A former commander of the US and International forces, GeneralStanley Mc Chrystal, gave what I considered an incredible presentation at a TEDconference, April 2011. At about 7 minutes and 20 seconds he told of a
situation he faced after a training exercise. He made such a profound statement
that differentiates so called leaders, and real leaders.
The initial example he gave was a
situation where he was made to feel an absolute failure. It was 18 months after
joining one of his first battalions, that he met the battalion commander. His
first interaction was at the 18 mile mark, during a 25 mile road march. The
commander chewed him out for 40 seconds about something that he had failed to
do. He was not sure you could class it as an interaction, but he was made to
feel a total failure.
I dare say many have experienced this type
of interaction with our superiors over our lives. Some of these people are key
figures in our lives, or held positions of power, which increased the impact of
their words. This was an example of how not to manage mistakes, or incidences
of where people fail.
The section I felt that was profound, was
the story he told about a military exercise that he was involved with, early in
his military career. After many, major military exercises there are reviews. He
was the company commander at the time and had failed early in that exercise. In
these situations a large screen is raised to display the entire exercise for
review. Throughout this process everyone is informed of what was done well and
what was not. After the session he walked out feeling as he said, as low as a
snake's belly in a wagon rut.
On leaving the review he saw his battalion
commander. Due to his past experience he went to apologise for his mistakes, as
he felt that had let his commander down. Before he had got the words out, his
battalion commander indicated that he had done a great job. In one sentence, he
had lifted him up, and placed him back on his feet. In that instance he was
taught that leaders can let you fail, yet not let you be a failure.
