What I Learned About Leadership

Yes, I actually learned something about leadership.

In the military, especially as an officer, your contemporaries are constantly going on and on AND ON about leadership: the traits of good leaders, their habits, philosophies, priorities, favorite foods, musical tastes, preferred canine breeds, boxers or briefs, back-clasp vs hook-and-spin, etc. By the time you’re an old, bitchy officer like me who’s seen a lot of shit go down (literally), when somebody starts rapping about leadership, you hear, “Leadership is like a box of choc-oh-lates…,” and your eyes glaze over, and you start thinking hard about what you’re going to make for dinner tonight, and who Jon Snow’s real father could be.

Maybe that’s just me. In any case, nothing compares to learning something through actual experience, and my deployment gave me an opportunity to do just that. So here’s what I learned: Continue reading “What I Learned About Leadership”