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BLUEPRINT

Copyright © 2016 Jason M. West

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,

including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from Maimou Publishing,

LLC, except for inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

ISBN: 153020609X

ISBN-13:978-1530206094

DISCLAIMER: The views presented are those of the author and do not represent the views of the Department of Defense or the United States Marine Corps. Some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals. Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause.

Dedicated to my wife, Crystal, who has supported me each step of the way, and without whom this book would have not been possible.

To my fallen Brothers from Operation Iraqi Freedom

Captain Patrick M. Rapicault, USMC

Captain John W. Maloney, USMC Captain Tyler B. Swisher, USMC Captain Robert M. Secher, USMC

Jason M. West has been leading and developing teams for 20 plus years as a Marine, entrepreneur, and business professional. He has founded two companies and successfully sold one. West is a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Marine Corps Reserves and has served in combat environments in Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan. West has lived the U.S. Marine philosophy of Officers Eat Last, which effectively means servant leadership. West has used his experience as a leader to create a leadership development doctrine that anyone can use to become a successful leader.

Preface

Part I:

Establishing Your Leadership Foundation

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1 What is Leadership? 1

2 How Does Someone Become a Leader? 10

3 Know Yourself 19

4 Creating Your Leadership Doctrine 38

5 Creating Your Leadership Rules

Part II: Building Your Leadership Skills

51

6 How to Build a Skill 62

7 How to Become an Effective Communicator (as a Leader)

67

8 How to Become an Effective Planner

(as a Leader)

76

9 How to Become an Effective Decision Maker

(as a Leader)

86

10 How to Build a Successful Team (as a Leader)

Part III:

Starting Your Leadership Journey

96

11 Ethical Leadership: The Only Way to Lead 104

12 Role of Leadership Mentors 109

13 Role of Leadership Influencers 113

14 Let the Leadership Journey Begin

Acknowledgments

Appendix A

Appendix B

119

125

126

127

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The first time I ever thought about writing a leadership

development book was the summer of 2001. I was a US

Marine Captain instructor at the Marine Corps Officer

Candidates School (OCS) in Quantico, VA. Wharton Business

School had recently organized a leadership venture to OCS.

The students wrote a lengthy lesson learned document from the

event that was shared with the OCS staff. I remember reading

the statements and how impressed the business school students

were with Marine Corps leadership principles. Each of their

statements emphasized how they were going to take the

leadership lessons they learned from their experience back into

the business world. I was impressed with their enthusiasm, but

they learned their leadership lessons in a day-and-a-half trip to

Quantico. Since 2001, I have founded two companies and

successfully sold one. I have worked for Fortune 500

companies, mid-size, and start-ups. Over my 24 year career as a

Marine, I have served in Kosovo; Fallujah, Iraq; and Sangin,

Afghanistan. I am now a Lieutenant Colonel Marine Reserve

infantry officer. This leadership development book is a

combination of all the lessons I have learned over my 20 plus

year career as an entrepreneur, business leader, and Marine.

My experience in the business world indicates that there isn’t a

clear path to become a successful leader for entrepreneurs and

business professionals. I believe the leadership development

process that I have outlined and detailed in this book provides a

clear path.

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I will not try to make you a US Marine. I will not try to make you me. The blueprint or doctrine that I lay out will leverage your unique personality and style to grow you into a successful leader. Most companies do not have leadership development programs. They expect the young business professional to learn leadership on their own time. Most young professionals today will work for 7-8 different companies over their career. The responsibility to grow yourself as a leader is your own. The blueprint foundation is built on the philosophy of Officers Eat Last, which effectively means servant leadership. It is a physical expression of servant leadership, because Marine leaders eat last during field training and in certain combat environments. If your logistics personnel did not provide enough food for the unit, the leaders will not eat. The best people to fix any logistic issues are the leaders. Servant leadership is a simple philosophy, but it will allow you to take people to heights they never dreamed. If you are ready to begin your journey to becoming a successful and confident leader, please join me and keep reading.

3

Do you want another leadership book for FREE today?

Go to the link below for your FREE eBook.

OfficersEatLast.com/index.php/rules-book/

Carnegie Institute

of Technology

85% of your financial success is due to your

personality and ability to communicate,

negotiate, and lead.

Shockingly, only 15% is due to

your technical knowledge.

Are you seeking a path to greater financial

success within your organization or as an

entrepreneur?

Do you want to have a greater influence on

your team, peers, managers, and customers?

Start your journey to become a successful

leader today.

Start your journey to achieve greater

financial success today.

4

Officers Eat Last

Leadership Development Rules

Every successful leader has leadership rules that

guide their actions with their team.

Jason has compiled a list of 75 leadership rules

that he has used throughout his 20 plus years of

leading teams.

Add them to your personal leadership doctrine

today.

Get your FREE copy at the link below.

OfficersEatLast.com/index.php/rules-book/

PART I

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CHAPTER 1

“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.”

-John A. Lejeune Lieutenant General 13th Commandant of the Marine Corps

Sangin, Helmand Province, Afghanistan - 2011

The sound of machine gun fire and the consequent return of

small caliber weapons could be heard in close proximity, but we

were lucky to be outside the path of the fire fight. This was

2011, Sangin, Afghanistan, one of the deadliest places in the

world for a United States Marine. Over the course of the year,

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casualties were staggering; over 30 dead and 150 plus wounded.

