes to mind.” 

Both are very much to the point.  Do the job, don’t just bark orders and sit back and watch.  Lead troops from the front and don’t be the one who hands out the crappy details and rubs a subordinate’s face in it. 

From a U.S. Marine officer: “Admit that you DO NOT know everything; a young Marine can smell bullshit 100 miles away.  Some of the best ideas I've ever heard came from Lance Corporals and experience means more than education.” 

From my personal experience bank, I have more respect for you if you don’t know the answer and tell me so.  Attempting to make up something on the spot, so you don’t look like you’re not the all-knowing boss that you think you are is not the way to win respect.   

Cops and soldiers have common sense, it is required of the position and BS is BS, whether it comes from a supervisor or Johnny Lawbreaker.  We’re all human, none of us knows it all, and if you think you do, we’re probably divorced from one another.   

All kidding aside, your troops, cops, soldiers, and Marines are not idiots.  Ask their opinions, take their ideas to your bosses and give your troops the credit where it is deserved.  Nothing impresses a grunt more than getting an ‘atta boy’ for something that actually survived making it up the chain of command and holy cow, was thought to be a good idea. 

Another Commanding Officer of a line company: “Being the CO of my Company for the last year has taught me that, more than anything else, you can't be afraid to put common sense into action.”  Those are words to If it sounds too stupid to try, it probably is. 

“A Leader: 
- Earns the respect of those in his/her charge 
- Is not afraid to work side by side with those in his/her charge vs. just giving orders. 
- Can make decisions and present absolute conviction to his/her crew for the sake of keeping their confidence even when he/she is questioning their own decision. 
- Can take time with team members as individuals and listen. 
- Realizes he/she doesn't know everything and can learn from others on the team. 
- Has such a rock solid moral foundation displayed in their daily life so much that no one on his/her team would ever question their motives” 

That is a different respondent with a similar response to a couple ideas.  Easily compared to being a parent, if you show your subordinates that you’re not sure of yourself, or the directive that you’ve given them, you’re not inspiring confidence.  What it does is make the troops circumvent your advice or guidance.  If they think you’re a goof, they will go in their own direction and not bother to ask you for help or tell you what they’re dealing with. 

“Your commander can make you a supervisor. But for several weeks, or until your charges get to trust you, they will watch you with a very critical eye. If they can't trust you, you're up the creek.” 

I will go so far as to say you’re pretty lucky if it is only several weeks.  Even so, just because they trust you and you work together for many years… all of that can be undone in an instant by a supervisor who doesn’t back their troops, is non-committal to a question, or gives the impression that they are much too important to be bothered with such trivial matters.   

“Leaders bring out the best in you and steer you back on the right track when you veer... 
They must be like a rock... meaning 110% reliable not 99%.  The word CAN'T is a word NOT in a leader’s vocabulary... 
One reason I would be hesitant to go back in the MIL is that there were way too many pricks who thought they were leaders and gave it their best to break me and failed...  
Give me a real leader to serve under and I will proudly follow him into hell...” 

The above quote brings up a great point with the first line.  On a couple of occasions when I’d screwed something up, I felt worse knowing that I’d disappointed my Sergeant … he never raised his voice.  I beat myself up internally far worse than he could have done by yelling at me. 

You cannot make people give you respect because you outrank them.  It is earned from your everyday interactions, decisions, non-decisions, and ability to keep your unit or shift moving forward.  Someone that is always looking over your shoulder, waiting for you to screw up so they can pounce, is not a leader.   

The ‘follow him into hell’ comment is one that I’ve made before, one time while in a promotional interview with command staff when asked what I thought made a good supervisor.  Can you honestly see yourself following your supervisor into combat, whether it is on the streets of America or in some foreign land?   

As a supervisor, are you the type that is on the fast track to the top…and not afraid to leave footprints on your subordinates to do it?  Are you the type that lets them hang alone in the breeze, when you could be taking the heat off of them?  Do you avoid confrontation, go along to get along, and toe the line for the Old Boys Club of Admin?  If you answer yes to any of these, I wouldn’t go with you into Hell unless I was driving the bus that was dropping you off and continuing on.   

“Your men come first…take care of them and they will take care of you…I’m here today because of that.”  

Troops can self-police themselves if they respect and trust their first-line supervisor.  They will slap peer pressure on the weaker chain links in order to keep things running smoothly.  Troops that trust their supervisor will work hard to make life easier for that boss.  No trust?  Life will be more difficult and the guys on the line will do nothing to assist when the boss is having trouble.  They will let him drown in a heartbeat. 

“A leader will ask for your best, but never belittle you at any place or anytime, even if you’re not up to their standard.” 

