there are a lot of great speeches I’ve
heard on leadership there’s a lot of
great speeches I’ve read on leadership
but I’ve never read a talk on leadership
like the one given by major CA Bach who
was an officer back in 1919 1917 during
World War one when he gave this message
to group of new promoting officers okay
so imagine an a a he’s an instructor
he’s at the second training camp at Fort
Sheridan and he’s given this talk and
you are an officer a major comes up to
give this message to you on leadership
and let me tell you the message was so
profound that all the officers kept
talking about it and they wanted the are
at the talk to reread it again because
one time wasn’t enough to the point
where the daily Times Herald heard about
it and they went to the colonel Colonel
James R Ryan and they ended up getting
the speech and publishing it on the
January 27 1918 so I’m gonna read the
whole talk to you you may need to listen
to it a couple times it’s that powerful
of a talk by major CA Bach let’s go
right into it okay so here’s how it goes
try to close your eyes and visualize you
are in a room you’re about to graduate
to become an officer and a major comes
up to prepare you on what it is to be a
leader in a short time each of you men
will control the lives of a certain
number of other men you will have in
your charge loyal but untrained citizens
who look to you for instruction and
guidance your world will be their law
your most casual remark will be
remembered your mannerisms will be
copied your clothing your carriage your
vocabulary your manner of command will
be imitated when you join your
organization you will find there a
willing body of men who asked from you
nothing more than the qualities that
will command their respect or royalty
and their obedience they are perfectly
ready and eager to follow you so as long
as you can convince them that you have
those qualities when the time comes that
they are satisfied you do not possess
them you might as well kiss yourself
goodbye your usefulness in that
organization is at an end
from the standpoint of society the world
may be divided into leaders
and followers the professions have their
leaders the financial world has its
leaders we have religious leaders and
political leaders and society leaders in
all this leadership it is difficult if
not impossible to separate from the
element of pure leadership that selfish
element of personal gain or advantage to
the individual without which such
leadership would lose its value it is in
a military service only where men freely
sacrifice their lives for a faith where
men are willing to suffer and die for
the right or the prevention of a great
wrong that we can hope to realize
leadership in its most exalted and this
interested sense therefore when I say
leadership
I mean military leadership in a few days
the great mass of you men will receive
commissions as officers these
commissions will not make you leaders
they will merely make you officers they
will place you in a position where you
can become leaders if you possess the
proper attributes but you must make good
not so much with the men over you as
with the men under you men must and will
follow you into battle officers who are
not leaders but the driving force behind
these men is not enthusiasm but
discipline they go with doubt and
trembling and would awful fear tugging
at their heartstrings that prompts the
unspoken question what will he do next
such men obey the letter of their orders
but no more of devotion to their
commander of exalted enthusiasm which
scorns personal risk of their
self-sacrifice to ensure his personal
safety they know nothing their legs
carried them forward because their brain
and their training tell them they must
go their spirit does not go with them
great results are not achieved by cold
passive unresponsive soldiers they don’t
go very far and they stop as soon as
they can
leadership not only demands but receives
the Willing unhesitating on faltering
obedience and loyal of other men and a
devotion that will cause them when the
time comes to follow their uncrowned
King to hell and back again if necessary
you will ask yourselves
just what then does leadership consist
what must I do to become a leader what
are the attributes of leadership and how
can i cultivate them leadership is a
composite of a number of qualities among
the most important I would list
self-confidence moral ascendancy
self-sacrifice fairness initiative
decision dignity and courage let me
discuss these with you in detail
self-confidence results first from exact
knowledge second the ability to impart
that knowledge and third the feeling of
superiority over others that naturally
follows all these give the officer
poised to lead you must know you may
Bluff all of your men some of the time
but you cannot do it all the time when
will not have confidence in an officer
until he knows his business and he must
know it from the ground up the officer
should know more about their paperwork
than a first sergeant and company clerk
put together
he should know more about Messing than
the mess sergeant more about diseases of
the horse then his troop Ferry he should
be at least good a shot as any man in
his company if the officer does not know
and demonstrates the fact that he does
not know it is entirely human for the
soldier to say to himself to hell with
them he doesn’t know as much about it as
I do and calmly disregard the
instructions received there is no
substitute for accurate knowledge become
so well informed that men will hunt you
up to ask questions that your brother
