A tale of two leaders

As a young team leader in the Army, I arrived around the same time as our new platoon leader, let's call him Second Lieutenant (2LT) A. 2LT A was a former infantry sergeant, and should have been a great leader having lead combat soldiers for a number of years before taking a scholarship and going on to college prior to returning to active duty. Unfortunately, he spent most of his time in his office with the door closed. As a team leader I should have been the beneficiary of his leadership, with information being regularly disseminated to the chain of command from 2LT A. I was instead regularly given the wrong information since it was given just as the mission needed to be completed, having no planning time. Since no one wanted to follow 2LT A, the mission suffered, several platoon sergeants were reassigned before our commander realized he had a platoon leader issue.
 
Soon 2LT A was sent to a non-leadership staff position, and a new platoon leader came to our team, let's call him 2LT B was brought in. As a team leader, I was 4 levels below 2LT B, but his first order of business was to meet everyone. 2LT B was tough, he was an Army brat, son of a hard charging officer, and a natural leader. 2LT B rarely had his office door closed. If he wasn't buried in paperwork, he was in the common space training us, or out in the motor pool inspecting our gear. He didn't have many formal briefings, because he was always communicating. When we were out training, he taught us skills that weren't in our daily jobs like infantry patrol tactics, and intelligence gathering, and he challenged us to grow and be better. Under his leadership the team grew better and tighter, he was a true leader. Everyone of us, even those who didn't get along, would have followed him into enemy fire if called on to do so without question.
 
This is a true story, something I lived during my nearly 9 years as a U.S. Army. This isn't a story about how great 2LT B was, or how terrible 2LT A was, but it is a reflection on leadership. I believe we are all leaders, leading our own little tribes. If you don't understand this read Seth Godin's book Tribes. Today, most of my leadership is about leading communities. It is interesting, volunteers don't tend to follow orders well, they have to be convinced that what you are doing is for a greater good. The thing I learned about leadership from these two men is that we have to communicate, it shows that we care, and that we are genuine. We also have to be involved, people will only follow someone who directs for so long. One final thought, the most memorable part of the movie Patton was when the General pulls out his pistol and starts firing at the enemy bombers. Patton was a great leader because he was involved, and communicated with his words and actions that he believed in the cause. This translated into him being remembered as one of the great leaders.
 
We are always communicating, and we are always leading, whether we think we are or not. Good leaders are a part of the team, and are always showing how much they personally believe in the mission. Be the leader who shows it, and the leader who everyone wants to follow.