[March 7, 2022] It was a dark September night at Fort Benning, GA, as our platoon of new lieutenants moved out on a new training mission. We were headed deep into the bush to test our newly acquired leadership skills and measure our resilience. I was paired with a lieutenant from Chicago; he had the worst traits a leader could have and still be a U.S. Army officer.
He was about 22 years old; this young man had a chip on his shoulder about many things in his life, all beyond his control. I’ll call him LT Jerome. He was mad as hell; it seemed that he took this out on our platoon members all the time. Among other things, LT Jerome resented the fact that most of us had enough money to go out for a meal at a local restaurant occasionally, and we didn’t invite him. Who were this guy’s military professors that failed to help this fellow?
Making the situation worse, other than having him as a platoon member, was that he was arrogant as hell. He thought he was the cat’s meow, a great lover of women, that we could not succeed without him, and that the world needed him. That pissed us off. No one in the military is irreplaceable. If you are killed in battle, someone has to step into your place. That’s just the way it is.
Being resentful and arrogant combined into a horrific personality that made it impossible for us to deal with him. LT Jerome had many character flaws. Don’t we all? But his two major flaws were highly irritating and made our lives terrible. He wanted to take out his anger on his teammates, and we wouldn’t stand for it.
Early that dark September night, we duct-taped LT Jerome to a large tree, stripped his pants and boots off, and covered him in peanut butter. Before the sun came up that morning, you could hear him crying. Since I was paired with him, I got the brunt of our school’s White Hat leaders’ punishment. LT Jerome was gone that day from our Infantry class. Did he get out of the Army? Did he get recycled? We didn’t care; he was gone!
The two worst traits of a leader are resentment and arrogance. Taking the two together means more than LT Jerome represents. Looking back at the 20th century, we see the most evil from Hitler, Mussolini, Mao, and Stalin. All were resentful and arrogant. Together they were responsible for the deaths of more than 100 million people.
A modern example is Russian President Vladimir Putin.1 He is resentful of the fall of the Soviet Union and its decline in respect the world has for his country. Add that he is arrogant, and you have the makings of some serious problem. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and how the war is being conducted tells us a lot about Putin’s two worst traits a leader could have.
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Please read my new book, “Our Longest Year in Iraq,” at Amazon (link here).
Nailed it, Gen. Satterfield. Well written and to the point. These are clearly the worst combination you can have. Just look at Putin, he is the perfect example.
Truthfully, I think Gen. Satterfield should give us an update of Russian Pres Putin.
Gen. S wrote some articles in the past on Putin, “Russia’s Putin: A Leader Review”
https://www.theleadermaker.com/russias-putin-leader-review/
Putin: “Don’t Mess with Russia”
https://www.theleadermaker.com/putin-dont-mess-with-russia/
Good point Gen. Satterfield as you linked two bad traits “arrogance” and “resentment.” Put them together and you have the recipe for evil. I’ve seen it too.
Gen. Satterfield, you were over the target and bombed the crap out of it. Better to read this blog than listen to our bumbling president Biden. And, Harris is worse. How can you be WORSE?? 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
I just love your Name. LGB/FJB.
Interesting article. Didn’t Dr. Jordan Peterson discuss some of these same ideas? Yes, I think so. Great to bring them out.
LT Jerome was gone the next day. I think I can read between the lines here. Some folks, IMO, are promoted today because of who they are rather than what they have accomplished. Today, your LT Jerome would not have gone away but would have been promoted and you kicked out of the army for tapping him to a tree. Wouldn’t want to hurt his itty bitty feelings, would we?
Welcome to Biden’s America where the strong and patriotic are punished.
Amazing, you speak the truth. ✔!@#$%^&
Anya, you bet. Just another reason why reading the entirety of this blog helps bring our understanding of leadership into better focus. Good luck, Gen. Satterfield on your upcoming book. Please give us a hint or two in the near future on the topics you will cover.
Resentful? what about the 7 deadly sins? I think ‘envy’ perhaps is what you should have said.
https://www.learnreligions.com/what-are-the-seven-deadly-sins-542102
I know that resentfulness is similar but there is a difference. Anyway, all lead to bitterness and when coupled with arrogance, it leads to great evil like we saw in the 20th century.
Back finally, cheers!
Joey, welcome back to Gen. Satterfield’s blog. We haven’t heard from you in months. I hope you and your family are well.
Yes, it is always good to have back those who are contributors to this blog.
I loved it when you wrote the your team ‘duct-tapped’ the LT to a tree and smeared his body with peanut butter. Best laugh I’ve had all day. I’ll share this article with my friends who will surely get a hoot of a time out of it. I like the way you write so keep going. Oh, when is your next book coming out?
That is what great leadership is about. Being able to entertain (thru jokes, etc.) and educate. ✔
Joe, looks like it will be out by the end of this year. Thanks for asking.
Great news for us all. Appreciate your quick response. If there is anything you think those of us in these leadership forum can do to discuss your topics, just post them here and we’re on it.
Yep, we are here for Gen. Satterfield and are standing up to help.
Gen. Satterfield, you connected the dots on some human traits that I never thought of that much. Great links to the origins of evil.
Gen. Satterfield, off topic, but I hope your sales of your book “Our Longest Year in Iraq,” continues to do well. I know you don’t care about sales per se but that you just want to get the word out on the Iraq War. Good for you … and for us, as well. Keep up the great work you are doing with your leadership blog and giving us a small dose of leadership every day. 😊
The reason I keep coming back here is Gen. Satterfield. I love this blog. Easy to read and to understand. Plenty of opportunities to learn and get feedback without being trolled.
Yes, informative and educational. That’s what any site like this should have. Gen. Satterfield has it in spades.
Gen. Satterfield leads the way for us to learn about leadership. Take a moment or two to learn. It pays off in the future.
Nailed it. Well said.
Yep, got that right. Hey, folks what about Ukraine. What’s happening there? I would think America would lead the world to a solution but we have a president with oatmeal for brains that only wants to know the flavor of ice cream for his next meal.