officers will say to one another ask
Smith he knows and not only should each
officer know thoroughly the duties of
his own grade but he should study those
of two grades next above him a two-fold
benefit attaches to this he prepares
himself for duties which may fall to his
lot at any time during battle he further
gains a broader viewpoint which enables
him to appreciate the necessity for the
issuance of orders and join more
intelligently in their execution not
only must the officer know he must be
able to put what he knows into
grammatical interesting forceful English
he must learn to stand on his feet and
speak without embarrassment I am told
that in British training camp student
officers are required to deliver
10-minute talks on any subject that they
may choose that is excellent practice
for to speak clearly one must think
clearly and clear logical thinking
expresses itself in its definite
positive orders while self-confidence is
the result of knowing more than your men
moral ascendancy over them is based upon
your belief that you are better than
them to gain and maintain that
ascendancy you must have self-control
physical vitality and endurance and
moral force you must have always so well
in hand that even though in battle
you’ll be scared stiff you will never
show fear for if you buy so much as a
hurried movement or a trembling of the
hand or a change of expression or a
hasty order hastily revoked indicate
your mental condition it will be
reflected in your men in a far greater
degree in garrison or camp many
instances will arise to try your temper
and wreak the sweetness of your
disposition if at such times you fly off
the handle you have no business to be in
charge of men for men and anger say and
do things that they almost invariably
regret afterward an officer should never
apologize to his men also an officer
should never be guilty of an act for
which his sense of justice tells him he
should apologize another element in
gaining more ascendancy lies in the
position of enough physical vitality and
endurance to withstand the hardships to
which you and your men are subjected and
a dauntless spirit that enables you not
only to accept them cheerfully but to
minimize their magnitude make light of
your troubles belittle your trials and
you will help vitally to build up within
your organization and a spirit whose
value in time of stress cannot be
measured moral force is the third
element in gaining moral ascendancy to
exert moral force you must live clean
you must have sufficient brain power to
see the right and the will to do the
right be an example to your men an
officer can be a power for good or power
for evil don’t preach to them that will
be worse than useless live the kind of
life you would have them lead and you
will be surprised to see the number in
them that will imitate you a loudmouth
profane captain who is careless of his
personal appearance will have a
loudmouth ‘add profane dirty company
remember what I tell you your company
will be the reflection of yourself if
you have a rotten company it will be
because you are a rotten captain
self-sacrifice is essential to
leadership you will give give all the
time you will give yourself physically
for the longest hours the hardest work
in the greatest responsibility is the
lot of the captain he is the first man
up in the morning and the last man at
night he works while others sleep you
will give yourself mentally in sympathy
and appreciation for the troubles of men
in your charge
this one’s mother has died and that one
has lost all his savings in a bank
failure they may desire help but more
than anything else they desire sympathy
don’t make the mistake of turning such
men down with their statement that you
have troubles of your own for every time
you do that you knock a stone out of the
foundation of your house your men are
your foundation and your house
leadership will tumble about your ears
unless addressed securely upon them
finally you will give up your own
slender financial resources you will
frequently spend your money to convert
the health and well-being of your men or
to assist them when in trouble generally
you get your money back
very infrequently you must charge it to
profit and loss when I say that
paternalism is essential to leadership I
use determine it’s better sense I do not
now refer to that form of paternalism
which robs men of initiative
self-reliance and self-respect I refer
to the paternalism that manifests itself
in a watchful care for the comfort and
welfare of those in your charge soldiers
are much like children you must see that
they have shelter food and clothing the
best that your utmost efforts can
provide you must be far more solicitous
of their comfort than your own you must
see that they have food to eat before
you think of your own that they have
each as good a bed as can be provided
before your considering where you will
sleep you must look after their health
you must conserve their strength by not
demanding needless exertion or useless
labor and by doing all these things you
are
breathing life into what would be
otherwise a mere machine you are
creating the soul in your organization
that will make the mass respond to you
as though it were one man and that is a
spirit and when your organization has
that spirit you will wake up some
morning and discover that the tables
have been turned that instead of you
constantly looking out for them they
have without even a hint from you taking
up the task of looking out for you you
will find that a detail is always there
to see that your tent if you have one is