I walked to my patrol leader, Sergeant Kennedy, and

recommended that we return to Forward Operating Base

Jackson. Our unit had just completed a construction project

assessment in which a civilian engineer was accompanying us on

patrol. I was not aware of his battle readiness, but was fairly

confident that he did not want to be in the line of fire. I quickly

communicated my recommended route back to base with

Sergeant Kennedy who then called in our position to the

Combat Operations Center (COC). She informed them that we

were returning to base. The fire fight was taking place between

a static Marine position and Taliban insurgents east of the

Sangin bazaar, in a wadi, or dry riverbed. The entire unit heard

the firefight but remained calm and composed. The plan to

return to base and the intended route was communicated to the

team. The decision was made that we would not engage in the

firefight, as the Marines had the engagement in hand and we did

US Marines on patrol in Sangin, Afghanistan, 2011

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not want to risk moving a civilian into harm’s way. We were

directly west of the skirmish, and our movement back to base

would require our team to cross the wadi. Our current position

left our patrol clear from impacting rounds, as the engagement

was taking place at a northwest - southeast angle. However, the

required movement across the wadi would leave our team

exposed. I made the decision that we would use a tactical bump

plan to move across the open area and informed the team,

while also covering our rules of engagement. Near side

security was established, and the first two Marines rapidly

moved across to establish far side security. At this point we

began to bump the remainder of the team across the exposed

wadi. As I cleared the wadi and set up on the far side, I peered

through the scope of my rifle to see an individual moving in the

wadi at approximately 200 meters from our point carrying a

long straight device. I immediately placed my finger on the

trigger and clicked off safe. Your adrenaline starts to rush at

the thought that you are about to take someone’s life. We were

not under fire so I needed to ensure I was acting in accordance

with our rules of engagement. Due to the limited power of my

scope, I could not positively confirm that my target was holding

an AK-47, the preferred weapon of the enemy. As he runs out

of my field of view, I click my weapon back to safe. He never

attempted to fire on our patrol, therefore preventing me from

taking the shot. As the fire fight in the distance continued, I

returned my focus to our patrol, who had cleared the exposed

area in the wadi. Our team members assumed their positions

within the patrol and began our final few hundred meter trek to

safety at the base under the confident lead of Sgt Kennedy.

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This story helps to demonstrate how incredibly important

communication, teamwork, confidence, and decision making

are for effective leadership. More times than not, leadership is

about avoiding pitfalls and making the necessary decisions to

lead a team to a desired outcome. This situation could have

ended with casualties, had our team not used our training to

assess the situation, communicated our objectives, and

remained calm in a hostile environment.

Leadership position vs Leadership role

It is extremely important to understand the difference between

a leadership position, and a leadership role. The focus of this

book is on individuals that are in leadership positions or are

aspiring leaders. A person in a leadership position is an

individual that has two or more people as direct reports, and is

responsible for their collective actions as a team. Examples of

individuals in leadership positions are entrepreneurs, regional

sales managers, operations managers, product managers,

coaches, etc that have direct employees. The key is that the

individual in a leadership position has direct employees. The

best way to grow as a leader is to be in a leadership position. A

person in a leadership role is an individual that does not have

direct reports, but is in a position to influence the actions of

others. Examples of individuals in leadership roles are, a

quarterback of a football team, a class president in high school

or college, or a salesperson without employees. The key

difference is that the individual does not have any employees

and is not being paid to be in a leadership position. There are

different skill sets that need to be developed to be successful in

a leadership role. The education and development is centered

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on influence. It is more difficult to be successful in a leadership

role because you don’t have any positional authority.

Leadership Styles

Every leader has their own style that they have developed over

years of leading. The only way to be successful as a leader is to

develop a style that is uniquely yours. A leader has to move

individuals toward a common goal in order to succeed. The

style that General Patton used created success for his team on

the battlefield during World War II, but would probably not

resonate with a group of software engineers in the 21st Century.

He was trained and developed by the US Army to lead soldiers

into battle. He was a student of history and leadership. He

developed a style that fit his personality, and matched his

environment on the battlefield. He knew his objective, and led

his soldiers to defeat the enemy. He had positional power.

The character Spock from the popular TV show Star Trek, had

a unique leadership style that was focused heavily on the

analysis of data and logic. Spock wasn’t concerned with human

emotions regarding leadership, and problem solving, but he

knew that emotions were important to humans. This allowed

Spock to integrate human emotions into his decision making.

He relied on his intelligence and analytical abilities with his

leadership style. Every leader has to make conscious decisions

about their leadership style. Their leadership style must be

aligned with their personality or they will have a very difficult

time being successful. The leader's style, personality, and

behaviors must also align with their environment and industry.

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Leadership Abilities vs Technical Competencies

I have been perplexed with the amount of emphasis business

professionals place on technical abilities as it relates to

leadership. There is a huge misunderstanding in this area,

which leads to employee complaints about their supervision.

The person that is leading the team is often the person that was

most skilled in a technical area. The prevailing wisdom is to

promote this individual into a leadership position. The majority

of the time this person does not want to lead or doesn’t know

how to lead the team. They enjoy the technical details and are

not really interested in leading a team of people and pulling

themselves away from the data. So why do they normally

accept these offers? They generally accept because of the

financial benefit, the corner office, or the perceived freedom the

position offers. The problem is that the honeymoon is very

short. Their company offers them zero leadership training and

development. The thought process is that the person is clearly

intelligent, so they will figure it out. The new leader normally

alienates the team they are leading. They set expectations way

too high. They expect their team to work as many hours as

they previously did when they were in the technical details every

day. They expect their team to have the knowledge they do,

then get frustrated when they realize their team doesn’t.

Eventually this team will begin to miss deadlines, underperform

and ultimately fail. The new leader will be overwhelmed with

stress. The company will lose a couple of great engineers in the

process, and then eventually their new leader will also quit

because he is ill equipped to handle the situation. He will land

at another company as an individual contributor and be as

happy as a kid with an ice cream cone. The way to stop this

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cycle is to recognize that an individual's technical competence

does not directly correlate to leadership ability. Often times it is

a detriment. Leadership development requires time and

patience on the part of the individual and company.

