Many of these management techniques, if I am not mistaken, are intrinsic to good military leadership, and I know that some of them are central to the leadership techniques taught to young officers in the Marine Corps’ Basic School.
I am reminded of the plaque that hangs in the administrative wing of The Basic School:
“In every war, Marines have borne a heavy burden far out of proportion to their limited numbers. This fact stands as a silent tribute to the individual Marine. Our present Basic School student will soon be leading Marines. It is your mission to educate this young officer and thereby make him worthy of this privilege.”
I look forward to comments from business people and those with a military background.
It seemed to me that in many respects, the Navy, at least, was structured to minimize the damage a horrid boss could do while somewhat blunting the glory a great boss could earn. I know that wasn’t strictly true.
There were excellent Navy officers and certainly there were also some jerks. ... as there were E-6’s and up.
The !!!CONTROL!!! freak stuff could be outrageous, however.
I’m glad to hear that the Marine Corps is training for such values.
Trust is such a critical issue in leadership. And when trust is lost, it’s dreadfully hard to restore. . . . for many, in many situations, it’s impossible.
Too many of the Marines that came through the Navy Credo program in San Diego where I worked for 2 years . . . seemed to have been well trained as unthinking, undiscerning killing machines.
The staff felt—some of us—that there might be a place for such folks in the defense of liberty . . . but the sad horrors it brought to the lives of the men so trained . . . and their families were dreadful to observe.