promptly pitched that the most and the
cleanest bedding is brought to your tent
that from some mysterious source two
eggs have been added to your supper
when no one else has any that an extra
man is helping your men give your horse
a super grooming that your wishes are
anticipated that every man is
johnny-on-the-spot and then you have
arrived fairness is another element
without which leadership can be neither
be built up nor maintained there must be
first that fairness which treats all men
justly I do not say alike for you cannot
treat all men alike that would be
assuming that all men are cut from the
same piece that there is no such thing
as individuality or a personal equation
you cannot treat all men alike a
punishment that would be dismissed by
one man with a shrug of the shoulders is
mental anguish for another a company
commander who for a given offense has a
standard punishment that applies to all
is either too indolent or too stupid to
study the personality of his men in his
case justice is certainly blind study or
men as carefully as a surgeon studies a
difficult case and when you are sure of
your diagnosis apply the remedy and
remember that you apply the remedy to
effect a cure not merely to see the
victim squirm it may be necessary to cut
deep but when you are satisfied as to
your diagnosis don’t be divided from
your purpose by any false sympathy for
the patient hand in hand with fairness
in awarding punishment walks fairness
and giving credit everybody hates a
human hog when one of your men has
accomplished an especially creditable
piece of work see that he gets the
proper reward turn heaven and earth
upside down to get a
for him don’t try to take it away from
him and hog it for yourself you may do
this and get away with it but you have
lost respect and loyalty of your men
sooner or later your brother officers
will hear of it and shun you like a
leper in war there’s glory enough for
all give the man under you his due the
man who always takes and never gives is
not a leader he is a parasite there is
another kind of fairness that which will
prevent an officer from abusing the
privileges of his rank when you command
respect from soldiers be sure you treat
them with equal respect build up their
manhood and self-respect don’t try to
pull it down for an officer to be
overbearing and insulting in the
treatment of enlisted man is the act of
a coward he ties the man of a tree with
the ropes of discipline and then strikes
him in the face knowing full well that
the men cannot strike bank consideration
courtesy and respect from officers
toward enlisted men are not incompatible
with discipline there are parts of our
discipline without initiative and
decision no man can expect to lead in
maneuvers you will frequently see when
an emergency arises certain man calmly
give instant orders which later on
analysis proved to be if not exactly the
right thing very nearly the right thing
to have done you will see other men in
emergency become badly rattled their
brains refuse to work or they give a
hasty order revoked yet give another
revoked that in short show every
indication of being in a blue funk
regarding the first man you may say that
man is a genius he hasn’t had time to
reason this thing out he acts
intuitively forget it
genius is merely the capacity for taking
infinite pains the man who was ready is
the man who has prepared himself he has
studied beforehand the possible
situation that might arise he has made
tentative plans covering those
situations when he is confronted by the
emergency is ready to meet it he must
have sufficient mental alertness to
appreciate the problems that confronts
him and the power of quick reasoning to
determine what changes are necessary in
his already formulated plan
he must have the decision to order the
execution and stick to his orders any
reasonable order in an emergency is
better than no order the situation is
there meet it it is better to do
something and do the wrong thing than to
hesitate hunt around for the right thing
to do and wind up doing nothing at all
and having decided on a line of action
stick to it and having decided on a line
of action stick to it
don’t vacillate men have no confidence
and an officer who doesn’t know his own
mind occasionally you will be called
upon to meet a situation which no
reasonable human being could anticipate
if you have prepared yourself to meet
other emergencies which you could
anticipate the mental training you have
thereby gained will enable you to act
promptly and with calmness you must
frequently act without orders from
higher authority time will not permit
you to wait for them here again enters
the importance of studying the work of
officers above you if you have a
comprehensive grasp of the entire
situation and can form an idea of the
general plan of your superiors that and
your previous emergency training will
enable you to determine that the
responsibility is yours and to issue the
necessary orders without any delay the
element of personal dignity is also
important in military leadership be a
friend of your man but do not become
their intimate your men should stand in
awe of you not in fear if your men
pursue to become familiar it is your
fault not theirs your actions have
encouraged them to do so and above all
things don’t cheapen yourself by
courting their friendship or currying
their favour
they will despise you for it if you are
worthy of their loyalty and respect and
devotion they will surely give all these
without asking if you are not nothing
that you can do will win them over and
then I would mention courage moral
