Stanley McChrystal, Retired United States Army general
“Commit and Invest in your people.”
“The best advice I received in the Army came from my mentor, Lieutenant General John Vines. He was the perfect model of a ‘servant leader.'”
“He demonstrated (and continues to demonstrate to this day) the importance of committing and investing in your people. As a leader he shared his troops’ conditions, and understood their experiences. He led with empathy, understanding the motivations and perspectives of those who followed him.”
“Another important piece of advice is to view your leadership as being less about giving top-down orders and more about cultivating those who follow you, empowering them to make the right decisions. Many leaders are tempted to lead like a chess master, striving to control every move, when they should be leading like gardeners, creating and maintaining a viable ecosystem in which the organization operates. This is especially applicable to private sector leaders; the world is moving too quickly for those at the top to master every detail and make every decision. Empowering, cultivating, and ultimately serving those who follow you will unlock massive potential within your organization, allowing you to solve for problems in real time.â€
Source: Forbes
Mike Coney, former member of the United States Army Intelligence Team and
President and CEO of Unitrends
“After your ‘dream team’ is assembled, get out of their way.”
“In the military you do what you are told, and you do not disobey orders. There’s no variability. However, I’ve learned that the opposite philosophy is most effective in the business world. At Unitrends, I encourage my leadership team–and all employees–to take initiative and challenge one another. I’ve found that the best way to empower your “dream team†is to get out of their way and trust them to do their jobs. The worst thing you can do is make someone feel insecure about their performance, because then their focus will shift from worrying about the business to worrying about their own job security. With this variability will surely come mistakes. But, my philosophy is, if your employees aren’t making mistakes, they probably aren’t trying hard enough.â€
Source: Venture Beat