JEFFREY W. FOLEY
My father grew up in Highland Falls at the foot of West Point. However, when he graduated from high school, he decided to go to the Naval Academy in Annapolis. He retired as a rear admiral. Even though I am a Navy brat, I have a high regard for West Point graduates based on my visits to West Point as a kid. I met Brigadier General Jeff Foley, a hero of mine, through our Lead Like Jesus ministry when he volunteered to be chairman of our board of trustees. As you will learn from this essay, he learned a lot as a soldier. —KB
IN THE WORDS of General Creighton Abrams, former U.S. Army chief of staff: “Soldiers are not in the Army. Soldiers are the Army.”
To volunteer to willingly give up one’s life as a soldier for a greater cause is perhaps the most profound example of servant leadership. Soldiers join the military for a host of reasons. One major reason soldiers choose to stay is the experience they share becoming a band of brothers and sisters—that special fraternity called the profession of arms.
For many folks not in this profession, there is a common misperception that the Army operates in a strict hierarchical structured environment. Non-Army personnel believe that command and control is exercised daily by those with the highest rank. There is some truth to that—especially during times of crisis when quick decisions need to be made. These are leadership matters of life and death.
However, for the vast majority of time when lives are not on the line, nothing could be further from the truth. In the Army, true leadership is not about being a master—it’s about being a servant.
In a personal email, General Stanley A. McChrystal (U.S. Army, retired), former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, shared with me a keen insight on servant leadership:
Servant leadership is a term that I believe describes leaders whose actions and motivations reflect a selfless commitment to a cause, an organization, or their teammates. The key lies in intent more than in specific behaviors. It is an important distinction, because a leader’s skills or effectiveness aren’t a function of their underlying motivations—leaders can be exceptionally effective even when entirely self-centered or even evil in their intent. Servant leadership is a decision by any person to commit themselves to others in a way that subordinates personal gain to a wider sense of responsibility. I’ve seen it demonstrated by the humblest of soldiers whose personal presence is anything but stereotypical of our vision of leadership. And yet it brings a quiet dignity and underlying sense of purpose that inspires.
What follows are five tactics that represent valuable lessons about servant leadership I learned during my thirty-two-year career as a soldier.
New soldiers take an oath when enlisting in the U.S. Army: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.”
In the mid-1990s, the Army embraced and solidified seven core values: loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage. These values define expectations of behavior and are well defined, trained, and reinforced routinely throughout military life.
The Soldier’s Creed reinforces the commitment to these values—another clear example of servant leadership:
I am an American Soldier. I am a warrior and a member of a team. I serve the people of the United States, and live the Army Values. I will always place the mission first. I will never accept defeat. I will never quit. I will never leave a fallen comrade. I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills. I always maintain my arms, my equipment, and myself. I am an expert and I am a professional. I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy the enemies of the United States of America in close combat. I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life. I am an American Soldier.
With the help of a congressional nomination, I attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1974. While at West Point, three aspects stood out for me regarding servant leadership. The first was our motto: “Duty, Honor, Country.” We learned on the first day of training that it is not about us. It is about something far greater: our nation and our comrades.
The second was our Honor Code: I will not lie, cheat, or steal, nor tolerate those that do.
The third aspect was the requirement to memorize Major General John M. Schofield’s Definition of Discipline. General Schofield (a West Point graduate) addressed the Corps of Cadets on August 11, 1879. “The discipline which makes the soldiers of a free country reliable in battle is not to be gained by harsh or tyrannical treatment,” said Schofield. “On the contrary, such treatment is far more likely to destroy than to make an army.” Committing this definition to memory was one way to ingrain into our minds the dangers of toxic leadership, among other things.
Oaths, values, and creeds are not just words. They drive home the commitment to serve fellow soldiers and our nation—both greater causes than ourselves. They provide the foundation for the Army’s culture.
One of the most profound leadership skills in any organization is the ability to listen. My mentor, Major General Perry Smith (U.S. Air Force, retired), calls it “squinting with your ears.”
Sergeants are the leaders of the enlisted branch of the Army. The origin of the term sergeant is from the Latin serviens, which means one who serves. So at the very core of the Army, the focus is on sergeants as ones who serve.
In 1978 I landed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina—home of the Airborne—on my initial assignment out of West Point. On the day of my arrival, I was met by the senior enlisted soldier of the battalion, Command Sergeant Major Tad Gaweda—a tough, battle-hardened veteran soldier and marvelous leader. He said to me that first day, “Every soldier has a sergeant. Don’t ever forget that.” The advice and keen insights I learned from listening to my sergeants paid huge dividends throughout my career, and continues to do so today.
The need to listen is not limited to sergeants, of course. You cannot help anyone if you do not listen with the intent of understanding. Active listening demands tireless practice. When I was able to set aside my ego, I learned tons from squinting with my ears.
