Below is a set of leadership principles I transcribed from Jocko podcast episode 87 (The Clay Pigeons of St. Lô). I loved them and wanted to share them with you. In episode 341, he revisited these rules and dedicated the entire podcast to discussing them.
While Jocko was focused on Glover Johns’s book during the episode, he wraps up his coverage by reading from David Hackworth’s book About Face, who was covering a farewell speech by his idol.
David Hackworth on Glover Johns
“He was a leader who taught by example.”
“to hear in a single speech this great man’s basic philosophy of soldiering was like being let in on the secret ingredients of some magic formula.”
Leadership principles of Glover Johns
- Strive to do small things well.
- Be a doer and a self starter. Aggressiveness and initiative are two most admired qualities in a leader, but you also must put up your feet and think.
- Strive for self improvement through constant self evaluation.
- Never be satisfied. Ask of any project, “How can it be done better?”
- Don’t overinspect or oversupervise. Allow your leaders to learn through mistakes in training so they can profit from their errors and not make them in combat.
- Keep the troops informed. Telling them what, how, and why will builds their confidence.
- The harder the training, the more the troops will brag.
- Enthusiasm, fairness, and moral and physical courage: four of the most important aspects of leadership.
- Showmanship: a vital technique of leadership.
- The ability to speak and write well: two essential tools of leadership.
- There is a salient difference between profanity and obscenity. The leader employs profanity tempered with discretion, he never uses obscenities
- Have consideration for others.
- Yelling detracts from your dignity. Take your men aside and counsel them.
- Understand and use judgment. Know when to stop fighting for something you believe is right. Discuss and argue your point of view until a decision is made, and then support the decision wholeheartedly.
- Stay ahead of your boss.
I transcribed the quotes, so there may be differences from what the book says.
References
- Jocko Podcast 87 w/ Echo Charles: How to Act as a Leader: “Clay Pigeons of St. Lo”
- About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior by David H. Hackworth and Julie Sherman
- Jocko Podcast 341: Simple Rules To Become A Better Person and Leader. (dedicated to these leadership principles)