courage you need as well as physical
courage that kind of moral courage which
enables you to adhere without faltering
to a determined course of action which
your judgement has indicated as the one
best suited to secure the desired
results every time you change your
orders without obvious reason you weaken
your authority and impair the confidence
of your men
have the moral courage to stand by your
order and see it through moral courage
further demands that you assume the
responsibility for your own act if your
subordinates have loyalty carried out
your orders and the movement you
directed as a failure the failure is
yours not theirs
yours would have been the honor had it
been successful take the blame if the
result as a disaster
don’t try to shift it to a subordinate
and make him to go that is a cowardly
act furthermore you will need moral
courage to determine the fate of those
under you you will frequently be called
upon for recommendations for the
promotion or demotion of officers and
noncommissioned officers in your
immediate command keep clearly in mind
your personal integrity and the duty you
owe your country do not let yourself be
deflected from a strict sense of justice
by feeling of personal friendships if
your own brother is your second
lieutenant and you can find him unfit to
hold his commission eliminate him if you
don’t your lack of moral courage may
result in the loss of valuable lives if
on the other hand you are called upon
for recommendation concerning a man whom
for personal reasons you thoroughly
dislike do not fail to do him full
justice remember your aim is the general
good not the satisfaction of an
individual grudge I am taking it for
granted that you have physical courage I
need not tell you how necessary that is
courage is more than bravery bravery is
fearlessness the absence of fear the
merest dolt may be brave because he
lacks the mentality to appreciate his
danger he doesn’t know enough to be
afraid courage however is that firmness
of spirit that moral backbone which
while fully appreciating the danger
involved nevertheless goes on with the
understanding bravery is physical
courage is mental and moral you may be
cold all over your hands may tremble
your legs make quake your knees be ready
to give away that is fear
if nevertheless you go forward if in
spite of this physical defection you
continue to lead your men against the
enemy you have courage the physical
manifestations of fear will pass away
you may never experience them but once
they are the buck fever of the hunter
who tries to shoot his first deer you
must not give way to them a number of
years ago while taking a course in
demolition the class of which I was a
member was handling dynamite the
instructor said regarding its
manipulation I must caution you
gentlemen to be careful in the use of
these explosive one man has but one
accident and so I would caution you if
you give way to the fear that will
doubtless beset you in your first action
if you show the white feather if you let
your men go forward while you hunt a
shell crater you will never again have
the opportunity of leading those men use
judgement and calling on your men for
display of physical courage or bravery
don’t ask any man to go where you would
not go yourself if your common sense
tells you that the place is too
dangerous for you to venture into then
it’s too dangerous for him you know his
life is as valuable to him as yours is
to you occasionally some of your men
must be exposed to danger which you
cannot share a message must be taken
across a fire swept zone you call for
volunteers if your men know you and know
that you are right you will never lack
volunteers for they will know your heart
is in your work that you are given your
country the best you have that you would
willingly carry the message yourself if
you could your example and enthusiasm
will have them inspired and lastly if
you aspire to leadership I would urge
you to study men get under their skin
and find out what’s on the inside some
men are quite different from what they
appear to be on the surface determine
the workings of their minds much of
general robert e lee’s success as a
leader may be ascribed to his ability as
a psychologist he knew most of his
opponents from west point days knew the
working of their minds and he believed
that they would do certain things under
certain circumstances in nearly every
case he was able to anticipate their
movements and block the execution
you do not know your opponent in this
war in the same way but you can know
your own man you can study each to
determine where in lysis strengthen his
weakness which man can be relied upon to
the last gasp and which cannot know your
men know your business know yourself the
first time I read this speech I had the
chills all over my body I had to reread
it two more times for me to really
internalize it because of how much was
covered in this if you are in a business
where you’re leading other people where
you have other people that they’re
leading this is a recording for them to
listen to and not just listen to but to
study okay this is not a recording to
just shared one time get off and say
this is it this was great I got a few
things out of it it’s to study a message
that was given to prepare leaders on how
to become leaders because at the end of
the day any business anything you do
anything that grows grows because
there’s a leader somewhere around that
organization or society that’s inspiring
people to lead that’s injecting belief
in other people so if you can study any
subject leadership would be it you