Leader vs Manager

I’m not a fan of the word “Manager”. The world needs leaders,

not managers. My focus is on developing leaders. I realize that

I will not be able to rid the world of the word “manager”, but it

will be used very rarely by me. You must think of yourself as a

leader if you are going to succeed. A leader is emotionally

involved with their team. They care about the welfare and

success of the team. An ill-equipped manager is not concerned

with personal issues that may affect an individual's

performance. Those who are managerial focused, sometimes

feel the individual should deal with that on their own time, and

not bring their personal problems to work. A leader

understands that sometimes people get divorced, have a sick

child, or ill parent, and that can have a detrimental impact on an

individual’s performance. If they have a consistent solid

performer on their team and notice a significant drop in

performance, the leader engages the person. This engagement

by a leader will normally reveal that the drop in performance is

due to a personal issue in their life. The stress weighs on the

emotional state of the individual and affects their performance.

A leader acknowledges the effect this can have, and works with

the individual to determine a path towards resolution. The

correct path always varies and could mean time away from work

or a schedule adjustment, but the leader will gain a tremendous

amount of loyalty from this individual by being human and

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acknowledging the problem they are dealing with.

As you might expect, an ill-equipped manager will handle this a

different way. An ill-equipped manager is not concerned with

issues that are outside of work. They don’t know if their

employees are married. They don’t know where they grew up,

if they have siblings or parents, etc. An ill-equipped manager

also doesn’t care. They are concerned about the work the

individual is responsible for each day. The ill-equipped

manager will open the “Management 101” textbook when there

is a drop in performance. They will document the drop in

performance with a written counseling and get the employee to

sign the paperwork for Human Resources. Employees will

hesitate to communicate with this type of manager that there is

an underlying issue. They will accept the written counseling and

sign the paperwork. The end result will be this employee

becoming disengaged and seeking opportunities elsewhere.

We are going to focus on being a leader and minimize the

unemotional attributes that some managers display. A

successful leader does need to know and understand

management principles. However, management principles

should be focused on non-human resources and assets. We

need to lead people and manage resources and assets.

Leaders are Made

I am firmly in the camp with the legendary football coach Vince

Lombardi’s belief that leaders are made. I was developed into a

leader by outstanding mentors that cared about my leadership

development. I have developed and mentored people to

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become successful leaders. If you are interested in creating your

blueprint for building your leadership foundation; let’s get

started.

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CHAPTER 2

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be

strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved.”

-Helen Keller

I arrived in Quantico, VA in early April 2015. The US

Marine Corps had been tasked by the Department of

Defense (DOD) to host the 2015 Department of Defense

Warrior Games. The Warrior Games is an adaptive sports

athletic competition amongst the DOD and British Services.

The first Warrior Games were presented by Deloitte, and

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hosted by the US Olympic Committee in Colorado in 2010.

They had been held each Summer since 2010, so it was going

to be the sixth Warrior Games. At the conclusion of the

2014 Warrior Games. It had become evident that the two

organizations had different objectives for the event. The US

Olympic Committee wanted to use the event to feed their

Paralympic Games. The DOD was using the event for

adaptive sports recovery. The goal was to assist and facilitate

the recovery of wounded, ill, and injured service members.

The Marine Corps tasked the Wounded Warrior Regiment to

plan and execute the event in Quantico, VA. I was tasked to

be the Operations Officer for the Warrior Games Task Force

that was being organized to plan and execute the event.

When I joined in early April 2015, there were already some

planning decisions made, but we didn’t have a complete staff

to run the event. As any good leader knows, having the right

team is critical to your success, so the first thing we set out to

do was build the rest of the team. The Wounded Warrior

Regiment received a contingent of about 20 contractors to

2015 Department of Defense Warrior Games closing ceremony.

Quantico, Virginia, 2015

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assist with the planning effort. Most of these contractors

continued through execution of the event, which contributed

to the success of the 2015 Warrior Games. Marine Corps

Base Quantico maintained their independence as an

organization, but played a huge part in the planning and

execution of the event. It was fascinating as we continued to

bring people into the planning effort to hear their comments

and feedback. I had never planned a sporting event, or any

event that the highest ranking civilian and military officials of

the Department of Defense would be the guest speakers and

visitors. The individuals that had planned major events

couldn’t believe that we only had two months to plan, and

execute a 10 day Olympic level competition event, with an

Open Ceremony and Closing Ceremony. The Marines

involved in the planning effort knew we would be successful.

We didn’t care that it hadn’t been done. We just knew that

we were going to do it. We created operational planning

teams (OPTs) to plan each event of the Warrior Games.

Each of these OPTs had between 20-60 members. They

comprised subject matter experts that had planned, and had

been involved in previous adaptive sports competitions. The

planning teams had all of the expertise that we needed to plan

and execute the event. We conducted over 60 planning

sessions, and developed an operations order that was several

hundred pages in length to execute the event, which led to

the event being a success.

As I have reflected back on the event, and what we were able

to accomplish together, I have thought about what allowed

me to have the confidence to act as the Operations Officer.

It was how I was developed into a leader by the United States

Marine Corps. I have led planning efforts in Iraq and

Afghanistan for combat operations. I have led efforts with

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more people, more assets, and clearly a higher level of risk

than a sporting event. My experiences and training provided

the confidence to act in that capacity. The Officers Eat Last

Leadership Development Process will do that same thing for

you.

By committing all of your efforts to building yourself as a

leader, this program will help you to establish a strong

foundation that can lead to a future of continued growth and

success as a leader in your field of choice.

Understand the Purpose of Leadership

The purpose of leadership is to join a group of individuals

together into a team, and accomplish a common goal. If the

group of individuals act and perform as a team, they will

accomplish more than a group of individuals acting alone.

Desire to Lead

An individual must have a desire to lead others. A person

will never build a team if they have accepted a promotion

into a leadership position due to an increase in salary alone.

They must want to grow as a leader. The team that you are

leading will be able to determine quickly if you have a desire

to lead. People want to be led by people that have a desire to

be a better leader.

Lead

The best way to grow as a leader is to actually lead others.

