Marine Corps Leadership Traits: JJ DID Tie Buckle. These are the qualities every Marine is taught to strive for: Justice, Judgment, Dependability, Integrity, Decisiveness, Tact, Initiative, Endurance, Bearing, Unselfishness, Courage, Knowledge, and Enthusiasm.
Which one of those are the best at? Which ones are the most important during a crisis? Which ones can you be developing right now?
I was a Marine for 10 years. I learned a tone about leading during a crisis and got to do it by leading men into combat during the Iraqi invasion.
Years later, I’ve learned even more about leadership. Right now is the time for you step up because of the Covid-19 Virus. Your family, community, job, and anyone else that you talk to in your life need you. And they need you to be a leader during these trying times.
During a crisis there are three things that will make you a leader more then any others. They are Tact, Bearing, and Decisiveness.
When I reference to “tact” it is in a different way then what the dictionary definition outlines. The Marine corps defines tact as “The ability to deal with others without creating hostility.” Talking to people so they aren’t offended is very important in everyday life if you want people to follow you. During a crisis it’s about using the correct voice, tone, volume, and emotion to get people to do what needs to be done in the necessary time.
Sometimes you will have time to explain things, and others it needs to happen right now. Your voice commands, how you ask, and what you say will be different in those situations. When you use your tact correctly people get things done when they need to be done.
Your bearing is next in importance and influences all the others. Your bearing is how you carry yourself, what emotions you show, and how you act. You should be showing confidence in your walk and talk. You shouldn’t be overly emotional about anything during a crisis. You should be one step above a robot as a calm voice in the face of deadly chaos. Only use your emotions as a way to get people moving when needed. After the problem is solved you can show all the emotions and have a break down if need be.
Decisiveness is the biggest trait to have if you want people to follow you during a crisis. If you are unsure in any way and that shows, people around you will not follow you. When you can say without a doubt this is the best option, we should go this way, then people will follow when the times are tough. No one wants to follow a leader that can’t make decisions or is unsure of themselves. You will never have all the information, you make the best decision you can, announce it to the people you want to follow you with enough information and force so they do what needs to be done.
Learning and using these three traits is difficult at any time. Being able to do it is an art. To be good at an art you must practice constantly.
Now is the time to practice your leadership. Practice constantly with your family and your work. Don’t be afraid to make a decision and state it to others. If they go along with you, then you are doing it correctly. If they decide to do something else then you may need to work on your tact, bearing, and/or your decisiveness.
As you go forward in the crisis, practice the most important one, decisiveness. In combat there maybe no right answer. Going left or right may get everyone including you killed. But you cannot stay where you are. In life, it is much the same. You can’t stay where you are and doing anything may make it worse. There may not be a correct answer. But you must move forward, or you will be passed by.
Not deciding is making a decision. If you decide to do nothing or put that thing off until tomorrow you have made a decision. And it’s probably a bad one. Any decision you make by default is going to suck unless you are incredibly lucky. Depending on luck is a terrible leadership strategy. If you deflect a decision to later without a plan you look like you have no idea what you are doing. You can actively make the decision to wait. But you must use the second half of decisiveness, forcefully informing others of what is going on.
Something I learned after the Marine Corps is if you add the why to your information, people will follow you a lot more.
Right now, I image I’m like most of you out there. I am stuck at my house during a mandatory shelter in place order from the government for the Covid-19 virus. My wife and I discussed whether we would follow this, to what extent, and for how long. We have been doing this for three weeks now (which is two weeks before the government order came out). Every week we sit down and look at what is going on and have made the decision to self-quarantine for one more week and then reevaluate. We haven’t changed anything we do for weeks. We just keep making the active decision to keep doing what we are doing until next week. At that time, we will make a new decision.
You must make active decisions during a crisis. You cannot let things happen to you.
Practice your bearing with your family and those around you right now. I’m sure they are starting to get on your nerves. Remain calm, hold your bearing, and use the correct tact to talk to them. Today I was trying to film a video and my wife was making lots of noise. It annoyed me to no end. But I help my bearing and asked when she would be done so that I could film. I sat patiently for her to get done.
You can practice and learn your bearing in any and every situation you find yourself in during the day. The only way to master it is constant practice. Those people that get mad or excited about everything and then tell you they can control themselves when they must are full of crap. And you know it.
With your family start using more and more tact. If there is not an immediate problem that has to be solved at this moment, you should be using the dictionary definition of tact. Give people commands so they are not offended or upset.
Traditional tact is not an art I have mastered yet. I’m always working on it. And I find that it has a lot to do with my bearing. When I start to lose my bearing and get a little more excited then I should, my tact goes out the window and I upset people.
All of leadership is linked. There are no short cuts. There are no easy days when it comes to being a leader. Those easy days of you leading anyone, including yourself, are days that you where a poor leader. It’s okay to face this challenge. It will make you better in the end.
No go practices your leadership!
Stay Safe,
Ben