heard on leadership there’s a lot of
great speeches I’ve read on leadership
but I’ve never read a talk on leadership
like the one given by major CA Bach who
was an officer back in 1919 1917 during
World War one when he gave this message
to group of new promoting officers okay
so imagine an a a he’s an instructor
he’s at the second training camp at Fort
Sheridan and he’s given this talk and
you are an officer a major comes up to
give this message to you on leadership
and let me tell you the message was so
profound that all the officers kept
talking about it and they wanted the are
at the talk to reread it again because
one time wasn’t enough to the point
where the daily Times Herald heard about
it and they went to the colonel Colonel
James R Ryan and they ended up getting
the speech and publishing it on the
January 27 1918 so I’m gonna read the
whole talk to you you may need to listen
to it a couple times it’s that powerful
of a talk by major CA Bach let’s go
right into it okay so here’s how it goes
try to close your eyes and visualize you
are in a room you’re about to graduate
to become an officer and a major comes
up to prepare you on what it is to be a
leader in a short time each of you men
will control the lives of a certain
number of other men you will have in
your charge loyal but untrained citizens
who look to you for instruction and
guidance your world will be their law
your most casual remark will be
remembered your mannerisms will be
copied your clothing your carriage your
vocabulary your manner of command will
be imitated when you join your
organization you will find there a
willing body of men who asked from you
nothing more than the qualities that
will command their respect or royalty
and their obedience they are perfectly
ready and eager to follow you so as long
as you can convince them that you have
those qualities when the time comes that
they are satisfied you do not possess
them you might as well kiss yourself
goodbye your usefulness in that
organization is at an end
from the standpoint of society the world
may be divided into leaders
and followers the professions have their
leaders the financial world has its
leaders we have religious leaders and
political leaders and society leaders in
all this leadership it is difficult if
not impossible to separate from the
element of pure leadership that selfish
element of personal gain or advantage to
the individual without which such
leadership would lose its value it is in
a military service only where men freely
sacrifice their lives for a faith where
men are willing to suffer and die for
the right or the prevention of a great
wrong that we can hope to realize
leadership in its most exalted and this
interested sense therefore when I say
leadership
I mean military leadership in a few days
the great mass of you men will receive
commissions as officers these
commissions will not make you leaders
they will merely make you officers they
will place you in a position where you
can become leaders if you possess the
proper attributes but you must make good
not so much with the men over you as
with the men under you men must and will
follow you into battle officers who are
not leaders but the driving force behind
these men is not enthusiasm but
discipline they go with doubt and
trembling and would awful fear tugging
at their heartstrings that prompts the
unspoken question what will he do next
such men obey the letter of their orders
but no more of devotion to their
commander of exalted enthusiasm which
scorns personal risk of their
self-sacrifice to ensure his personal
safety they know nothing their legs
carried them forward because their brain
and their training tell them they must
go their spirit does not go with them
great results are not achieved by cold
passive unresponsive soldiers they don’t
go very far and they stop as soon as
they can
leadership not only demands but receives
the Willing unhesitating on faltering
obedience and loyal of other men and a
devotion that will cause them when the
time comes to follow their uncrowned
King to hell and back again if necessary
you will ask yourselves
just what then does leadership consist
what must I do to become a leader what
are the attributes of leadership and how
can i cultivate them leadership is a
composite of a number of qualities among
the most important I would list
self-confidence moral ascendancy
self-sacrifice fairness initiative
decision dignity and courage let me
discuss these with you in detail
self-confidence results first from exact
knowledge second the ability to impart
that knowledge and third the feeling of
superiority over others that naturally
follows all these give the officer
poised to lead you must know you may
Bluff all of your men some of the time
but you cannot do it all the time when
will not have confidence in an officer
until he knows his business and he must
know it from the ground up the officer
should know more about their paperwork
than a first sergeant and company clerk
put together
he should know more about Messing than
the mess sergeant more about diseases of
the horse then his troop Ferry he should
be at least good a shot as any man in
his company if the officer does not know
and demonstrates the fact that he does
not know it is entirely human for the
soldier to say to himself to hell with
them he doesn’t know as much about it as
I do and calmly disregard the
instructions received there is no
substitute for accurate knowledge become
so well informed that men will hunt you
up to ask questions that your brother
officers will say to one another ask