You will never have significant growth as a leader unless you

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are in a leadership position.

Fail

When you begin your leadership journey you will make

mistakes. Your first leadership position will probably be

leading less than ten people. This is a great place to figure

out leadership and fail small. Failure leads to success in just

about any endeavor. The critical piece is to learn from your

mistakes. Real leadership is built the way character is built. It

is built through trials and tribulations. There isn’t a linear

path to leadership success.

Study, Self-Reflection, Having a Mentor

Leadership is not a technical skill. Leadership can be learned,

but it takes work by the individual that is attempting to

become a Leader. You must read and study successful

leaders from history like George Washington and Henry

Ford. You need to ask what made them successful. What

leadership techniques of theirs can you employ? What style

of leadership fits with my personality? What industry is a fit

for my personality and leadership? All great leaders have

mentors that provided guidance and wisdom.

Officers Eat Last Leadership Development Process

The Officers Eat Last Leadership Development Process is

your blueprint to build your leadership foundation. Officers

Eat Last is a term used by US Marines as a physical

expression of servant leadership. It guides the actions of

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Marine leaders. When Marines are training or in certain

combat environments and the unit is going to have a meal

together, the Marines are directed to line up from the lowest

rank to the highest rank present. The heavy lifting and

hardest work is done by the youngest Marines. They deserve

to eat first. I have experienced this first hand as a young

enlisted Marine when I was able to eat first. I have also

experienced being the last to eat as a Commanding Officer.

It is a small sacrifice to be the last to eat, but it sends a

tremendous message. There have been times where there

was no food left when it came time for myself and other

senior Marine leaders to eat. It is unfortunate when this

happens, but the leaders of the unit are the best people to fix

any logistic issues and ensure there is enough food for the

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next meal. Don’t let the word “Officer” create any

confusion. The last word in the acronym CEO is “Officer”.

In business, it is common for people to talk about the

officers or executives of the company. The way the phrase is

used is a reference to leaders. It is my opinion that servant

leaders are the most successful leaders. As a leader, you need

something that reminds you daily of where your focus should

be. It should be on the people that you lead. There is

nothing like waiting for 250 people to eat before you have a

bite of food to remind you of your focus. What will you use

daily to remind you to focus on your people first? The

journey to becoming a successful leader is a long process, but

the ten steps of the OEL Leadership Development Process

will assist in shortening your journey.

Officers Eat Last Stages of Leadership

There are three stages of leadership that are based on the

number of people you are leading. The only way to be a

Stage I leader is to be in a leadership position. If you are a

student body president, you are not a Stage I Leader. You

are in a leadership role and have influence, but you are not

being paid in your role. There are three levels within each

stage. All leaders begin as an aspiring leader. Leadership

mentoring and hands-on leadership allow you to grow

through experienced leader and then to a mature leader.

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The number of people being led can stay the same from

Aspiring to Experienced to Mature leader because a person

changes levels by hours leading, reading, and being mentored.

An example of a Stage I Aspiring leader could be a High

School football coach. If the coach is still coaching football

40 years later, they would be a Stage I Mature leader because

the number of people they are leading has not changed.

The focus of this leadership development book is on Stage I aspiring leaders.

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CHAPTER 3

It is absurd that a man should rule others, who cannot rule himself.

-Latin Proverb

It was the Winter of 1998. I was in the Director’s office at the

United States Marine Corps Infantry Officer’s Course and being

told that I would not be graduating with my peers as I had

expected. I was devastated, but at the same time I had seen it

coming. My arrogance and cockiness had finally caught up to

me. I had completed all of the requirements to be a Marine

Infantry Officer, but there were a few staff members that felt

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like I was too arrogant to be an infantry officer. The Director

agreed with their assessment, so I would not graduate with my

peers, and I would be held back at Quantico for an indefinite

number of weeks for further evaluation. The Corps needed to

determine if I was humble enough to lead Marines. When I

think back to that time in my life, I have to laugh a little.

Marine infantry officers are some of the most arrogant and

cocky people in the US military. It is pretty bad when you are

deemed even more arrogant than the standard Marine infantry

officer. This required me to take a step back and do quite a bit

of soul searching. Once all the administrative details were set, I

got in my truck and started driving west. I didn’t know where I

was going, I just knew I needed to get away from Quantico for

the weekend. After a couple hours of driving I ended up in

White Sulphur Springs, WV. I decided to stop at The

Greenbrier Resort, which is a luxury resort that has a massive

underground bunker that was meant to serve as an emergency

A young Second Lieutenant West cooling off during an exercise at

The Basic School, Quantico, Virginia, 1997

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shelter for the U.S. Congress during the Cold War. I walked in

and requested a room for the night, but was taken aback when I

was told by the clerk that the night would cost $450. I had the

money, but my practical side told me that I could get a room

for less, so I decided to try elsewhere. I headed out and found a

hole of a motel for around 45 bucks. I found a local dive and

grabbed some beer and food. There weren’t many cell phones

at that time, and I didn’t have one, so no tracking devices, no

checking in on people. It was just me, by myself in West

Virginia. Some people have the ability to listen and figure

themselves out without a lot of pain and misery. That is not the

way I did it. I had my future in front of me as a Marine Officer

and my arrogance almost ruined my plans. I was learning a ton

about myself and some of those things were not easy to

swallow. I was way too arrogant, aggressive, and cocky. This

was another wakeup call in a long line of feedback that I had

ignored. I drank as much beer as I could and walked back to

my rundown motel room. When I awoke in the morning, I was

a bit hungover, but I felt like I was ready to tackle the

challenges ahead of me. I wasn’t happy but I felt like I knew

what I had to do. I needed to add some humility to my style

and pay much closer attention to my own behavior.

Why is it Important to Know Yourself as a Leader?

It seems like common sense that you should know yourself.

