Greatness
is a perception by others. What makes a leader great is more than
achieving the mission, goal, or results – greatness is also about
how he or she got us there. It's a complex set of factors not
adequately described by a couple of words – but we can get in the
general vicinity with these three traits:
- saying what you will do
- doing what you say
- inspiring others to do their very best to achieve goals/results.
George
Washington is admired as a great, if somewhat reluctant, leader.
These two stories from the closing days of the Revolutionary War
highlight his ability to inspire followers and achieve seemingly
impossible results.
The
momentum
of the war was
shifting in
favor of
the
Colonial
Army
under General Washington's command and
he wanted to press this
growing advantage by crossing
the Delaware River
again to
mount an
unexpected
attack on the British and the
Hessians.
Unfortunately, there was a huge problem – most of the troops had
fulfilled their commitment to serve and were preparing to return
home.
The
troops had turned down an offer to pay them for continuing another
6-weeks, then the General visited the bivouac areas of the various
units to speak with the men. His message was that there would never
be another point in their lifetime that they could make such an
important contribution to the freedom of their country as they could
in the upcoming battle, AND that
he would be honored to fight beside them to win the
victory. The
troops committed to joining
him.
What money could not accomplish, a humble personal
appeal to do for the greater good won their hearts and shortly, won
the war.
After
winning the Battle
of Yorktown, General
Washington and his senior commanders received a message that British
General Cornwallis
wanted to surrender. When the Cornwallis party arrived to present his
sword in surrender, they
attempted to present it to Washington – he refused to accept the
sword and pointed to his second in command, General Benjamin Lincoln
to receive the sword.
By this simple action, Washington made clear that he did not see
Cornwallis as an equal, and, more importantly, General Lincoln
receiving the sword of surrender removed any
doubts that Lincoln had
Washington's support and confidence (Lincoln
had lost a major battle to
Cornwallis earlier in the war).
Great
leaders are aware of the effect of their words, actions, and messages
– direct and indirect – on their followers and others, and make
good use of opportunities as they present themselves to reinforce the
importance of the mission and
goals as well as value
subordinates bring to achieving
the results.
See the New World – A
View from the Big Chair
