Skip to content
Logo of blog www.exploitingchange.com by Alcera Consulting Inc.
  • About
    • Richard Martin
    • Alcera Consulting Inc.
  • Services
    • Consulting
    • Facilitation
    • Training
    • Speaking
  • Blog
  • About
    • Richard Martin
    • Alcera Consulting Inc.
  • Services
    • Consulting
    • Facilitation
    • Training
    • Speaking
  • Blog
Contact
  1. Home
  2. »
  3. Leadership
  4. »
  5. Leadership Principle # 5 – Make sure that your followers know your meaning and intent,…

Leadership Principle # 5 – Make sure that your followers know your meaning and intent, and then lead them to the accomplishment of the mission

Share this post

  • Richard Martin
  • February 24, 2012
  • 4:56 pm
  • 3 Comments
Picture of Richard Martin

Richard Martin

Richard Martin empowers leaders to outmaneuver uncertainty and drive change through strategic insight and transformative thinking.
All Posts

This is the fifth installment in my series highlighting and discussing military leadership principles. Even though these principles have been developed over decades, and even centuries, of military practice, you will find that they are highly applicable to leaders in all walks of life, and especially business.

This principle has two main components. The first is to communicate your meaning and intent, and the second is to lead your people in carrying it them out. To do this, you first have to know what it is that YOU want to achieve. For this, you need a plan. Then you have to tell your followers or subordinates want you want to achieve, the general strategy and scheme of manoeuvre to achieve it, and then your plan to carry it out. You may have to be fairly directive, and give specific instructions to various teams or subordinate leaders, but it is usually best to give them a mission and then let them find the best way to achieve it. In the military, this is known as mission command, as opposed to directive command (where you give every detail of what to do).

Finally, once the plan is being implemented and the operation or project is underway, you have to actively lead your team. This means being at the right place and right time to make decisions, providing guidance and direction to respond to unforeseen events and conditions, correcting mistakes, and providing reinforcement to successful undertakings, encouragement, and generally stiffening resolve in the face of the inevitable obstacles and resistance. In the military, they often say that no plan survives contact with the enemy, and that is just as valid in business and in any other undertaking.

I will continue with the second group of five military leadership principles next week. Have a good weekend.

© 2012 Richard Martin. Reproduction and quotes permitted with full and proper attribution.


Discover more from Exploiting Change

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

3 Responses

  1. lynda C-L Allen says:
    February 25, 2012 at 5:31 am

    Although the military may state that no plan survives contact with the enemy, this is not a credible or acceptable statement for business. In business we come up against “the enemy” every day, but in our environment it is called competition. Competition is actually very healthy as it allow us to grow, calculate and develop better strategies. The business plans implemented today are designed to be flexible and expected to be challenged, not only by foreseen entities but unforeseen as well.

    Lynda
    Business Development Tools for Sales Professionals
    lyndaallen@wordpress.com

    Reply
    1. Richard Martin says:
      February 25, 2012 at 12:02 pm

      Thanks for the comment.

      Actually, it’s the same in business, but don’t confuse the plan with the goal. If your goal is to launch a new product or enter a new market, your initial plan may have to be modified several times, either in whole or in part, before you actually achieve it. It’s the same with everything you undertake, big or small, in business or in life in general.

      Rich

      Reply
      1. lynda C-L Allen says:
        February 26, 2012 at 2:52 am

        There is no confusion.

        Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Ready to

Navigate change and strengthen your strategy?

Let’s get started.

Book a call

Share this post

Richard Martin, President of Alcera Consulting Inc.

Richard Martin

Richard Martin is the President of Alcera Consulting Inc., a strategic advisory firm collaborating with top-level leaders to provide strategic insight, navigate uncertainty, and drive transformative change, ensuring market dominance and excellence in public governance. He is the author of Brilliant Manoeuvres: How to Use Military Wisdom to Win Business Battles and the creator of the blog ExploitingChange.com. Richard is also the developer of Strategic Epistemology, a groundbreaking theory that focuses on winning the battle for minds in a world of conflict by dismantling opposing worldviews and ideologies through strategic narrative and archetypal awareness.

PrevPreviousLeadership Principle # 4 – Lead by Example
NextLeadership Principle # 6 – Know your soldiers and promote their welfareNext

The Burden and the Withdrawal – The American Strategic Revolution

Read More »

Europe’s New Strategic Frontier – The EU, the Eastern Flank, and the Rise of Poland

Read More »

My latest Strategic Leadership column in Canadian Defence Review

Read More »
Page1 Page2 Page3 Page4 Page5

You've come this far...

Ready to build a strategy

That is truly impactful?

Book a call

Logo of www.exploitingchange.com blog, by Alcera Consulting Inc.

I collaborate with top-level leaders to provide strategic insight, navigate uncertainty, and drive transformative change, ensuring market dominance and excellence in public governance.

Contact me

+1 (514) 453-3993

Latest Articles

  • The Burden and the Withdrawal – The American Strategic Revolution
  • Europe’s New Strategic Frontier – The EU, the Eastern Flank, and the Rise of Poland
  • My latest Strategic Leadership column in Canadian Defence Review

Links

  • About
    • Richard Martin
    • Alcera Consulting Inc.
  • Services
    • Consulting
    • Facilitation
    • Training
    • Speaking
  • Blog
  • About
    • Richard Martin
    • Alcera Consulting Inc.
  • Services
    • Consulting
    • Facilitation
    • Training
    • Speaking
  • Blog

Sign up for weekly insights

Sign up for weekly insights

We don’t spam! Read more in our privacy policy

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Privacy Policy – Terms & conditions

Alcera Consulting Inc. © 2024 Copyright - All Rights Reserved

Socials

X-twitter