What qualities distinguish an individual as a leader?
On January 15, 2015 Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel gave a rather interesting speech to troops at Ft. Bliss, Texas – home of the 1st Armored Division (AKA: “Old Ironsides”).
During one part of the speech he talked a little bit about leadership:
“Leadership is one of those great things that you can write volume and volumes about, what do you learn at leadership institutions and how do you become a sergeant major, a command sergeant major, how you become a general.”
He went on to say:
“You can’t really teach that. You know that.
And I’ve always thought that as the volumes and volumes and hundreds of thousands of documents, essays and books and interviews, millions, over the years, have been written and spoken about leadership, it really comes down to a couple of things, in my opinion.
One is responsibility. And two is judgment.
Now, you — you have to have knowledge. You have to be aware. You have to know what you’re doing. That’s a pretty foundational component of anything. But in the end, what you’re called upon to do ultimately, in these critically important positions, is to exercise responsibility and good judgment.
You can’t teach that. That’s at least my opinion after 48 years of doing a lot of things. It’s an accumulation of experiences, of knowledge, of commitment, of what you want to do, starting with who you are and what you believe, and your willingness to commit yourself to those standards that you set, first, for yourself and then the institution sets standards for you.
And if you’re willing to comply and attempt at fulfilling those high standards, first for yourself and then, second, for the institution, and then you’ll have something to offer others. You’ll have something to say. And that’s really the beginning of responsibility.”
Source: Pentagon
See related video: General Colin Powell – The Essence of Leadership (trust) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocSw1m30UBI