[April 11, 2021] I am re-watching the 2001 HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and find that there scenes that I overlooked on my initial viewing. One scene involves Lieutenant Lewis Nixon (played by Ron Livingston) when he takes a stray machinegun bullet to his head. Fortunately, Nixon was wearing his helmet. The scene can be seen here on YouTube (1:15 minutes).
Wearing your helmet may seem simple until you get to do it. We wear helmets because we know it protects us from objects that could do us harm. The phrase wearing your helmet means to see into the future and be prepared for it. Leaders must have this ability and why they enforce safety rules.
The helmets from World War II and up through the 1980s (the M1 Steel pot) have a high center of gravity and are prone to give the wearer a headache, and it falls off easily. One result is we find soldiers (and other armed services) taking the helmet off even at the worst times. I know. Once I took my helmet off to rub my head and got hit in the head with a piece of metal that peeled back the skin. I still have the scar.
The symbology is clear. Leaders see ahead and prepare for the future. Unexpected and unthinkable events will happen. They know that some things never change. And leaders can see emerging trends. When they properly prepare for different contingencies, they are capable of taking the implications and consequences of these events into account.
On the face of it, wearing your helmet seems like a common sense thing to do, something so obvious that we should not even think about it. Practically, however, this is not the case. Like soldiers in training and on the battlefield, humans will do the unexpected and behave in ways that are detrimental to themselves and their teammates. Vigilance by leaders helps solve this problem.
Complacency is the enemy of progress. We all have habits. These habits can make us contented and satisfied with the present circumstances. Inevitably, this is when things go wrong. A leader’s job is to make sure this does not occur and that all his soldiers are ready and constantly on guard.
I’m enjoying the Band of Brothers series and will watch its HBO sister series The Pacific. When you get to the scene when Lieutenant Nixon gets hit by that bullet, remember to wear your helmet.
Hey folks, some have suggested that Gen. Satterfield is writing a book and perhaps the topic is leadership. Go figure. But, I have another suggestion – without any evidence – that Gen. Satterfield is building up his line of thinking into something more significance. I believe it’s a way of look at the world through the eyes of leaders and not bottom-up from the “man in the trenches.” Just a thought.
This is one of Gen. Satterfield’s better articles where he is building us grounds on which to create a better leadership style. Expect more like this in the future. My prediction? He is getting ready to write a book.
Maybe or maybe not. I look forward to hearing about it.
I sure liked the article. I really like the way he uses symbology (and it is obvious to even me who am not too smart).
This article made my day. Gen. Satterfield, well done. Please continue giving us these articles that hit hard to the core of being a great leader.
Hi Gen. Satterfield, great article that compliments others you have written on similar subjects. I recommend that you consider putting many of these into a book and publish it. Of course, writing a book is very difficult and it comes with many challenges but I know you are up to it. Just a recommendation from one of your long-time readers and good friend.
It is of import that we keep our focus on the crucial events and the possible problems of our times. Learn from the past, else repeat those failures.
Hi Plato, I see you are new here. Welcome a great leadership page.
I look forward to your comments if your moniker is any indication. 😊
I really liked the HBO series Band of Brothers and The Pacific. I would like for them to do another one like them but they are too “woke” now to do something honorable.
RJ, right, I think you nailed it. Sooooo many corporations are going “woke” because they fear a backlash by basement-dwelling leftists who have no real job and no real responsibilities.
Yes, thanks rjsmithers. I think most of us would agree with your conclusion. I too really loved the miniseries and wish they would do something similar in the future, but alas, it will not happen.
Possible, but unlikely. 👍
Cheers! Darn good, buddy!
Common sense is never really common sense.
Yes, like wearing a helmet rather than a beret like me … heh?
Yes, COMPLACENCY. That alone is enough to get you killed on the battlefield or to get you thrown out of your job in most businesses. Drifting thru your day is a sign of someone not motivated or disciplined enough. That is why giving jobs to those who are not ready for them is a bad idea.
Kenny, I would extend your logic to college as well. Many should not go to college for many reasons, but being intellectually inadequate or undisciplined as a habit will not do very well and best they apply their skills elsewhere. Besides, college is becoming less and less relevant to our society any way, except perhaps in the STEM fields.
Seems obvious enough, but apparently not enough for many who take their helmets off. In some construction jobs, taking off your helmet will get you fired (or at least punished in some way). So should it be in the military.
Yep, but the military has a bit of a different philosophy about wearing helmets. In combat many want to keep it on for obvious reasons but in peacetime, not so much.
I wonder why? Wearing a helmet and doing so consistently is about discipline and discipline is what the military is also all about. If soldiers, sailors, Marines, etc. don’t do as they are told, then we have a problem. The helmet is just something very small. But the big things will not be given enough emphasis if a soldier cannot do something small.
Thanks Army Captain for what you do and for supporting our thinking on this.
Anytime, Jonathan.
Very good, you are, at symbology. And, the importance of it is overlooked by many of us. Keep up the great movie symbols toward learning leadership, Gen. S. 👍
Yes, but let’s not overdue it.
I love this leadership website. Good to have an experienced leader talk about leadership instead of some whacko who knows nothing.