There are many codes of honor or profession that can be observed in the military. The military is a place of leadership and mentorship and the lessons learned there are often of the highest order, lives being at stake and the fate of nations at stake. Leaders often do not naturally arise to high position until great and calamitous occasions arise. Then a sergeant can go right into being a captain, or a colonel can be moved into general ship, even three or four stars worth.
This rapid movement through the ranks was often a consequence of being in the right place at the right time and being noticed by superiors in a marked way and distinguishing way. Sometimes the rapid move up the ranks was well warranted, sometimes a misadventure. But the times often demand moving leadership into the fight quickly.
This kind of environment demands at a minimum that trust is established as a bedrock principle. You have to trust that your subordinates will follow your orders and you have to trust that your leaders will make wise decisions as they issue those orders. Another word for this is the Chain Of Command, three words to be exact.
This particular code is simple, you don’t go running your mouth off about your leadership, if its that important that you feel compelled to complain, you go through a process, starting with your platoon leadership right through your company and battalion on up the chain, maybe even reaching the division leadership. There is always some grousing or recreational complaining as we called it, but senior leaders had been around too long to let this be forgotten. A colonel that was worth his salt would never complain about his commanding general without going straight to the general with his concerns. It was completely unprofessional and could put the whole command in jeopardy.
This, one of many other codes kept some order in the ranks. It was unusually burdensome for sure, and prevented many complaints from ever being lodged. But it was the duty of the patriotic solder to open his mouth and explain his point of view for leadership to know what was going on at all levels of the command. You might get in some hot water from saying it, but this duty was more important than that, almost sacred in fact.
This lesson or principle of talking to leaders with respect is hardly understood in civilian life. It just doesn’t compute. We have so many ways and words and actions to undermine leaders today that we don’t even think about how our words might help them and make for better outcomes. So many of us wouldn’t even know how to communicate our ideas in a productive manner.
This is tragic. It is the consequence of being told that you are not needed, not effective in today’s world. Marginalized, relegated to the edges, pushed out of the decision process, we can forget that we are in this world together and more needful of earth other than we realize.
The decision rests with the individual of course. We can each choose our own identity, who we stand with, what we stand for but do we want to make those choices and decisions on how we have been treated or what our community needs from us now?
Humans have always been comfortable lounging in their own complaints, repeating, commenting on and multiplying the bad acts of others. But leaders, real leaders, simply put, rise above it and find themselves promoted in such turbulent times. Times that call for candor and courage, communication skills and trust building. Leadership that actively unites us, in word and deed. I’m thankful I had a military experience that honored this code of talking to your superiors with confidence and strength. We need it again.
When the war, if you could call it that was going badly, General Washington was dressed down by General Green, a high ranking commander but still under Washington. Washington took the words of his subordinate to heart and reflected on them, followed up with a major change of strategy for the Revolutionary Army. I suspect that Greenes advice saved the day and Washington owed Greene a great debt. Instead of revenge, Washington rewarded Greene with his deepest trust and support. America owes the same to leaders that take responsibility for the actions of the entire chain of command, above and below them and calls them to account. We, each singular one of us can be this courageous, the times call for it.