Dressing down a subordinate in front of their peers or heaven help you, the general public is a major no-no.  Take them into a private office, have a seat in your vehicle with them, just get out of earshot of the nosy folks that feed off of this type of interaction.  This small gesture will help them be a tad more open-minded … allowing the supervisor to retrain that officer, or give him some pointers on what wasn’t up to standard.  Want to invite insubordination?  Don’t listen to my advice on this issue.   

“Serve a greater cause than your own ego.” 

We’re all on the same team.  You as a supervisor are still a human being and will not always be the brainchild behind a good idea, a needed change or a way to save the agency money.  Give your troops the credit they deserve with the big bosses and you will start to earn their respect, then their admiration….and someday, they’ll ride the bus to Hell with you, and follow you down the steps at the bus-stop without even thinking about it.   

On the other side of the coin, take their ideas and claim them as your own, and you might as well shoot yourself in the foot.  You might get away with it for a while.  You might even benefit from it in some way.  It will come full circle, because the line troops will find a way to make you look like an idiot in front of admin … they will do it often … and they will succeed. 

“A leader is the guy who says: 
The buck stops here. If it works, it's the result of good people doing good things. If it didn't work, I'm responsible, and responsibility means we do everything possible to ensure that if bad things need to happen, they only need to happen once.” 

This is one of those quotes that supervisors need to remember.  This is the type of selfless statement that grunts remember.  Front-line supervisors take crap from many directions, above and below, and for one to say, “If we succeed, WE did it….if we didn’t succeed, it is MY fault”….wow, I want to work for that guy. 

“A leader's first task is to prepare his replacement.” 

“Sharing the skill of decision making is the leader's second most important skill.” 

Retirement comes along for all of us at some point.  The grunts of today will be the front-line supervisors of tomorrow.  The supervisor of today has to realize that they’re training a new breed of supervisor for tomorrow…the lazy sergeant that sits in the station all night long, never checking on his troops, gives the impression that you don’t have to care about your subordinates.  The Captain who doesn’t want to be bothered by something they deem as trivial due to their “elevated” status tells all that you don’t have to really care about topics brought to your attention.  If you are even higher up and take no interest in fixing the issues that you know exists at lower levels…you are a large part of the problem for future generations.  Put forth the effort to make things better for those that are currently here, and those that will come along later…show the current troops that you want to make a difference and the future bosses among them will have that in mind when they’re leading troops of their own. 

“A leader ensures that tasks get accomplished, not that they do the task while their people stand by and observe.” 

This one would seem to be a no-brainer, but bears mentioning.  As a front-line supervisor, you are there to ensure that the mission is accomplished.  That involves delegating tasks to subordinates that, by their very presence, must be capable of performing the job.  If they aren’t worthy of your trust, then you’d best be looking for progressive discipline to get rid of them.  In the grand scheme of things, this is the mentality that once did the subordinate’s job. . . and thinks that they know the best way to do everything. 

“A good leader makes what decisions are necessary in a timely manner with the best information available.” 

“Decision making is the leader's most important skill, followed by the courage to stand by those decisions.” 

For goodness sake, make a decision.  Right or wrong, make a decision and stand with it to accomplish the task.  If time and circumstances allow changing it when something isn’t working, go for it.  But when you hold your breath and hope for the best while you stand around and not make a decision, it makes most situations worse, and probably puts the troops or innocents at risk due to that indecision.   

“A leader is someone who brings calm to chaos by their presence.” 

Some folks thrive ‘in the rear with the gear’ with a regimented system to adhere to.  They’re worried more about shiny boots, black socks, and the rigid following of policy and procedure.  Others thrive in the arena of conflict resolution, where nothing follows a set pattern and decisions are made on the spur of the moment.  End results are more important than how you looked while you accomplished the task.  Being blessed with a supervisor that smoothes out the bumps and makes the line troops’ job easier is a gift indeed.  Most times, this is accomplished by doing many things at once and keeping the troops on task. 

“The keys for leadership are : 
 
1) understand what needs to be done 
2) implement an effective strategy 
3) prioritize tasks 
4) adapt to changing situations 
5) display fortitude and perseverance in the face of adversity 
6) and finally to bring calm to chaos and enthusiasm to the apathetic. 

In a time of chaos people will naturally (and frantically) seek direction and leaders will quickly come to the front, to lead the apathetic is much more difficult.” 

To read the rest of Vaughn's thoughts click the link below.  

Vaughn currently works full-time for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office in Wisconsin as a patrol deputy.  Other duties include SWAT sniper, firearms instructor, and Honor Guard.  He also teaches at a local police academy part-time. 

Vaughn is an advisory board member of the American Sniper Association and dedicates off-time to the non-profit group AmericanSnipers.org, which provides needed gear to deployed U.S. military snipers and designated marksmen.  He can be reached at vljohnson@charter.net . 


Download Leadership by V.L. Johnson