Currahee - 3 miles up, 3 miles down
A few years back an exec who was advising me on how to become an exec and leader myself told me that I should look to TV and movies for examples of leadership.
When I first heard this, I was a little shocked, but after a few minutes I thought of a few examples of leadership that I have seen in TV and movies. The immediate ones I thought about was the scene in Boiler Room where Ben Affleck’s character was telling everyone who was starting what was expected of them and what they could expect in very blunt terms.
Not necessarily what you would want on a regular basis, but the one scene has made me think about trying to be more blunt with the guys I manage. The next example I thought about was mentoring that Dennis Quad showed Topher Grace in the movie In Good Company.
The whole movie In Good Company, I think is a good example of how a leader should try to not only lead the team but protect them and assist when he can. It also showed a good example of the how expectations can vary by managers from different generations, albeit in a very stereotypical way.
But the one that I think back to time and time again, is Major Winters from the HBO mini-series Band of Brothers. I have long had an affinity for WWII movies and shows. But Major Winters was a real person, and while I am sure HBO took liberties with some of the dramatic portrayal of the material, I really do believe that the people from that era deserve the designation The Greatest Generation.
You get to watch Major Winters (who started out as a Lieutenant in the mini-series) win respect of the men he led in Easy company. There is a point in the mini-series where they are in Bastogne and (I believe he was a Captain at the time) Major Winters wants so badly to go back out and lead the men out of harms way as their commanding officer was not doing what he was supposed to. That feeling that he needs to jump back into the fray, that he still cared about the safety of the men in that company, is impressive. I mean he had been promoted to Battalion Command by that point and was expected to organize the strategy for the attacks, not lead them.
The other thing that I recognize and that is talked about here and there is that Easy company would not have been as tightly nit (or physically ready) for the perils that they went through if not for Captain Sobel. Sobel galvanized Easy company, unfortunately he became the common foe. And if the mini-series accurately portrays Sobel, then the fact that he was removed as the commanding officer of Easy company was for the good.
But in the contrast you get to see what a bad leader is, Sobel who does force Easy company to become physicall fit, but does not think he needs the men’s respect. “You salute the rank, not the man.” is one of the lines you hear later on in the series after Winters is promoted above Sobel.
The other line I remember is “If you were in my platoon, I would tell you that you are a rifleman first and a radio man second.” This concept is one that I try to keep in my head, that within whatever department you are in or leading, the members (including the manager) should be able to perform the basic operations of the department. This can be hard to achieve, but it is something that I think is worth shooting for.
I would not be where I am Today if not for the fact that I am capable of doing a little bit of everything. Specialization is good, is NEEDED in many careers, but without a strong understanding of the basics, then you may find yourself “Over Qualified” or find that you have to rely on someone else to be able to perform your job duties (which can upset your timetables).
Another reason for bringing up the “rifleman” quote is because, in my current career role I don’t do a lot of programming anymore. To note I never had the designation of a programmer or developer, but I dabbled. But the fact that I dabbled I truly believe makes me a better manager. Same goes for managing the Sales Engineer (currently only one guy, so hard to say Sales Engineer Dept). Having significant experience doing sales engineering I believe makes me a better manager of that process.
I have the Band of Brothers DVDs playing while I straighten up my office.
Gina (The Best Wife Ever) was kind enough to get me the DVDs a couple of years ago for X-mas, as I would usually watch it when it was on HBO or A&E.
Oh, last thing about Currahee, I would like to go there someday and run it, 3 miles up and 3 miles down. Mostly for nostalgia of watching the mini-series so much that I could run the same route that Easy Company did over 60 years ago. I have no idea how I would go about arranging that, but it is something that I would like to do in say the next 2 or 3 years.
I better get back to filing away stuff on my desk.
Laterz