Traits of the Effective Leader (pt-2)

Photo courtesy national defense magazine

Leadership is one of the foundations the Marine Corps is built on. It requires judgment, integrity, honesty, decisiveness, and many other attributes expected of Marines in day-to-day activities. Everyone understands what leadership is, yet each of us views it and defines it a little differently. Leadership is the art of inspiring Marines to rise above self-concern, placing the team first, and accomplishing the mission. Train the troops hard, take care of their needs, take them to war, and bring them home alive.^[1]

3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
(Philippians 2:3-4 NIV)

Born on March 4, 1942, in Quantico, Virginia, to Lieutenant General Victor H. Krulak, General Charles Krulak was born to be a leader. Graduating from the United States Naval Academy, class of 1964, General Krulak rose through the ranks, becoming the 31^st Commandant of the United States Marine Corps.

His grandparents were Jewish who immigrated to the United States from Eastern Europe, shedding their Judaism. Because his dad married a Christian woman, Charles and his siblings were raised as Christians.

After graduation from the Naval Academy, Charles Krulak commanded a platoon and two rifle companies, completing two tours of duty in Vietnam. During his last tour in Vietnam, Krulak’s Company was attacked while performing combat operations. Through his bravery, courage, and leadership, the attack was repealed, and although injured, he led his Company to safety. As a result of his actions, then Captain Charles Krulak was awarded the Silver Star Medal.

The Citation:

” The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Captain Charles Chandler Krulak, United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving as Commanding Officer of Company L, Third Battalion, Third Marines, Third Marine Division, during combat operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam. On 3 June 1969, during Operation Virginia Ridge, Company L was occupying ambush positions near the Demilitarized Zone west of Con Thien when the Marines came under a heavy volume of mortar fire and sustained several casualties. Although seriously wounded himself, Captain Krulak unhesitatingly left his covered position and, thinking only of the welfare of his men, fearlessly maneuvered across the fire-swept terrain to ensure that his Marines were in effective defensive locations and capable of repelling an expected ground attack. Shortly after the initial mortar attack, the Company was subjected to a second intense mortar barrage. Realizing that the determined enemy soldiers had accurate range on the Marine emplacements, and unwilling to incur additional casualties, he commended maneuvering his men to an alternate location. Simultaneously, undaunted by the fierce barrage, Captain Krulak fearlessly moved to a dangerously exposed vantage point from which he pinpointed the principal sources of hostile fire and skillfully coordinated fixed-wing airstrikes and supporting artillery fire on the enemy positions, silencing the fire. By this time, both the platoon commander and a platoon sergeant of one of his platoons had been seriously wounded. After repeatedly exposing himself to the relentless fire to supervise the evacuation of the casualties, he then personally led the platoon back to the main body of his Company across 3,000 meters of rugged mountain terrain to another patrol base and, although weak from loss of blood and the pain of his injuries, steadfastly refused medical evacuation until the arrival of another officer on the following morning. By his courage, dynamic leadership, and inspiring devotion to duty in the face of grave personal danger, Captain Krulak minimized Marine casualties and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.“^[2]

Being a highly decorated Marine, General Krulak developed a people-first leadership style. Krulak’s Law of Leadership states that an organization’s future is in the hands of the privates in the field, not the general’s back home. In any organization, the workers, the ones doing the job, make or break an organization. In his article “The Strategic Corporal: Leadership in the Three-Block War” (you can read the article here), General Krulak states that those in the lowest levels need leadership training. He says that a leader’s primary responsibility is to ensure that their employees make the right decisions.

After retiring from the Marine Corps, General Krulak served as CEO MBNA Europe and executive vice-chairman and CAO of MBNA Corporation. In 2011 General Krulak became the 13^th President of Birmingham-Southern College, a Christian College; the Krulak Institute for Leadership, Experiential Learning, and Civic Engagement is named after him.

Leaders are judged, ultimately, by the quality of the leadership reflected in their subordinates.
General Charles C. Krulak (USMC RET.)

General Krulak explains how an effective leader can support his/her employees

Offer them the freedom to fail and, with it, the opportunity to succeed;
Micro-management must become a thing of the past;
Supervision must be complemented by proactive mentoring;
Empower them, hold them strictly accountable for their actions;
Allow the leadership potential within each of them to flourish.

Photo courtesy of Awakening2020

In a speech on “Faith-Based Leadership” at Samford University, a private Christian university, General Krulak stated that effective leaders must possess three qualities: selflessness, moral courage, and integrity. He says, “A selfless person cares more about the lives of those around him than he does his own, and that is not an easy mindset to achieve.” He describes moral courage as “the courage to see something wrong and do something about it.” Krulak states, “integrity is the only thing that any of us really own, and it’s the only thing that nobody can take away from us. Being a man or woman of integrity is a choice. We aren’t born with the gift of integrity, but instead, we chose to be a person of strong moral character through our thoughts and our actions.”^[3]

2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be;
not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve;
3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.
1 Peter 5:2-3

Charles Krulak believes in leading from the front; he believes in training, trust, responsibility, leadership, dignity, authority, management, and investment. It mostly means seeing the front-line people in your organization as priceless assets, not cheap cogs. After all, the experience people have with your brand is in the hands of the person you pay the least (Krulak’s Law).

As First Responders, we are all called to be leaders. To be an effective leader, you must be a servant leader, put your people first, lead from the front, and mentor when there is a need for correction.

“Leadership is the sum of those qualities of intellect, human understanding, and moral character that enables a person to inspire and control a group of people successfully.”
Lieutenant General John A. Lejeune

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