Smith he knows and not only should each
officer know thoroughly the duties of
his own grade but he should study those
of two grades next above him a two-fold
benefit attaches to this he prepares
himself for duties which may fall to his
lot at any time during battle he further
gains a broader viewpoint which enables
him to appreciate the necessity for the
issuance of orders and join more
intelligently in their execution not
only must the officer know he must be
able to put what he knows into
grammatical interesting forceful English
he must learn to stand on his feet and
speak without embarrassment I am told
that in British training camp student
officers are required to deliver
10-minute talks on any subject that they
may choose that is excellent practice
for to speak clearly one must think
clearly and clear logical thinking
expresses itself in its definite
positive orders while self-confidence is
the result of knowing more than your men
moral ascendancy over them is based upon
your belief that you are better than
them to gain and maintain that
ascendancy you must have self-control
physical vitality and endurance and
moral force you must have always so well
in hand that even though in battle
you’ll be scared stiff you will never
show fear for if you buy so much as a
hurried movement or a trembling of the
hand or a change of expression or a
hasty order hastily revoked indicate
your mental condition it will be
reflected in your men in a far greater
degree in garrison or camp many
instances will arise to try your temper
and wreak the sweetness of your
disposition if at such times you fly off
the handle you have no business to be in
charge of men for men and anger say and
do things that they almost invariably
regret afterward an officer should never
apologize to his men also an officer
should never be guilty of an act for
which his sense of justice tells him he
should apologize another element in
gaining more ascendancy lies in the
position of enough physical vitality and
endurance to withstand the hardships to
which you and your men are subjected and
a dauntless spirit that enables you not
only to accept them cheerfully but to
minimize their magnitude make light of
your troubles belittle your trials and
you will help vitally to build up within
your organization and a spirit whose
value in time of stress cannot be
measured moral force is the third
element in gaining moral ascendancy to
exert moral force you must live clean
you must have sufficient brain power to
see the right and the will to do the
right be an example to your men an
officer can be a power for good or power
for evil don’t preach to them that will
be worse than useless live the kind of
life you would have them lead and you
will be surprised to see the number in
them that will imitate you a loudmouth
profane captain who is careless of his
personal appearance will have a
loudmouth ‘add profane dirty company
remember what I tell you your company
will be the reflection of yourself if
you have a rotten company it will be
because you are a rotten captain
self-sacrifice is essential to
leadership you will give give all the
time you will give yourself physically
for the longest hours the hardest work
in the greatest responsibility is the
lot of the captain he is the first man
up in the morning and the last man at
night he works while others sleep you
will give yourself mentally in sympathy
and appreciation for the troubles of men
in your charge
this one’s mother has died and that one
has lost all his savings in a bank
failure they may desire help but more
than anything else they desire sympathy
don’t make the mistake of turning such
men down with their statement that you
have troubles of your own for every time
you do that you knock a stone out of the
foundation of your house your men are
your foundation and your house
leadership will tumble about your ears
unless addressed securely upon them
finally you will give up your own
slender financial resources you will
frequently spend your money to convert
the health and well-being of your men or
to assist them when in trouble generally
you get your money back
very infrequently you must charge it to
profit and loss when I say that
paternalism is essential to leadership I
use determine it’s better sense I do not
now refer to that form of paternalism
which robs men of initiative
self-reliance and self-respect I refer
to the paternalism that manifests itself
in a watchful care for the comfort and
welfare of those in your charge soldiers
are much like children you must see that
they have shelter food and clothing the
best that your utmost efforts can
provide you must be far more solicitous
of their comfort than your own you must
see that they have food to eat before
you think of your own that they have
each as good a bed as can be provided
before your considering where you will
sleep you must look after their health
you must conserve their strength by not
demanding needless exertion or useless
labor and by doing all these things you
are
breathing life into what would be
otherwise a mere machine you are
creating the soul in your organization
that will make the mass respond to you
as though it were one man and that is a
spirit and when your organization has
that spirit you will wake up some
morning and discover that the tables
have been turned that instead of you
constantly looking out for them they
have without even a hint from you taking
up the task of looking out for you you
will find that a detail is always there
to see that your tent if you have one is
promptly pitched that the most and the
cleanest bedding is brought to your tent
