Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Be, Know, Do - Army Leadership

The November issue of the HBR focuses on what we can learn from the army as far as leadership and management lessons.  This is the opening quote - "Competent leaders of character are necessary for the Army to meet the challenges in the dangerous and complex security environment we face."

What I discovered years ago was the US army's manual and guidebook for leadership.  The leadership mantra and philosophy is defined as follows -

  1. Be - who a person is.  The essence of the person.
  2. Know - understanding the tactics, strategy and management of any given situation.
  3. Do - putting into practice and combining who we are with what needs to be done.

"The Army uses the shorthand expression of BE-KNOW-DO to concentrate on key factors of leadership. What leaders DO emerges from who they are (BE) and what they KNOW. Leaders are prepared throughout their lifetimes with respect to BE-KNOW-DO so they will be able to act at a moment’s notice and provide leadership for whatever challenge they may face."

This is where it is at.  Knowing what to do, knowing when to do it and then doing with full confidence - thats leadership.

For more detailed information I recommend you start here - http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm6-22.pdf

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