Most people think that they have a good understanding of

themselves. If you are an individual contributor in your

profession then this probably works for you. However, once

you start to lead a team it becomes much more important. All

of your actions will be observed every day. The time you arrive

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at work. The time you leave work. If you drink coffee. If you

don’t drink coffee. The way you run a meeting. The way you

establish goals or don’t establish goals. It is extremely

important that the view you have of yourself is in focus with

those that you lead. If you think you are intelligent, thoughtful,

and caring but your team thinks you are intelligent, lazy, and

selfish. Guess what? You have a problem. You will never lead

your team to new heights.

How is Your Self-Image Developed?

Your self-image is developed over your life. It begins when you

are a child. Parents that provide a loving and caring home for

their children have an impact on their children’s self-image. If

you excel in school from an early age, it will have an impact on

your self-image. If you have positive people around you, it will

impact you. All of your experiences good or bad build who you

are. If you were involved in sports and you excelled, it builds

your self-image.

My step-grandfather use to call me “Winner” when I was a kid.

I didn’t think much about it as a kid, but I think it is rooted in

my subconscious. I respected him as an authority figure in my

life, and I think it has impacted my attitude as an adult. I don’t

think about him saying that to me that often, but I think it is

always there. If I am going to pursue something, I believe I can

win. We know unfortunately there are adults that were called

“Loser” when they were a kid. This is a terrible thing for an

adult to do to a kid. If something like this has happened to you,

you must use it to strengthen your resolve to succeed. You

have to do it for yourself and don’t allow the person that called

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you a loser to have control over your life. Do not repeat the

mistake that was made.

Reality TV Show Syndrome

We have all watched reality TV shows that are competitions of

talent. The show may be judging the ability of an individual to

sing. The show has a panel of judges that evaluate the talent of

the individual. We have all heard an individual audition and the

sound gives you a headache because it is so terrible. The

person awaits the responses from the judges, and they inform

the person that they are horrible. The judges normally add

additional descriptions that make for great TV. The singer is

provided an opportunity to respond and they normally say, “I

don’t care what you think, I’m a great singer”. When I was an

instructor at the US Marine Corps Officer Candidates School

(OCS), we use to hear this same type of response from

candidates. The only purpose of OCS is to train, evaluate, and

screen for leadership. Candidates that are failing are provided

an opportunity in front of a board or panel to explain their

actions. The candidates are presented with the facts of their

performance. A typical evaluation of a failing candidate would

indicate that they were lazy, selfish, and lacked the ability to

accomplish simple tasks with their team when in a leadership

position. If a candidate acknowledged their failures and

sincerely indicated that they would improve their performance

during the next evaluation, they had an opportunity to continue

in training. If a candidate argued and defended their

performance, basically indicating that the OCS instructors and

their peers did not present a fair evaluation, they were dismissed

from OCS. We called this the “Reality TV Show Syndrome”.

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The individual's self-image and talent are out of focus. They are

delusional. These type of individuals make the worst leaders.

These are the leaders that believe their team is succeeding

because of them. When in reality their team does not respect

them, and doesn’t want to work for them but they just haven’t

quit yet. This is not where you want to operate as a leader.

You do not want to live in delusionary land. When you are in a

leadership position, your team does not need to like you, but

they must respect what you are trying to do as a leader. If you

can have respect, you can normally have trust.

The Entitlement Attitude

We would see the entitlement attitude in candidates at OCS.

This is a dangerous place for any leader to be. Great leaders

fight against this attitude. They know they have to prove their

worth every day. Past success is an indication of future success,

but a leader cannot rest on past success alone. A typical

entitlement attitude candidate is an individual that has had

success in multiple pursuits, academics, sports, and other

extracurricular activities. They have also been told by their

parents, family, and friends that they are the best. There is

nothing wrong with past success and a positive environment.

The problem arises when the individual believes that their past

success is enough and they don’t have to compete or be

challenged again. These candidates think that the Marine Corps

should judge them on their success in sports and their grades in

college. They feel the Marine Corps is lucky to have them, and

needs to provide them with their commission, so that they can

accomplish the other things on their career list. This doesn’t

work out very well for “the entitlement attitude” candidate.

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These candidates are brought before a board and provided an

opportunity to adapt their behavior for further evaluation. The

candidates that recognize that they must earn a commission

through their actions everyday normally will graduate. The

candidates that defend their previous accomplishments and

indicate that their family thinks they are successful do not make

it.

It is important for leaders of all ages to recognize the

entitlement attitude, and put measures in place to shield against

it. I have to do it in my life. I love having an office. I know

that I work best in an office. I have never had to work for long

in a cubicle and I’m not a fan of it. I basically have an

entitlement attitude towards having an office. You need to

understand if your behavior indicates an entitlement attitude. If

you see this in your behavior you need to adapt your actions

because you will have a difficult time being successful as a

leader with an entitlement attitude.

U.S. Marine Officer Candidates School

Tri-Focal View of Leadership

The mission of OCS is to educate, and train officer candidates

in Marine Corps knowledge, and skills within a controlled,

challenging, and chaotic environment in order to evaluate, and

screen individuals for the leadership, moral, mental, and

physical qualities required for commissioning as a Marine Corps

Officer. The primary mission of OCS is to evaluate and screen

to determine if young Americans possess leadership abilities.

An individual that arrives at OCS must have some basic

leadership abilities upon arrival, or they will have a very difficult

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time completing the course. One of the methods that the

instructor staff at OCS uses to evaluate leadership is called the

Tri-Focal View. The Seniors are the candidates instructor staff.

The staff is comprised of experienced enlisted drill instructors

that are seasoned in leadership evaluation, the Platoon

Commanders are Captains, and the Company Commander is a

Major. The Captains have 4-9 years of leadership experience.