that from some mysterious source two
eggs have been added to your supper
when no one else has any that an extra
man is helping your men give your horse
a super grooming that your wishes are
anticipated that every man is
johnny-on-the-spot and then you have
arrived fairness is another element
without which leadership can be neither
be built up nor maintained there must be
first that fairness which treats all men
justly I do not say alike for you cannot
treat all men alike that would be
assuming that all men are cut from the
same piece that there is no such thing
as individuality or a personal equation
you cannot treat all men alike a
punishment that would be dismissed by
one man with a shrug of the shoulders is
mental anguish for another a company
commander who for a given offense has a
standard punishment that applies to all
is either too indolent or too stupid to
study the personality of his men in his
case justice is certainly blind study or
men as carefully as a surgeon studies a
difficult case and when you are sure of
your diagnosis apply the remedy and
remember that you apply the remedy to
effect a cure not merely to see the
victim squirm it may be necessary to cut
deep but when you are satisfied as to
your diagnosis don’t be divided from
your purpose by any false sympathy for
the patient hand in hand with fairness
in awarding punishment walks fairness
and giving credit everybody hates a
human hog when one of your men has
accomplished an especially creditable
piece of work see that he gets the
proper reward turn heaven and earth
upside down to get a
for him don’t try to take it away from
him and hog it for yourself you may do
this and get away with it but you have
lost respect and loyalty of your men
sooner or later your brother officers
will hear of it and shun you like a
leper in war there’s glory enough for
all give the man under you his due the
man who always takes and never gives is
not a leader he is a parasite there is
another kind of fairness that which will
prevent an officer from abusing the
privileges of his rank when you command
respect from soldiers be sure you treat
them with equal respect build up their
manhood and self-respect don’t try to
pull it down for an officer to be
overbearing and insulting in the
treatment of enlisted man is the act of
a coward he ties the man of a tree with
the ropes of discipline and then strikes
him in the face knowing full well that
the men cannot strike bank consideration
courtesy and respect from officers
toward enlisted men are not incompatible
with discipline there are parts of our
discipline without initiative and
decision no man can expect to lead in
maneuvers you will frequently see when
an emergency arises certain man calmly
give instant orders which later on
analysis proved to be if not exactly the
right thing very nearly the right thing
to have done you will see other men in
emergency become badly rattled their
brains refuse to work or they give a
hasty order revoked yet give another
revoked that in short show every
indication of being in a blue funk
regarding the first man you may say that
man is a genius he hasn’t had time to
reason this thing out he acts
intuitively forget it
genius is merely the capacity for taking
infinite pains the man who was ready is
the man who has prepared himself he has
studied beforehand the possible
situation that might arise he has made
tentative plans covering those
situations when he is confronted by the
emergency is ready to meet it he must
have sufficient mental alertness to
appreciate the problems that confronts
him and the power of quick reasoning to
determine what changes are necessary in
his already formulated plan
he must have the decision to order the
execution and stick to his orders any
reasonable order in an emergency is
better than no order the situation is
there meet it it is better to do
something and do the wrong thing than to
hesitate hunt around for the right thing
to do and wind up doing nothing at all
and having decided on a line of action
stick to it and having decided on a line
of action stick to it
don’t vacillate men have no confidence
and an officer who doesn’t know his own
mind occasionally you will be called
upon to meet a situation which no
reasonable human being could anticipate
if you have prepared yourself to meet
other emergencies which you could
anticipate the mental training you have
thereby gained will enable you to act
promptly and with calmness you must
frequently act without orders from
higher authority time will not permit
you to wait for them here again enters
the importance of studying the work of
officers above you if you have a
comprehensive grasp of the entire
situation and can form an idea of the
general plan of your superiors that and
your previous emergency training will
enable you to determine that the
responsibility is yours and to issue the
necessary orders without any delay the
element of personal dignity is also
important in military leadership be a
friend of your man but do not become
their intimate your men should stand in
awe of you not in fear if your men
pursue to become familiar it is your
fault not theirs your actions have
encouraged them to do so and above all
things don’t cheapen yourself by
courting their friendship or currying
their favour
they will despise you for it if you are
worthy of their loyalty and respect and
devotion they will surely give all these
without asking if you are not nothing
that you can do will win them over and
then I would mention courage moral
courage you need as well as physical
