“How to Lead Like George Washington”
A recent edition of The Wall Street Journal contained an article that I found fascinating. The title of the article was the same as the title of this post: “How to Lead like George Washington.”
The article contained a great amount of information about leadership. The focus seemed to be on how present-day leaders in various fields could learn some lessons from “the father of our country.” The author, Sam Walker, mentioned some leadership models and philosophies advocated by some and apparently practiced by many today that are not working.
After discussing some of these models, the author turned his attention to the leadership qualities possessed and exhibited by Mr. Washington as he led the Continental Army against the forces of England which were much better prepared in every way to enter into battle.
Mr. Walker’s assessment of Washington’s leadership style is clearly stated in the subtitle of his article:
There are only two essential qualities for leading by example;
the founding father mastered them both.
So – what are they? What are the two qualities suggested as being beneficial to a leader?
I will mention those two qualities in reverse order. According to the author,
Washington’s second leadership posture was ironclad emotional control…
In victory and defeat, Washington maintained his stoical composure.
I’m sure we would all agree that this quality is important. There are not too many of us who would appreciate a leader who is volatile and/or unpredictable. Surely, we all appreciate a leader who exhibits a sort of quiet confidence regardless of whatever present circumstances happen to be.
Personally, I was most impressed by what Mr. Walker identified as the first quality exhibited by Washington. It seems to me that this quality is better understood by an example he provides than by some “label” he might give it.
Here is what he provides as an example of what he sees as the primary quality of leadership as exhibited by George Washington:
The best example may be Washington’s actions at Princeton. After wheeling around to face his fearful troupes, he beseeched them to keep fighting. Then, according to one account, he reined in his horse and faced the enemy directly.
If General Washington “(wheeled) around to face his troupes,” where was he? Obviously, he was in front of them.
If, after “he beseeched them to keep fighting,” where was he? He was still in front of his troupes! He did not give them a pep talk and slowly work his way to the rear or to any other place of safety.
What did he do after talking to them? He turned his horse around and faced the enemy with them!
Since I am writing this during football season, I would like for you to think about the last college football game you saw – either in person or on television. When the teams came out of the tunnel and onto the playing field, where was the head coach?
Was he up in the comfort of the press box? Was he somewhere in the middle of all of those players and coaches where only a very trained eye could pick him out of the crowd? Was he still in the tunnel and shouting encouragement as his team ran on ahead to face the opponent?
Or – was he leading the way out of the tunnel and, by doing so, sending the signal that –
“I am not sending you on a mission. I am leading you into a mission.”
Isn’t that what, by definition, leaders do? Don’t they lead?
Did you notice two key words in the subtitle to the article under consideration? Mr. Walker was discussing “…essential qualities for leading by example…”
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AUTHOR: Jim Faughn