The Major has 10-16 years of leadership experience. The peers

are the candidates peers in the course. Feedback from peers is

gathered through peer evaluations that take place three times

over the length of the course. The last view is the view the

candidate has of themselves. The only way for a candidate to

graduate is for the Tri-Focal View to be in focus. Candidates

are placed in leadership positions throughout the course and

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evaluated on their ability to lead. The leadership positions

usually last for 48 hours. The candidate in the leadership

position will have many tasks that they need to accomplish as a

leader over this period of time. Most of these tasks are simple,

but they become overwhelming to many candidates due to the

environment. It is always difficult to lead your peers.

The Drill Instructor staff assist in facilitating a little chaos for

the candidates in the leadership positions. At the completion of

a candidate’s leadership position, they receive a written

evaluation and counseling from one of the staff members. The

candidate will be asked a series of questions regarding their

performance. The candidate will also be required to write a

response on the evaluation. This could be called the

constructive critique time for the candidate.

This is the beginning of the Tri-Focal View for the candidate.

The majority of candidates do not do well in their first or

second leadership position at OCS. It is important for the

candidate to understand and accept the leadership critique they

receive. The candidates that accept the critique, and

acknowledge that they need improvement continue in training.

The next part of the Tri-Focal View is the peer evaluation. The

candidates are required to rank their peers in their squad. A

normal squad at OCS has 12-18 candidates in the squad. This

can be a very humbling experience for many candidates. A

candidate may receive feedback from the instructor staff that

they acted selfish and were not leading by example. If they

receive similar feedback from their peers, it is important for the

candidate to accept this constructive critique. They must adapt

their behavior and leadership style to be unselfish to those they

lead. Any candidate that does not accept this critique has their

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Tri-Focal View out of focus. These candidates do not normally

graduate OCS.

Is your Tri-Focal View in focus? Is the picture you have of

yourself the same picture that your seniors, mentors, and peers

have of you?

Officers Eat Last - Diamond View of Leadership

The Officer Candidates School Tri-Focal View of leadership is

very effective for its specific purpose. However, it is not the

best view of a leader in the business world. The Officers Eat

Last Diamond View of leadership more properly aligns a

leader’s world in business today. The only way for the

diamond view to work is for the individual to be in an actual

leadership position. For our purposes, this means the leader

has people working for them. The leader is being paid to

accomplish a set of tasks and the people working for him

understand that he is their supervisor. The most effective way

to become a better leader is to actually lead people and then

receive constructive feedback on your performance. The

feedback will continue to shape your self-image. It will

continue to shape who you are as a leader. I was informed early

on in my career that I lack patience. I have heard this from

Seniors/Mentors, Peers, Employees, and Customers. I believe

that I am impatient, so my Diamond View is in focus. This is

the most important part of how to use this information. What

will I do with this feedback? My natural state is to be impatient,

and push hard to accomplish the goals for the team I’m leading.

However, I have to remind myself that sometimes a little

patience is not a bad trait to use. There is always a balance on

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how hard a leader can push their team. This is why leading is

an art and not a science.

If I was continually receiving feedback that I lacked patience

and I denied and ignored this feedback, then my Diamond

View would be out of focus. This is a terrible place for a leader

to be. A leader will have an extremely difficult time building

Employees

30

trust with their team if they do not acknowledge constructive

feedback.

All of the feedback that the leader receives from the Diamond

View is important, but a leader should rank that importance per

the below list:

1. Mentors

2. Employees

3. Seniors

4. Peers

5. Customers

The mentor should not be relative. All leaders need to align

themselves with at least one experienced mentor. The mentor

needs to be a leader that has 15-20 years of leadership

experience. I want to emphasize that our definition of a leader

is an individual that has been paid to lead a team of people. A

mentor will not normally be able to observe your daily

interactions with your team. They will not be in your team

meetings or observe you resolving problems with your team. It

is critical to share the real facts with your mentor. Your mentor

will be able to coach and lead you on the different decisions you

can make, and how your behavior may be impacting your team

in a positive or negative way.

Employee feedback can get extremely interesting. At times you

may have members of your team that do not want to see you

succeed. If you are constantly receiving negative feedback from

a specific employee, this is where your mentor comes into play.

Share these interactions with your mentor and they should be

able to guide you in your decision making regarding constant

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negative feedback from a particular employee. The other side

of this is when an employee is constantly telling you how great

you are as a leader. Compliments are always nice to hear, but a

leader needs to be cognizant that the constant positive feedback

from an employee may be so that they can advance their

agenda. The leader needs to sift through the feedback to shape

their style of leadership. The goal is to create a cohesive team

that works together. A team that feels like a team and

accomplishes big goals together. The best way to obtain this

feedback is one-on-one with an employee. Do not ask for

feedback in a meeting where

everyone can hear. If you have an

office, do not bring an employee into

your office and ask them. You need

to ask them while you are walking

down a hallway. It needs to be very

casual. The employee doesn’t even

know you are asking for a critique of your leadership. Your

question would be, “How do you think we are doing?”. After

you ask this question, you must listen for the employee’s

answer. They may say something like, “Oh, we are doing fine”.

It is important to listen for tone and inflection. You need to dig

deeper if you get a “we are doing fine” answer. Your next

question would be, “No, really how do you think we are going?

What are we doing wrong? What can we improve?”. Normally

after these questions, you will get some real feedback. Their

answers will be directed at the performance of the team. It is

important to take all of this information on in a gracious way.

You don’t have to implement every idea they provide, but you

need to acknowledge that you appreciate their feedback.

Earn your

leadership

every day.

Michael Jordan

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Feedback from a senior or your boss is important in the short

term, but a leader needs to be careful about this feedback over

the long term. There are tons of seniors in the business world

that are not effective leaders. Their feedback to you can be to

advance their career without any regard for yours. This is why

it is critical to have a mentor aligned with you on your

leadership journey. Your mentor can assist you in

understanding the type of senior that you have. If you have an

effective leader for a boss, you will be able to put more weight

on their critique of your leadership.

