The Seven Deadly Leadership Sins (U.S. Army)

[skydivr]

I got this today thought it was good to share:
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So, you want to be a respected, revered, leader, do you? Well, you might have heard of the seven deadly sins which pertain to leadership.
I will maintain that these can be in the church, in the office, in class, in an organization, in school, and the military. There are some things which we cannot and dare not do. If we fall into any of these categories, we are in trouble and have to do constant reevaluation of
our role as leaders.

Here are seven deadly leadership sins that can shatter your effectiveness as a leader:

1. Haughtiness: Haughtiness is when you're high on yourself and low on others and no one else has the ideas or insights that you do.
2. Arrogance: Arrogance is a sense of self-important smugness that claims much for you and gives little to others. "God sends no one away empty except those who are full of themselves."
3. Pride: This is not the healthy self-respect for your work but being absorbed with you while ignoring others and their needs. It has been said that pride is the only disease that makes everyone sick but the one who has it.
4. Disdain: Disdain compares yourself with others in a derogatory way. It looks down its nose with scorn on those around you and belittles the accomplishments of others.
5. Presumption: Presumption claims privileges above your rights. It's a me-first attitude concerned more with the "perks" and "privileges" of power than of true leadership.
6. Assumption: Assumption takes for granted what others say is truth without objectivity or investigating it for yourself.
7. Vanity: Perhaps the most destructive of the seven, Vanity is an intense craving for admiration and applause. This leads you to misunderstand the situation as you follow a personal agenda rather than a servant's heart.
All of these leadership snares center on a self-motivated ego. Conceit and arrogance will kill effective leadership. If we allow it to take hold, we end up focusing on ourselves, not on others. And that's manipulation, not leadership.

Note:
Jose Cubero was one of Spain's most brilliant matadors. He had enjoyed a spectacular career before he died at the age of 21 after a tragic mistake. Cubero thrust his sword a final time into a bleeding, delirious bull, which then collapsed. Considering the struggle finished, Jose turned to acknowledge the crowd's applause. The bull, however, was not dead. It rose and lunged at the unsuspecting matador, its horn piercing his back and puncturing his heart. We should never consider pride or vanity dead before we are. Just when we think we've won the battle, just as we turn to accept the congratulations of the crowd, pride stabs us in the back.
Now is the time to look again at our styles, our abilities, where we might improve. It is also a time when we can take a bow without being afraid of the bull behind us.

Hooah!!


SGM Alan M. Gibson
Center for Army Leadership (CAL)
Army Leadership Development Division
NCO Initiatives and Integrated Manager Fort Leavenworth , KS 66027

 

[Mr Brown]

Food for thought right there.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[MC MUSTANG]

Sir,
Thank you for sharing that... I had a small "mentorship" session with a few of my people this morning... I asked what I thought was a relatively simple question: What is the function of an Officer in the military?

I was stunned when no one wanted to answer - so, what I offered was this:
An Officers function falls to a few things, such as:
Providing guidance and direction to those who execute the policies of our leadership
To provide unflinching authentic leadership to those under our charge
To ensure that the Marines (in my case) have nothing to worry about but the mission
To ensure that the Marines have everything they need to accomplish the mission that I assign.

At the end, I asked them - when you look at my list - "Who really works for who?"

Semper Fidelis,
MCM

 

[skydivr]

Sir,
Thank you for sharing that... I had a small "mentorship" session with a few of my people this morning... I asked what I thought was a relatively simple question: What is the function of an Officer in the military?

I was stunned when no one wanted to answer - so, what I offered was this:
An Officers function falls to a few things, such as:
Providing guidance and direction to those who execute the policies of our leadership
To provide unflinching authentic leadership to those under our charge
To ensure that the Marines (in my case) have nothing to worry about but the mission
To ensure that the Marines have everything they need to accomplish the mission that I assign.

At the end, I asked them - when you look at my list - "Who really works for who?"

Semper Fidelis,
MCM

MCM, I always believed that, although it appears differently to them sometimes, the higher you go in rank, the more of a SERVANT you are to the people who work for you. Too many people get the 'big head' when they get too far up in rank; kind of like a movie star, people fawn all over you and you start believing your own press. The Officers that I looked for as role models were patient, supportive servants; whatever ego they had, they used to help their soldiers. In return, the people that worked for them (Officers and NCO's alike) would 'ride thru the valley of the shadow of death and fear no evil' with them.

I had some really good ones, and some that I pretty much despised (and so did the NCO's).

The Officer is the legal, commissioned (hence, commission) representative of the commander in cheif. His job is to plan, allocate resources and set policy, provide direction. The NCO's job is to EXECUTE.

I always broke down leadership into something as simple as: Getting someone to do what you want them to do, while having them think it was THEIR idea in the first place

The day I took Command, I gathered the officers up for a little 'talk'; I told them:

1. The Sergeant Major speaks for me and the only person who trumps what he says is me.

2. Be a faithful servant to those you command. They deserve nothing less than everything you have to give them. If you do, they will follow you anywhere.

3. I pointed at the rank on my collar and said, "my job is to throw this on the table for you and everyone in this unit if necessary if you screw up doing the right thing"

4. Regulations are for the guidance of the commander (me); let me decide when and if to break them.

Jeez i miss it

 

[Mr Bogus]

can they pin this in place of where the ten commandments use to sit in DC?

This looks like the reverse playbook to our civil servant politicians...


Great post!! Thank you Keith

 

[teamorion22]

i like it. thanks 4 sharing

 

[skydivr]

I REALLY should check my spelling before I post (embarrased); Cap I need a SPELLCHECKER!