Leadership principles

As I have written and spoken many times before, in the field of leadership, we can learn a lot from the military. They have been at it the longest, and it is leadership in extremely pressurised environments. It is life and death. My favourite is “The Navy Seals Art of War”. Another is “The habit of excellence” and of course “Extreme ownership”.

The Wisdom of the Bullfrog

I can go on a bit. I love those books as they are grounded in life and death and based on real-life stories and experiences. That is why I picked up “The Wisdom of the Bullfrog: Leadership Made Simple (But Not Easy)” by Admiral William H. McRaven. The author of “Make Your Bed: Small things that can change your life and maybe the world”.

Leadership is simple

The Army Rangers use Sua Sponte (Of Your Own Accord); the British Special Air Service motto is, Who Dares Wins, and the SEAL mantra is The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday. In modern times, the United States Marine Corps has unofficially adopted the saying “Death Before Dishonour”. The Cadet Honor Code is “A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.” These sayings are not just words. They are words born of experience, trial by fire, and most written in blood.

Honour

Let’s start with honour. True honour — doing the right thing for the right…