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No matter the leader, they all have flaws. Whether President/General George Washington, Secretary of Defense James Mattis or Grunt Style CEO Daniel Alarik, they would all tell you they have flaws. That is in our opinion what makes leaders great, the admission of flaws and the vulnerability that comes with it opens the door towards learning and adapting from the battlefield to the boardroom. Daniel told the story of his time as a Drill Sergeant in the Army, when he had a singular idea and mission, in his heart, to accomplish. He was going to make the best infantry soldiers he could. The best shooters, the most physically fit and the most intelligent. However, his battalion commander had other ideas.
His battalion commander told them all, that there was a higher calling, a to ensure that these men, many of whom were just barely out of high school, would be heading overseas in a matter of months to join people that Daniel and his fellow Drill Sergeants knew. The new mission was to train these soldiers to be great teammates who put the mission first.Fast forward to Grunt Style being a successful business. Customer service was having an issue, Daniel recounted the story of how poorly he lead the team leader at the time. It was a flaw, it was a failure. What had he missed from his time in the military till now?It took his new hire after the team leader had quit, to point out his flaw. He didn't give that leader the authority to accomplish the mission. When his new hire pointed this out, it took Daniel back at first.
Then he thought back to his time in the Army, when his battalion commander had given him a task. The commander never undercut their authority but equipped them with all the tools, training and authority they needed to succeed.As leaders, as men and women, we will all fail at times, but admitting that we did is the first step to learning how to not do so again.Empower the people under you to make judgment calls on your behalf, after all, you hired them, didn't you?Read more stories of American Grit here:
