Thanks for the great comments. Definitely agree that the life on the line element of the military brings a different dynamic than business. The bureaucracy, however, is very similar with the old often being sacred and protected and the new being cornered and shunned.

As to your question about when to decide unilaterally, that is a good one. Who really knows the answer? My best attempt would be to say that the council of many wise advisers will normally produce a wise answer, but in the times it doesn’t the leader needs to have the courage and insight to choose his own way. I dunno, now you have me thinking, haha!

Cam

Without getting too political, the military is simply not a business–never has been, never will be. In the military, where higher level folks are asked to make life and death decisions, money is not the driving force behind such actions (you already know this).

I have mixed feelings about directly connecting the military with business; however, your point at the end is very insightful, and proves to me once again that although the military is not a business, the parallels of both entities have a shocking resemblance in a variety of ways.

John Boyd was undoubtedly a gutsy man who was ahead of his time in regards to military theory. He obviously understood the challenges of a bureaucracy and fought tooth and nail with his career on the line numerous occasions to bring about change. Isn’t this basically the definition of a leader? Taking calculated risks that you know in your heart will eventually better an organization with a small amount of buy-in with little or no regard for the consequence to oneself? Although I have yet to do so, I believe leading a group of people into battle would be much the same. How about the CEO of a corporation deciding to launch a radical new product—Steve Jobs and the iPod?

The fine line, however; between military and business is that one involves life and death, the other involves disappointment and probably the loss of a job. However, the skills, discipline, dedication, ability to act under pressure, etc, are skills you will bring with you for the rest of your life.

I agree that change is incredibly difficult to put into action—especially in a bureaucracy I also agree that one of the biggest challenges for most leaders is narrowing down their ideas into two or three likely courses of action. However, the best leaders I know didn’t do things overnight. They didn’t narrow to two or three. They had the ability to rapidly process information and choose the “most correct” course of action rather than the most popular decision. Moreoever, if they chose incorrectly, they admitted the mistake and turned their ships for calmer seas. In addition, these leadership skills were demonstrated consistently, day-in and day-out over a long period of time.

One of the things I have been wrestling with lately is the relationship between leadership and mentorship—meaning: At what point should a leader make the final decision rather than consult his group of mentors/board of directors/peer group?

-Brian