[June 16, 2020] If you are a leader who cares about their people and getting the job done, you will immediately understand this article’s title.1 Here is an indisputable fact; bad leaders never get both of these correct. On the one hand, some bad leaders get the mission accomplished but only by sacrificing their people. On the other hand, a few leaders take care of their people but fail in their mission.
I’m convinced that Jocko Willink has it right; there are no bad teams, only bad leaders. During my second deployment in the Iraq War, I saw this happen many times. In a memorable example, there was a group of misfit engineer officers; some were uncooperative; most of them lacked social and technical skills. Someone had the ‘bright’ idea to put the misfits together – a terrible plan, but who was I to dispute what some Army General ordered.
A good friend of mine, also a U.S. Army Colonel, got the unappealing job of leading the misfit team. Most of our senior leaders had written off this ragtag group of engineers and were in the process of having them removed from the combat theater for their safety. Colonel Frank Zimmerman2 was the man tapped for the job. As a side note, Frank would later retire as a Lieutenant General.
Frank was the right choice for the job. While doing his regular job as the assistant G-3 of Current Operations to III Corps, he had his hands full in one of the most challenging jobs any officer can undertake. Now he was given the additional duty to put these misfits to good use. Somehow, he managed to create a dynamic, functioning team working in his Operations Shop. The misfits became fully integrated into his system to track Coalition combat forces across Iraq.
A narcissist gets the job done but will destroy his team. Sometimes we call them nasty names, and we all know what names. Oh, and they lack the most basic form of humility. They were the type who would chew people out. They lead by intimidation. It was all about accomplishing the goal, no matter the cost.
Others are more concerned about their popularity; we refer to them as “pretty boys.” They looked the part (i.e., like real soldiers) and were loved by their troops but could not seem to get anything complicated accomplished. They were interested in keeping their unit out of trouble, not putting anyone in a risky situation, and would always follow the advice of their soldiers. These leaders didn’t last long in combat before they were removed from their leadership position.
Frank was religious and regularly used the Bible as a guide to his daily life in the Army.3 This gave him the strength and attitude to help turn around a group of officers who might have never given a chance to make a difference in combat.
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- The name of this article is taken from a Jocko Willink YouTube video (11:10 minutes) where he attempts to explain the idea. I will do the same thing from my perspective. His video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBIbWR3hygQ
- His name is changed to keep him anonymous.
- John 3:16 (AMP) For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world(that’s people; you and I) that He gave up His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.
What some of us may be overlooking here in the example from Gen. Satterfield is that one of the more successful Colonels who was very busy was given an extra task to bring along a group of misfits. Now, most of us might have given the job to someone less occupied and less on their plate. But, no, the busiest Colonel was given the task. Why? IMO, because he had the most to gain in the shortterm by getting more workers but also so that more senior leaders could see what he could do. And, that explains his promotion to 3-star later in his career.
Well said, Mr. TJ. You are indeed right about this, not a major point by Gen. Satterfield but something that could have been overlooked by us. I know I did overlook it. Thanks.
TJ you are a smart guy!! Look into the light and you will be able to see a smaller light beside the big one. That shows you are paying attention and have a critical skill.
Thanks Randy for your confidence.
Another spot-on article from this leadership blog. Keep ’em coming our way!!!!!
Let’s all not overlook the fact that this is the crucible that junior leaders are in today. They are thrown basically to the wolves and really not given much of a chance to learn. That is why mentorship is so important. In a mentorship relationship, older and wiser leaders can provide them with priorities of good leadership and help them pickup the skills they will need. That is what more senior leadership is about.
Well said, Dennis. I would add that coaching is also part of it where a more experienced leader assists a bunch of junior leaders at the same time.
Great comment. Thanks. Being a leader is certainly not easy but I also believe that Gen. Satterfield has clearly identified the two major reasons that bad leaders fail.
Yep, and more info to put into my leadership rucksack. ?
Excellent article. I’ve also seen this in my army units. There are both lieutenants and NCOs who ‘think’ they are really good but in reality they lack the skills for leadership. We work hard to bring them up to speed and give them more experience. The trick is working with them to improve also their attitude about learning leadership.
Good, Army Cpt, at least you are not firing them right away.
Right, many reasons why there are bad teams but Gen. Satterfield has certainly hit the two major reasons.
Bad leadership means bad teams. Bad being defined as inability to get the job done.
Watson, correct but it also may mean that the leader is not taking care of his teammates. This is the point that Gen. Satterfield is making. I see this all the time where I work. We have numerous teams (mostly young people) who have similar tasks. I think our boss is trying to figure out who is the best leader and the worst employees so that in the future he can make choices (meaning some will be fired).
… and more. Can’t care for their employees, creates toxic environment, narcissistic, etc.
Yes, and of course there are others but the main ones are clear. Who hasn’t seen this happen? I would venture that no one who has been in the workplace for more than a few years. Our young people entering the workforce are part of the problem and not just the leaders.
The point of this article. Thanks for putting an emphasis on it. Great comments in the forum section today. Good to see so many who are interested in this topic. ????
Very interesting take on bad employees. Thanks. I never gave this a thought. I always wondered that bad teams were made up of folks that simply could not work together.
Same here. Thanks Eric for making my point before I could get to it. Hope you are well.