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From The Battlefield To The Business Office: How Military Principles Can Build Strong Leaders For Your Company.

CEO and author Dennis F. Haley says military-style leadership is exactly what your company-and our nation-needs to thrive economically.

King of Prussia, PA (June 2003)-Lately, America's military has enjoyed a surge of prestige and popularity. Recruitment numbers spiked immediately following September 11th. Since then, war movies have sprung up like winter flurries. And with the competence of our military force, our society seems to be demonstrating a renewed patriotism and gratitude for all things military. No doubt about it, most people have respect for what the armed forces can accomplish. So why not apply the principles of military leadership to an area that desperately needs a boost-our troubled economy?

That's right. According to Dennis F. Haley, CEO of Academy Leadership and co-author with Ed Ruggero of The Leader's Compass: Set Your Course For Leadership Success (Academy Leadership Publishing, June 2003, ISBN 09727323-0-6, $10.00), a strong economy is made up of businesses that know who they are and where they're going. Such businesses are made up of a cadre of strong leaders. And to build such leaders, one should look to America's service academies. 

"Leadership is often seen as an elusive, mysterious trait," says Haley. "In the business world, people tend to seek 'natural' leaders who were somehow born with the leadership gene. They make little or no attempt at leadership training. But in service academies it's accepted that many people have leadership potential, and these organizations work to bring out that potential. If all of America's companies lived by these principles, just imagine how strong our economy could become." 

Academy Leadership uses principles taught and practiced at West Point and the Naval Academy to conduct in-house training programs and workshops to develop leaders who achieve powerful business goals. In short, they specialize in getting extraordinary results from ordinary people. How? By instilling a leadership philosophy that perpetuates self-discipline, honor and integrity.

So what, exactly, is it about military training that translates so well to the business world? As Haley explains it, the following traits are invaluable on both the battlefield and in the business office:

• Perseverance. Military academy cadets and midshipmen are taught to persevere in the face of obstacles and impediments, no matter how "impossible" they may seem. They are taught to "just do it," not to offer excuses as to why it can't be done. This is an important skill in business, too: there are times when the only way to meet a goal is to pull an all-nighter, say, or to come up with a brilliant strategy that's never been tried before. You keep working until the job is done. Period.
  
  
• Accountability. When you are leading men into battle, their lives are in your hands, and yours in theirs. Everyone depends on the rest of the company not to let them down. This is the very definition of accountability. Now, translate this principle to the "battlefield" that is the business world. If you're the leader, you owe it to your team to give everything you do 100%. So do they. Everyone's livelihood depends on this level of accountability-especially in these days when so many companies are downsizing and even closing their doors.
  
  
• Clear Communication. Everyone knows that to be in the military means to carry out orders. But to carry them out properly, one must understand them. That means that giving the orders must communicate clearly and succinctly with his or her subordinates-and it's why service academies spend so much time teaching cadets and midshipmen communication skills. The same is true of CEOs and managers. They must know precisely what they want to accomplish, and spell it out in no uncertain terms to their employees.
  
  
• Ability To Make Quick Decisions. Even in the military, there are occasions when one cannot follow orders. In the heat of combat, for instance, leaders must make split-second decisions that literally are matters of life and death. In business, the ability to make quick decisions is also critical. With management structures becoming leaner and flatter, more decisions are being made at lower levels than ever before. So having the confidence and insight to make good decisions-and having a company-wide common focus and alignment on which to base those decisions-is key to business leadership.
  
  
• Ability To Get Along With Others. In the military you live in close proximity with people from all races, cultures and economic backgrounds. You're forced to interact with a diverse group of people in order to get things done, and sometimes the most unlikely lifelong friendships arise. In business, leaders must not only get along with coworkers who are very different from themselves, but must also be able to inspire them. This ability can mean the difference between a business that fails and one that thrives.
  
  
• Strong Character. Honor, ethics, integrity, loyalty... these words are very familiar to anyone who has ever attended a military academy. These hallmarks of strong character are not only encouraged, but required. Often, a single breach may result in expulsion. And while character is seldom associated with business leadership, one need look no further than the headlines to see what happens when it's not present. Would leaders with good character practice insider trading or drain stockholders' retirement accounts? The answer is obvious.
  
  

Of course, instilling the principles of strong leadership is easier said than done. That's why Haley says it often pays for companies to bring in outside trainers with military backgrounds, solid track records, and a proven formula for success. Academy Leadership, for example, strongly recommends that its clients adhere to the following four-step training regimen:

• Step 1: Identify the skills and abilities that are required for effective leadership in your organization. Think of the people who are considered successful leaders in your organization, and those who have failed. Make a list of the characteristics of each, and focus on the differences between the good leaders and the failed leaders. Break this list down into values, skills and knowledge. This is your starting point.
  
  
• Step 2: Provide the cognitive part of the puzzle-that which can be obtained through reading and study. All good leadership rests on a foundation of knowledge-knowledge about the job, knowledge of processes, and knowledge of people. Begin to build a reading list for yourself and your subordinates. This is the easiest part of the equation, but training should not end here.
  
  
• Step 3: Provide opportunities for potential leaders to practice what they have learned. This occurs in two different ways-first through your own modeling of the skills yourself and then supervising the attempts of the fledgling leader. These practice opportunities may be role-plays or structured activities that are initially part of the training program. But to get behavioral change in the workplace, practice must also take place in the actual work environment as soon as possible.
  
  
• Step 4: Offer feedback and remediation. No one changes without sufficient data upon which to judge his or her progress. Specific feedback is critical. While trying to point out the gap between the ideal and observed behaviors, don't forget that praise is an excellent motivator and will speed the learning process. For those tasks that are not performed to the standard you expect, create remediation training. Again, these may be instructional initially or they may be part of the actual workplace.
  
  

If you're skeptical that the no-nonsense brand of leadership that creates military victories will cut it in the largely "civilian" business world, don't be. According to Haley, most people are hungry for men and women who can inspire them to work toward goals larger than themselves.

"True leadership does not mean barking commands or setting up mini-dictatorships," he explains. "Rather, it means setting an example that team members will want to follow, giving them a larger mission to which they'll want to contribute. It's all about inspiring passion. Most people respond very positively to true leadership, because it shows them the rewards waiting at the end of the race."

"Obviously, a strong, successful company benefits every employee," adds Haley. "Furthermore, a nation full of strong, successful companies-companies that people can trust and believe in-would be a powerful nation indeed. I think that's what our economy, and our country, needs right now. And only a renewed commitment to leadership can take us there."