courage that kind of moral courage which
enables you to adhere without faltering
to a determined course of action which
your judgement has indicated as the one
best suited to secure the desired
results every time you change your
orders without obvious reason you weaken
your authority and impair the confidence
of your men
have the moral courage to stand by your
order and see it through moral courage
further demands that you assume the
responsibility for your own act if your
subordinates have loyalty carried out
your orders and the movement you
directed as a failure the failure is
yours not theirs
yours would have been the honor had it
been successful take the blame if the
result as a disaster
don’t try to shift it to a subordinate
and make him to go that is a cowardly
act furthermore you will need moral
courage to determine the fate of those
under you you will frequently be called
upon for recommendations for the
promotion or demotion of officers and
noncommissioned officers in your
immediate command keep clearly in mind
your personal integrity and the duty you
owe your country do not let yourself be
deflected from a strict sense of justice
by feeling of personal friendships if
your own brother is your second
lieutenant and you can find him unfit to
hold his commission eliminate him if you
don’t your lack of moral courage may
result in the loss of valuable lives if
on the other hand you are called upon
for recommendation concerning a man whom
for personal reasons you thoroughly
dislike do not fail to do him full
justice remember your aim is the general
good not the satisfaction of an
individual grudge I am taking it for
granted that you have physical courage I
need not tell you how necessary that is
courage is more than bravery bravery is
fearlessness the absence of fear the
merest dolt may be brave because he
lacks the mentality to appreciate his
danger he doesn’t know enough to be
afraid courage however is that firmness
of spirit that moral backbone which
while fully appreciating the danger
involved nevertheless goes on with the
understanding bravery is physical
courage is mental and moral you may be
cold all over your hands may tremble
your legs make quake your knees be ready
to give away that is fear
if nevertheless you go forward if in
spite of this physical defection you
continue to lead your men against the
enemy you have courage the physical
manifestations of fear will pass away
you may never experience them but once
they are the buck fever of the hunter
who tries to shoot his first deer you
must not give way to them a number of
years ago while taking a course in
demolition the class of which I was a
member was handling dynamite the
instructor said regarding its
manipulation I must caution you
gentlemen to be careful in the use of
these explosive one man has but one
accident and so I would caution you if
you give way to the fear that will
doubtless beset you in your first action
if you show the white feather if you let
your men go forward while you hunt a
shell crater you will never again have
the opportunity of leading those men use
judgement and calling on your men for
display of physical courage or bravery
don’t ask any man to go where you would
not go yourself if your common sense
tells you that the place is too
dangerous for you to venture into then
it’s too dangerous for him you know his
life is as valuable to him as yours is
to you occasionally some of your men
must be exposed to danger which you
cannot share a message must be taken
across a fire swept zone you call for
volunteers if your men know you and know
that you are right you will never lack
volunteers for they will know your heart
is in your work that you are given your
country the best you have that you would
willingly carry the message yourself if
you could your example and enthusiasm
will have them inspired and lastly if
you aspire to leadership I would urge
you to study men get under their skin
and find out what’s on the inside some
men are quite different from what they
appear to be on the surface determine
the workings of their minds much of
general robert e lee’s success as a
leader may be ascribed to his ability as
a psychologist he knew most of his
opponents from west point days knew the
working of their minds and he believed
that they would do certain things under
certain circumstances in nearly every
case he was able to anticipate their
movements and block the execution
you do not know your opponent in this
war in the same way but you can know
your own man you can study each to
determine where in lysis strengthen his
weakness which man can be relied upon to
the last gasp and which cannot know your
men know your business know yourself the
first time I read this speech I had the
chills all over my body I had to reread
it two more times for me to really
internalize it because of how much was
covered in this if you are in a business
where you’re leading other people where
you have other people that they’re
leading this is a recording for them to
listen to and not just listen to but to
study okay this is not a recording to
just shared one time get off and say
this is it this was great I got a few
things out of it it’s to study a message
that was given to prepare leaders on how
to become leaders because at the end of
the day any business anything you do
anything that grows grows because
there’s a leader somewhere around that
organization or society that’s inspiring
people to lead that’s injecting belief
in other people so if you can study any
subject leadership would be it you
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