Leadership, Part One

Some insights from Colonel Lee Ellis, from his book Leading with Honor: Leadership Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton.  My own reflections in smaller italics, befitting their comparison to Colonel Ellis’.

“Authentic leaders consistently live in harmony with their values, even when no one is looking.  Their walk matches their talk.”

Is “victory” a value?  I do not believe it is.  Prowess is certainly a virtue of Chivalry, but is victory necessary to exemplify Prowess?  Again, I do not believe it is.  Therefore, striving only for victory, favoring Prowess over all other Virtues, is disharmonious to Chivalry.  Can such a person be a true leader?

According to Colonel Ellis, self-reflection is most important element of personal leadership:

“Our culture desperately needs courageous servant leaders—men and women who have clear vision and strong character, who instill confidence and inspire excellence, who don’t fold under pressure, compromise on principle, or practice deception.  In short, we need leaders who are committed to leading with honor.”

“Leading with honor is about doing the right thing, even when it entails personal sacrifice.  More often than not, doing the right things—accepting responsibility, fulfilling your duty, telling the truth, and remaining faithful to your word—is the most difficult thing to do. . .”

“Becoming a leader is not easy.  First, your ego will sting a bit when you realize that you have not arrived, and still have room to grow.  Second, changing some of your attitudes, behaviors, and habits can be difficult, even painful.  You must go to war with your ego, your dogmatic opinions, and some of your old ways of doing things. . .”

Our Society also seeds courageous servant leaders, committed to leaving their offices and charges better than when they came into them, not content to serve out the term and check the box; who seek out the difference they can make, even if it gain them nothing but the satisfaction of having made the difference; who see beyond how they believe things ought to be to see that how others think it ought to be is not lessened by their station in the SCA or the activity they choose to engage in, but is of equal weight as a fellow member, whose belief is necessary for our society (and our Society) to flourish. 

But, with what weapons does one “go to war with [his own] ego [and] dogmatic opinions”?

According to Colonel Ellis:

 

  Leading Yourself

    1.  Know yourself. 

          Be honest and accept responsibility for your actions and inaction. Know what you 

          stand for.

    2. Guard your character. 

          Make your actions matter; let them be balanced manifestations of the Virtues of 

          Chivalry. Stand strong in your convictions.

    3.  Stay Positive. 

          Life is trial, and often success but unveils new challenges.  Joy lies in each new 

          challenge; joy lies in the fight for what you believe in.  Do not let difficult or 

          successive challenges lead you to despair.

    4.  Confront your doubts and fears. 

          Do not shrink from the fight, within or without, but certainly do not avoid the 

          fight within by throwing yourself only into the public fray.  Those who face only 

          the outward foe merely “seem.”  You must conquer yourself to truly“be.” 

          To quote Neil Peart:

                         Living in the limelight,

                                 the universal dream for those who wish to seem

                         But those who wish to be

                                 must put aside the alienation,

                                          get on with the fascination,

                                                    the underlying theme.

    5.  Fight to win. 

           Chivalry at its most basic.  Always bring your best fight and fight to win.  To do

           otherwise would be disrespectful to your opponent and dishonorable generally.   

           To do less would be untrue to yourself.

    6.  Bounce back and be resilient. 

          Failure is unavoidable, internally and externally.  Success knows its own timetable.

          In the immortal words of Albertus Pacinus: “On any given Sunday you are either 

          going to win or you are going to win.”  Get up and get back into the fight; the next 

          dragon awaits!

  Leading Others

    7.  Clarify and build your culture.

           To lead any group, you must be a driving part of defining the culture you want

           to build.  How can you manifest the virtues of your estate if you have not 

           defined that estate to some degree?  How can you model the behaviors you 

           would see in others seeking your same estate if you cannot articulate, or at 

           least recognize, them in yourself?  How can you judge the merits and 

           shortcomings of others toward achieving your estate without?

    8.  Over-communicate your message

          It is not enough to simply say you follow Chivalry, to say you are a Knight or a Don.

          You must continuously celebrate what Chivalry means, must extoll the Virtues of 

          Chivalry and not suffer dishonor to flourish.  You must constantly manifest and 

          exemplify your virtues and define them for future generations.  Tireless effort is

          necessary for success.

    9.  Develop your people

          Chivalry does not allow one to simply sit back and observe.  Virtue requires 

          action, and perpetuation of virtue, the spread of Honor and Chivalry, requires 

          great effort to ensure those who come after you develop the skills and

          understanding necessary to ensure Chivalric virtues thrive. If such mentoring

          and training appears easy, you probably are not doing it well, right, or to the

          degree necessary. 

  10.  Balance mission and people

          Don’t forget the fun!  All work and no play make Lord Jack a dull boy.  People are 

          more important than expensive trappings.  What a man believes in, what he does,

          should be more important than who he cleaves to or what award he bears. 

          'Nuff said.

  11.  Build cohesive teams

          Celebrate the multitude of relationships available in our current middle ages, 

          but don’t lose sight of the larger goal.  Chivalry and the greater good are more

          important than individual or group (shire, household, etc.) success. 

  12.  Exploit creativity

          Let everyone contribute according to his skill and loves, and don’t insist things

          be done only your way. Never turn down a volunteer.  There is much work to do,

          always another challenge, and many hands lighten the work.  If you fear to

          share whatever spotlight you perceive yourself to bask in, you are in it for the 

          wrong reasons.

  13.  Treasure your trials; Celebrate your successes.  

          Keep victory in its place.  Trials reveal character, require character to 

          overcome. Character is the product of all your virtues.  Therefore, ensure all 

          your other virtues are as practiced and sharp as Prowess.

  14.  Free the captives. 

          Help others confront their own doubts, fears, attitudes, behaviors, and

          habits; help others lead themselves.