An Unorthodox Address
This is a rare speech, made by a senior retiring sergeant (havildar) of the Indian army to junior officers (first line managers, at the officer level) in the army. It seems punctuated by boldness and conviction. It rephrases the universal principles of handling human beings in any organisation.
'I feel a tinge of regret that I am not young enough to be sitting out there as one of you. You have so many years of challenges and adventure to look forward to. So many of these years are behind me. Soon you will meet your platoon sergeants, sergeant majors, other officers and above all - troops. What do we expect from you as officers, commanders, leaders?
We expect of you unassailable personal integrity and the highest of morals. We also expect you to maintain the highest state of personal appearance. Above all, we expect you to be fair, to be consistent, to have dignity - but not aloofness, to have compassion and understanding, to treat each soldier as an individual, with individual problems.
And we expect you to have courage - the courage of your convictions - the courage to stand up and be counted - to defend your men when they have followed your orders, even when your orders were in the wrong - to assume the blame when you were wrong.
We expect you to stick out your chin and say, "This man is not qualified and will be promoted over my dead body". Gentlemen, I implore you. Do not promote a man because he is a nice guy, because he has a wife and three kids, because he has money problems, because he has a bar bill. If he is not capable of performing his duties, do not do us, and him, the injustice of advancing him in grade. When he leaves you, he becomes someone else's problem. Above all, he is a problem onto himself.
Do not display recklessness and expose yourself and your men to unnecessary risks that will reduce their normal chances of survival. That will only shake their confidence in your judgement.
Well, you now know what we expect from you. What can you expect from us?
From a few of us, you can expect antagonism, a 'prove yourself' attitude.
From a few of us, who had the oppurtunity to be officers, but didn't quite have the guts and motivation to accept challenge, you can expect resentment.
From a few of us old timers, you can expect tolerance.
But from most of us, you can expect loyalty to your position, devotion to your cause, admiration for your honest efforts - courage to match your courage - guts to match your guts - endurance to match your endurance - motivation to match your motivation - espirit to match your espirit - a desire for achievement to match your desire for achievement.
We won't mind the heat, if you sweat with us. We won't mind the cold, if you shiver with us. And when our cigarettes are gone, we won't mind quit smoking if your cigarettes are also gone.
And, By God, if the mission requires, we will storm the very gates of hell, right alongside you.
Remember one thing. Very few havildars were awarded stripes without showing somebody something, sometimes, somewhere. If your platoon havildar is mediocre, if he is slow to assume responsibility, if he shies away from you, maybe sometime not too long ago someone refused to trust him, someone failed to support his decisions, someone shot him down when he was right. Internal wounds heal slowly; internal scars fade even more slowly.
Your orders appointing you as officers in the army appoint you to command. No orders, no insignia of rank can appoint you as leaders. Leadership is an intangible thing. It is developed within yourself.
You do not wear leadership on your sleeves, on your shoulders, on your caps or on your calling cards. Be you Lieutinants or Generals, we're the guys you've got to convince and we'll meet you more than halfway.
You are leaders in an army in which we have served for so many years. You will help us defend the country we have loved for so many years.
I wish you happiness, luck and the success in the exciting and challenging years that lie ahead.'
***Got this in the leadership notes provided by "Beyond Horizon" facilitator Commander Girish Konkar.
'I feel a tinge of regret that I am not young enough to be sitting out there as one of you. You have so many years of challenges and adventure to look forward to. So many of these years are behind me. Soon you will meet your platoon sergeants, sergeant majors, other officers and above all - troops. What do we expect from you as officers, commanders, leaders?
We expect of you unassailable personal integrity and the highest of morals. We also expect you to maintain the highest state of personal appearance. Above all, we expect you to be fair, to be consistent, to have dignity - but not aloofness, to have compassion and understanding, to treat each soldier as an individual, with individual problems.
And we expect you to have courage - the courage of your convictions - the courage to stand up and be counted - to defend your men when they have followed your orders, even when your orders were in the wrong - to assume the blame when you were wrong.
We expect you to stick out your chin and say, "This man is not qualified and will be promoted over my dead body". Gentlemen, I implore you. Do not promote a man because he is a nice guy, because he has a wife and three kids, because he has money problems, because he has a bar bill. If he is not capable of performing his duties, do not do us, and him, the injustice of advancing him in grade. When he leaves you, he becomes someone else's problem. Above all, he is a problem onto himself.
Do not display recklessness and expose yourself and your men to unnecessary risks that will reduce their normal chances of survival. That will only shake their confidence in your judgement.
Well, you now know what we expect from you. What can you expect from us?
From a few of us, you can expect antagonism, a 'prove yourself' attitude.
From a few of us, who had the oppurtunity to be officers, but didn't quite have the guts and motivation to accept challenge, you can expect resentment.
From a few of us old timers, you can expect tolerance.
But from most of us, you can expect loyalty to your position, devotion to your cause, admiration for your honest efforts - courage to match your courage - guts to match your guts - endurance to match your endurance - motivation to match your motivation - espirit to match your espirit - a desire for achievement to match your desire for achievement.
We won't mind the heat, if you sweat with us. We won't mind the cold, if you shiver with us. And when our cigarettes are gone, we won't mind quit smoking if your cigarettes are also gone.
And, By God, if the mission requires, we will storm the very gates of hell, right alongside you.
Remember one thing. Very few havildars were awarded stripes without showing somebody something, sometimes, somewhere. If your platoon havildar is mediocre, if he is slow to assume responsibility, if he shies away from you, maybe sometime not too long ago someone refused to trust him, someone failed to support his decisions, someone shot him down when he was right. Internal wounds heal slowly; internal scars fade even more slowly.
Your orders appointing you as officers in the army appoint you to command. No orders, no insignia of rank can appoint you as leaders. Leadership is an intangible thing. It is developed within yourself.
You do not wear leadership on your sleeves, on your shoulders, on your caps or on your calling cards. Be you Lieutinants or Generals, we're the guys you've got to convince and we'll meet you more than halfway.
You are leaders in an army in which we have served for so many years. You will help us defend the country we have loved for so many years.
I wish you happiness, luck and the success in the exciting and challenging years that lie ahead.'
***Got this in the leadership notes provided by "Beyond Horizon" facilitator Commander Girish Konkar.
posted by Prady @ 10:49 PM
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