A Quote by William H. McRaven

Following is one of the most underrated aspects of leadership.... I have seen many a good [military unit] underachieve, because someone...thought the commander was incompetent, and quietly worked to undermine his authority.
I commanded an Army unit, and I placed the highest priority on a commander's authority to lead, manage, and discipline the men and women under his or her command within the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Why do soldiers fight? They join because they believe in a higher cause -- protecting religion, their nation, defending against a foreign nation. But why do soldier stay and fight? Soldiers aren't individuals. They are part of a unit. And that unit is led by a commander. If they don't trust their commander ... if there is no leadership, there is nothing.
But if you're going to go out on a military unit, you've got to allow yourself to be under the control of the commander because you really could put the troops in danger.
Whenever I spoke with anybody who said they did not have a problem in the military it was because their commander treated them well. Every single time it was about the commander as to whether they had a good or bad experience.
Real leadership is about building people up and empowering them. Many leaders feel that empowering someone else will reduce their own authority. I ask you: When Rasulallah salAllahu alayhi wa sallam empowered the sahaba, did that take away from his authority or did it empower him?
The reason everybody is so amazed and enamored with me right now is because I have worked every angle, I have worked every formula, I have worked every equation, I have seen every club, I have seen every performance, I have seen every joke, I have studied, I have done my job. That's why I'm good. It's not because I got up one night and decided I wanted to tell some f - -ing jokes.
Hopefully that will be seen as a response, a leadership responding to an issue and therefore one's authority, while it's not as high if you didn't have the problem, it does mean that people say 'well he used his authority to come up with a solution in double-quick time that met with broader public acceptance.'
Gardening?is one of the most underrated aspects of diplomacy.
Who thought it would be a good idea to undermine art in the school curriculum? Who thought studying the history of our visual culture was a waste of time? Who thought that only private schools should have that privilege? Was it someone who said we don't need experts?
In 'Battlestar' I'm the military and spiritual leader as well as a father. As a military commander I can treat Apollo only as I treat everyone else. At certain times, Adama has to be the commander and give the necessary orders, no matter how much it may pain him to do so.
I'm really a nightmare for the fashion designer because I take away all of his authority, and I become the authority, and I turn him into my assistant. You could say I intervene, and I intervene in a very determining way in all the aspects that have to do with the visual construction of the film.
There's no doubt West Point impacted who I am... It has an enormous emphasis, not only on military aspects, but character development. Whether it's the honor code, or the interactions you have, both with the cadet leadership and the academy leadership, every place you are is a character test.
I've been working in Hollywood for a long time now in many different aspects in front of the camera, behind the camera, and I've worked with top executives, presidents of networks. I've worked all around. I see energy and what's around these studios and a lot of these offices. You don't get the high positions in these companies if you don't take advantage of other people in some way. I've seen that around. I've seen that around the studios, whether it's producers or whoever. Egos are there. Greed.
I've never seen a performer create electricity with an audience like James Brown. He's got everybody in his hands and whatever he wants to do with them, he does it. It's amazing. I've always thought he was underrated.
Because President Obama had an overall strategy, military and civilian leaders under his command could make reactive decisions that advanced the president's goals. In the military, we call that commander's intent: When there's a decision to be made and you don't have exact guidance at that moment, you at least know overall what your boss wants.
Any commander who fails to exceed his authority is not of much use to his subordinates.
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