by Thinkocrates

Created on: December 30, 2009

“Always let your subordinates know that the honor will be all theirs if they succeed and the blame will be yours if they fail”-Abraham Lincoln

The lines to follow such a dialog are meaningless given the reputation regarding leadership of above named. A good leader will know when the failure is his or rather his leadership. For if he is the leader, then the rest will follow him into failure, not try to outrun him towards failure, due to the fact that no one runs towards failure, yet the compass in the group directs them to that route.

I ask, “how can there be failure, if your men and women are being led, rather even in failure in observance of your wishes that was the outcome?” Then you as a leader know they succeeded on a path you set up for failure.Though you failed in your leadership, the followers proved you were a successful leader.

A true leader will know his Judas beforehand, and to shame the team is enough to keep even Judas on the end of a rope. Loyalty to the group will be the binding that holds the ship together. The team looks up to the leader, for he is the shield and the sword of the group. In instances you have seen that John Wayne bravado. The war films picture it heroically. The weary commander telling his troops, “I'm the first in, and the last to leave!” A true leader knows the behind the scene heroics that he or she must face. She does not point a finger, but rather they say “Follow me,” heroically into the charge whether in battle, at a desk, or wherever a true leader may be.

The men and women whom empower the team, and move them out of pure motivation for the group and themselves. Those are the true leaders. And when it is all over, they look at his or her team and say “Good Job.” As corny as that sounds, we as teammates live for that. To have your leader look you in the eyes, and for that brief second it is as if heaven itself were talking to you. We sink or swim as a team, and when the waters get choppy and when the boat capsizes, we know the captain is at the bottom of the sea, an analogy for he will weather the storm to complete the mission rather than risk our lives and reputations to ruin. And in the end, sometimes the hero rides out of town as a villain, but you know deep down he's a hero. For at the risk of his or her career and livelihood he saved his team.  I personally would follow anyone of that magnitude, for they are truly the better person.

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