[April 20 2016] A number of folks have commented on my two military leadership priorities; quality training (in peacetime) and taking care of people. There are many reasons for having these two as important aspects of military officer responsibilities but I’ve found that they work reasonably well and people remember them. The only problem I encountered was that “taking care of people” was frequently misunderstood.
One senior Army general told me that it was not our job to “babysit” our soldiers and that a little tough love goes a long way to helping them become more self-reliant.1 What he was telling me is that leaders should not be giving everything to the soldier or providing them with everything they need to succeed because in combat those soldiers will inevitably fail. They will fail, the argument goes, because they’re accustomed to getting everything handed to them. I agree with this and it shows how taking care of soldiers as a priority can be misconstrued.
What does ‘taking care of people’ really mean? It means that leaders should be doing those things that make people successful. This translates into making them stronger; mentally, physically, spiritually, and familial. What we do as leaders transcends us and resonates throughout the social fabric of where we exist. For example, my insistence that my soldiers stay in good physical shape means that in the future those same soldiers will ensure those working for them also stay in good shape.
Here is what ‘taking care of people’ really means. It means providing:
- Opportunities (actually, providing circumstances where people can find opportunities)
- The right conditions (a positive and risk-controlled environment)
- Training resources
- Teaching, coaching, and mentoring
- Protection (having their back)
- Administrative support
- Instilling core values (their meaning and significance)
When it comes to taking care of people, leaders are involved in some of the most important attributes of their leadership positions. By doing so we generate loyalty, trust, and respect. That is why I’ve always said that the most important leader characteristic is caring.1
In combat, my priorities change only slightly. While quality training remains important, on the battlefield the mission is now the higher priority but taking care of my soldiers always remained a priority for me. My soldiers would give everything they had to accomplish the mission because they knew I held them in the highest esteem and their lives and well being were important to me.
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