Peer feedback can be extremely beneficial. The peer can be a

friend you have known for years. The peer can also be a peer

leader where you work. You will need all types of peer

feedback. If it is a friend you have known for years and trust,

you should describe leadership situations with your team and

explain your decisions. You also need to describe to your

friend what you are trying to do. Sometimes a peer can lead

you off track, but you will know if they want to help you

succeed.

The least impactful feedback to assist in shaping your leadership

style is customer feedback. Customer feedback as we know is

critically important for the lifeblood of a company, but

feedback to one individual leader needs to be taken with a grain

of salt. If a customer thinks that your product is not aligned

properly in the market, this is less about you as an individual

leader, and more about the customer’s preferences. If a

customer is engaging with people on your team and they don’t

feel they are being treated fairly, then this is about your

leadership. You can’t allow people on your team to treat your

customers poorly.

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The Officers Eat Last Diamond View of Leadership is

extremely important in shaping who you are as a leader. A

person can have a ton of bad behaviors as an individual, but

leaders have to mitigate behaviors that tear away at the trust of

the team.

Is your Diamond View in focus?

Officers Eat Last - Know Yourself Process

Step 1: OEL Leadership Self-Assessment

Step 2: Personality Profile

Step 3: Diamond View of Leadership

a. OEL Senior Worksheet

b. OEL Peer Worksheet (3 minimum)

c. OEL Employee Worksheet (3 minimum)

d. OEL Customer Worksheet (3 minimum)

e. OEL Mentor Worksheet

Step 4: Holistic Evaluation of Diamond View

Step 1:

OEL Leadership Self-Assessment

The Leadership Self-Assessment is critical to the Officers Eat

Last Know Yourself Process. The best way to become a better

leader is to be in a leadership position. There are definitely

tangible skills to being an effective leader that a person can

learn through research and study. However, there are tons of

intangible skills that are best learned by actually leading others.

The self-assessment is the view you have of yourself right now

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as a leader. If this is the first time you are executing a process

like this, your view will probably be slightly out of focus. It is

perfectly acceptable to be out of focus right now. The point of

the process is to get your leadership abilities in focus so that

you can be successful.

Step 2:

Personality Profile

The prevailing wisdom in psychology today is that we have one

personality unless we have some type of mental disorder. The

majority of us do not have a mental disorder. So it is critical

that we understand our personality. We will not be able to

change our personality, but we will be able to change our

behavior depending on those we lead. My leadership

techniques as a Marine LtCol are slightly different than the

techniques I use in the civilian sector. One very simple

technique I use in the civilian sector is smile more. My normal

disposition during the day is intense, focused, and aggressive. I

have received feedback from my civilian employees that my

disposition is intimidating. I don’t lead through intimidation, so

I have found that if I smile more I look less intimidating. I was

asked by an employee one time, “How many people have you

killed just by looking at them”. A leader should not embrace

this type of behavior. There are many different options

available for online business personality assessments. It is

important to select a qualified provider and make this a part of

your Diamond View.

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Step 3a:

Diamond View Senior Worksheet

The Diamond View Senior Worksheet provides a view of your

leadership from someone that is leading you. Hopefully, your

boss is a leader that you respect and want to emulate but don’t

worry too much if you don’t work for a successful leader. The

feedback you receive is one small part of the overall view.

Step 3b:

Diamond View Peer Worksheet

The Peer Worksheet provides a view of your leadership and

behavior from individuals that are at the same level as you in

the organization or business world. You do not need to select

peers that work with you at the same company. You can select

close friends, but encourage them to provide honest feedback.

Step 3c:

Diamond View Employee Worksheet

The Diamond View Employee Worksheet provides a view of

your leadership from those you lead. These worksheets will

provide you with some of your best feedback. You may not

like it but the view that your employees have of your leadership

will be key to your success as a leader. Leadership is not a

popularity contest. Your employees do not have to like you.

However, they must respect and trust the path you are

recommending to accomplish the organization's goals. You

cannot take these evaluations personal. They are one small part

36

of your overall leadership abilities.

Step 3d:

Diamond View Customer Worksheet

The view your customers have of you is the least impactful to

your leadership. There are a wide range of customers in the

business world. The customers of your business should have a

desire to purchase the

service or product you are

selling. However, you can’t

provide goals and objectives

to your customers and hold

them accountable if they

don’t accomplish them. We

don’t want to ignore the

view customers have of us. However, we can’t let it guide our

leadership actions on a daily basis.

Step 3e:

Diamond View Mentor Worksheet

Finding the right mentor is critical to your development as a

leader. I recommend you not use a relative as your mentor.

You need good honest feedback. Your mom and dad have

been telling you that you were a great person since you were 5

years old, so they may not be critical of you. This needs to be a

trusted mentor that has 10, 20, or 30 plus years of leadership

experience.

If I had asked people

what they wanted,

they would have said

faster horses.

Henry Ford

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Step 4:

Holistic Evaluation of Your Leadership

The holistic evaluation can be performed by your mentor if you

have selected the right mentor. This is where you review with a

trusted mentor all of the feedback from the OEL Know

Yourself Process. This can normally be an eye opening process

for young leaders. You have to embrace the process and what

you are learning about yourself. The only way to improve your

leadership abilities is by gaining a better understanding of your

behaviors while leading. You can adapt your behaviors to be

more successful, but it needs to be in concert with your

personality. The old adage, “Just be yourself”, doesn’t work for

most people that want to be successful leaders. All of us have

some traits that are not beneficial to successful leadership. We

must learn to minimize these weaknesses in our daily actions

with our team. All of us have some traits that are natural

strengths. We must learn to maximize these behaviors in our

daily actions with our team. We can’t just be ourselves. You

can be yourself when you are sitting at home watching a movie

on your couch. If you want to build and lead successful teams,

you need to build yourself into a successful leader that people

want to follow.

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CHAPTER 4

“Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made just like anything

else, through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay to achieve

that goal, or any goal.”

