9 Military Leadership Traits

There are only a few topics that are so old yet so relevant. In life, leading a group can be one of the most enriching and satisfying experience one can encounter. Yet while leading things can go sideways, its like a double edged sword, so when the opportunity arrives, to stand out and lead, we either are disinclined or do the bare minimum scared of committing a blunder.

But no one’s a born leader, it’s a skill, which like any other skill can be learned and honed. The military knows this outright, so instead of finding leaders they make them There is a wide array of leadership traits, and if we observe influential leaders we will realize that all of them will have, if not all then most of these traits.

These traits may vary among armies but the fundamentals remain the same in all contemporary armies. Let’s go through them in detail.

Integrity. The foundation on which all other traits hold firm is integrity. Its most profound quality being truthfulness and honestly. It enables you to administer fair play and justice, leading to trust and confidence of your subordinates. Lacking integrity will result in a loss of moral ascendency, consequently losing willing obedience, co-operation and respect.

Devotion and Sense of Sacrifice. This trait is reflected in your willingness and motivation to strive for a cause and this is what inspires people to follow you and go to unprecedented lengths to help you.

Knowledge aka Professional Competence. This term is not limited to the technical knowhow of what & how you are working on a task, but also familiarity of the people working for you. Soldiers know their men and thereby know the strengths and limitation of their men, which makes them really effective in picking the right guy for the right task.

Decisiveness. Soldiers are trained to know when to act out, especially when the stakes are high, and decisions are a matter of life and death. Decisiveness is largely a matter of training, knowledge and experience. To arrive at quick and accurate decisions, it is essential, in the first instance, to get to the heart of the problem, without unnecessarily prolonging or magnifying a simple problem. It then requires sifting the essentials of the problem, weighing all possible solutions and finally taking the right decision in time.

Courage (Moral and Physical). No one can be a leader who isn’t courageous. Physical courage supersedes moral courage. A courageous leader faces his fear, accept his faults and responds positively to constructive criticism. He stands firm in what he believes for, and this firmness is reflected in his decision. Courage is not the absence of fear, rather, it’s the ability to overcome this fear and act out.

Patience and Perseverance. In this fast paced life, haste, quick fixes and a sense of urgency dictates every decision we take. The art of patience and perseverance have been forgotten. In war, hasty decisions, devoid of sound appreciation and logic, can result in dire consequences. Professional competence and moral courage combine together to prevent a military leader from taking hasty actions. Staying composed and controlling your emotions in high stake situations nurtures this quality.

Loyalty. Loyalty is in no way blind obedience, it’s a willing full effort to carry out the intent of your commander and perform your duty. Loyalty creates a sense of duty not only in oneself, but also in your subordinates. It results in mutual trust and respect of each other creating a willing response.

Justice and Fairness. Few things disrupt the morale of an organization than unfairness and partiality of a leader. Justice must be impartial and impersonal. Study your subordinates with the idea of learning why some of them behave the way they do under certain conditions and why others act differently under the same conditions. This will help you in giving a fair treatment to all.

Tact. Tact is the ability to deal with others without creating offense or friction. In the field of human relations, tact is the ability to say and do the proper thing at the right time in such a way that a responsive chord is touched. Tact involves the understanding of human nature and considerations for the feelings of others. Tact is important in all personal relationships. Criticism must be clear, yet constructive. An important aspect of tact is courtesy, which works from the top to bottom as well as from the bottom to top.

Now that we have covered the most important traits of leadership, the question arises, how can we inculcate these traits?

Start cultivating these traits. In the military these traits are developed systematically and as the soldiers move up the hierarchy they become better leaders. Every task they are exposed to, builds a foundation for the next leadership assignment. So the most important aspect is to work from ground up and don’t let any chance get away where you can practice one of the traits mentioned above.

Select your role models carefully. Role Models play a vital role in cultivating these crucial traits. A study in which top officers were asked how they learned to be a better leader. The top two answers were Positive role models and Negative role models. Humans are very good at copying, adapting and implementing what others do, we love to mimic, especially those who are in a seat of authority. So be observant of your role models, what can you learn from them and what you should avoid.

Learn from failures and mistakes. Reflection what didn’t work in the past and learning from your mistakes pays rich dividends over time. It provides an opportunity to learn these key lessons of leadership. It develops the ability to take decisions in High-Risk situations.

Once a commander addressing some young officers said

“The strange thing is that every officer thinks he is a leader. It is seldom understood that lack of leadership in the military profession is like a foul breath — even your best friend won’t tell you. The young officer always waits for someone to tell him that he is not a good leader, and never realizes that this will never happen. What we lack, and need more of, is the worm’s eye view of leadership”

Self Evaluation.

Do you wait for someone to tell you that you are not a good leader? Do you wait for someone else to tick off the essential qualities of good leadership for you and to tell you wherein you are lacking? This will rarely happen. Only you can analyze yourself and find out your strong points and your failings, and recognize your capabilities and limitations. Knowing his deficiencies, a leader can make a plan for correcting them. Take these nine essential leadership traits and grade yourself. Honesty decide where you excel, where you are passable and where you are deficient and then start slowly working on them.

The original article is published on my medium account www.medium/@saadshabbir92