The Army does not have professional privates or lieutenants. Soldiers either get promoted or leave—it is either up or out. Those who demonstrate leadership potential earn the opportunity to continue to serve.
The biggest differentiator between the U.S. Army and all others is the monumental investment in the training and leadership development of our professional noncommissioned officer (NCO) corps—our sergeants. We call our NCOs the backbone of our Army because of the monumental role they perform in leading, training, caring for, and motivating soldiers.
The development of officers is equally important.
The Army develops soldiers in three ways. First, millions of dollars are invested in professional soldiers through periodic formal training and education. Second, every Army unit is required to have an organic leader development program to help develop leaders. Third, all NCOs and officers help grow subordinate leaders through on-the-job coaching and mentoring. In the corporate world, these actions are referred to as succession planning. In the Army, succession planning is everyone’s job, every day.
Servant leaders inspire people to grow while discovering their skills and unique gifts. Servant leaders do all they can to facilitate that growth by putting their people in positions where they can flourish.
I recently discussed servant leadership and the Army with Bob McDonald, a 1975 West Point graduate, Army veteran, former chairman and CEO of Procter & Gamble, and most recently the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA). He shared with me his life’s purpose: to improve lives. Servant leaders use this purpose—a mission larger than self—to motivate and inspire their team. McDonald worked every day to improve the lives of others at P&G and at the VA. This lesson, which he learned as a youth growing up in the Boy Scouts, was reinforced when he served in the Army.
Leaders need to understand the purpose and intent of their boss. When they do, they can better capitalize on bringing their own knowledge, skills, and abilities to bear in making good decisions in their lives.
One of the key roles of a servant leader is to be visionary, which means to communicate with precision about what is expected in the future or end state. In the Army’s standard mission orders process, there is a specific place for what is called commander’s intent. This is where the commander describes what constitutes success for the operation, linking the purpose to how the operation is envisioned to go down. When done well, this intent facilitates a shared understanding of what is in the mind of the commander.
I remember writing these valuable intent statements. Once clear understanding is achieved, the higher-level commander then becomes the servant by doing everything possible to enable the success of the subordinate commanders to meet that intent. This explanation is a bit oversimplified but it illustrates servant leadership in action. This same process is used at all levels of the Army including (less formally) down to sergeants who lead small teams.
Building trusted relationships trumps everything when it comes to effective leadership.
True leadership comes to life when mutual trust exists between leaders and followers. Genuine trust happens when soldiers train, sweat, bleed, and sacrifice together in preparation for the ultimate test of combat. They are honest with each other. They hold each other accountable. There is an element of love and support that develops as soldiers of all ranks live life together. This unique esprit de corps is the special sauce that really separates great teams from good teams.
When there is a lack of trust in a military unit, the consequences are significant, possibly catastrophic: decisions are questioned, commitment evaporates, discipline erodes, and the unit becomes ineffective. It does not take long to create an environment of distrust.
When soldiers know their leaders have their backs, they trust them and will do anything for them.
Nowhere is it more critical to demonstrate the empathy and care for soldiers than when tragedy strikes. I learned when something tragic happens to a soldier to go to them and to the home of their family. I didn’t need to worry about what to say; the family just needed to know that I cared. I visited many homes. I wrapped my arms around a lot of troops and families in need.
In the best units I served, I felt the love and support of those around me. I knew they would come to my aid if needed, just as I would them. The best leaders I have known have held trust as their highest priority.
These five lessons are what I learned about how servant leadership contributes to a winning culture for the U.S. Army. Those who serve are volunteers and do so in support of a grateful nation. When the American people show their gratitude, it makes a difference because the soldiers know the people care about them.
To summarize how soldiers and their comrades in other services feel about serving in uniform, allow me to highlight a profound day in our recent military history. The date was July 4, 2008. The location was Camp Victory, the U.S. military headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq. On that day, 1,215 soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines raised their right hand and pledged to continue defending the land of the free in the largest reenlistment ceremony since the all-volunteer Army was established in July 1973.
Why did so many troops choose to remain in uniform—and to do so in the combat theater where so many had deployed and sacrificed over seven years of constant conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq? I believe the servant leadership environment created by soldiers of all ranks was a principal contributor. And when you sacrifice and suffer in defense of America, you learn to love it more.
Jeffrey W. Foley is president of Loral Mountain Solutions, Inc. (www.loralmountain.com), where he is a speaker and leadership consultant who coaches executives and helps them build high-performing organizations. He is coauthor of the book Rules and Tools for Leaders, now in its fourth edition. Jeff graduated from West Point and served thirty-two years in the U.S. Army, earning the rank of brigadier general. Throughout his military career he served in leadership positions around the world, always focused on the accomplishment of the mission and taking care of people.