-Vince Lombardi

In 1998, I was a Second Lieutenant, Rifle Platoon Commander

of an infantry platoon with about 40 Marines. I had a very

competent right hand man as my Platoon Sergeant. I was

excited and nervous to finally be in a true leadership position. I

was responsible for everything my unit did or failed to do.

39

When you are an aspiring leader there can be a lot of worry

about failing. I was trying to figure out my leadership style, my

leadership doctrine. I relied heavily on the core values,

leadership traits, and principles of the Marine Corps. I read the

Marine Corps publications on leadership, tactics, and strategy. I

read Sun Tzu and Clausewitz. It still did not provide me with

instant confidence. I still didn’t know what to do in every

situation. While in this position, I was confronted with a

challenge I could not have seen coming. One of my Marines

was arrested at a local gentlemen’s club for throwing a dancer

through a glass window. I received a phone call early one

Saturday morning. I had to put my Service Charlie uniform on,

which is the short sleeve khaki shirt uniform, and drive to the

police station to pick him up. I had never picked up a Marine

from jail. I didn’t know what to expect. When I arrived at the

police station I was directed to a desk window. I asked for the

Marine and if they would release him to me. I was surprised to

hear that they were happy to release him to me. They stated

that whatever I was going to do to him would be much worse

than sitting in a jail cell. I laughed to myself, but wasn’t so sure.

They brought the Marine out and we began our trip back to

base. Very few words were exchanged on our trek. Marines are

an interesting bunch for many different reasons. For one, they

tend to take responsibility for their actions in just about any

situation. He said they were all drunk and things just got a little

crazy. He didn’t attempt to fabricate a lie. He took

responsibility and knew there would be punishment for his

actions. I didn’t read in Sun Tzu or any other book, how to

handle a situation of this nature. I quickly began to realize that

I needed to rely on the experienced and mature leaders around

me to help mentor me with these decisions. The experienced

40

leader I relied on in this situation was my Platoon Sergeant. He

was a Staff Sergeant with over ten years of service. I explained

the situation to my Platoon Sergeant and with a grin, he let me

know that he would take care of it. This young Marine

continued to be a problem for our platoon, but he was properly

counseled and mentored each time. Through this situation, I

realized that I had a massive amount to learn about leadership.

I needed to make thousands of leadership decisions and be

mentored and critiqued on my decisions in order to become a

successful and confident leader.

What is a Leadership Doctrine?

A Leadership doctrine guides a leader’s actions every day. It

creates the blueprint foundation for the leader’s decisions.

Organizations and companies in today’s environment have

written values, traits, and principles. These organizations are

trying to create a culture that is unique to their business model.

The problem is that the days of a person working for the same

company for 40 years are over. Most of us will work for 7-10

companies over our career. If we are transitioning from one

company to the next, we need our own personal leadership

doctrine that guides our actions regardless of the company we

are working for. Our personal leadership doctrine will always

be nested within the culture of the company we work for, or

our own company. When I was an aspiring leader, I did not

have a personal leadership doctrine. I utilized the Marine Corps

leadership doctrine because it was already developed. It served

me well over the years. As I gained more rank and

responsibility, I realized that I had my own style. I embraced

41

the style that was developing because I was emulating my

leadership mentors. I was taking all the best things from the

great leaders that I had served with over the years. When I left

active duty for the Marine Reserves, it was another transition

point for my leadership. I knew that the Marine Corps

leadership doctrine would not perfectly transition over to the

business world. I would have to adapt my personal leadership

doctrine to succeed in the business world. I was not going to

be training Marines to win battles. I have had to lower my

intensity level and smile a lot more in order to assist in building

my team. I haven’t lowered my aggressiveness in my pursuit of

mission success, but I don’t want to come across as

intimidating.

Why Do I Need a Personal Leadership Doctrine?

A leader will have situations that are very difficult. A leader

needs a concrete foundation to stand on during challenging

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times. If your Chief Financial Officer tells you that you are

going to miss your quarterly earnings by 15% it is going to be a

hard day. They also might tell you that they know how to hide

the 15% loss but it is not exactly legal. This is when you need

your doctrine. If your doctrine is sound it will guide you

through these situations.

Officers Eat Last Leadership Doctrine

The Officers Eat Last Leadership Doctrine has been developed

over the last 20 plus years of my Marine and business career. I

have led teams in combat and business. I have led units in

Kosovo; Fallujah, Iraq; and Sangin, Afghanistan. I have

founded two companies and sold one. I was developed as a

leader by the United States Marine Corps. The foundation of

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my leadership was built by Marine instruction, experience, and

mentors. When I transitioned to the business world, I knew

that I would have to adapt my style to succeed. The Officers

Eat Last Leadership Doctrine is the evolution of my leadership

style.

You need to have all of these in order to have a solid

Leadership Doctrine. If you are an aspiring leader, your

doctrine may adapt and change over the years. If you are a

mature leader and you go through this process, your doctrine

will not change very much.

Let’s take a look at the Officers Eat Last (OEL) Leadership

Doctrine that I developed.

OEL Core Values

You need to establish your foundational core values that drive

your actions on a daily basis.

Teamwork - Responsible, accountable, focused on the goals of

the team.

Commitment - Devotion to the organization’s goals and each

other.

Respect - Trust for the abilities and qualities of each other.

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OEL Leadership Definition

The ability to take a group of individuals, create a cohesive

team, and accomplish a goal together.

OEL Leadership Philosophy

The philosophy is very simple. It is about servant leadership. If

you want a group of individuals to accomplish a goal together,

you must put their needs above your own. You must establish

clear goals and hold them accountable. You must promote and

reward high achievers and remove poor performers.

OEL Leadership Traits

Initiative - Take action every day to help your team accomplish

your goals/objectives.

Integrity - You either have it or you don’t. You will have a

very difficult time accomplishing anything of significance if

your team doesn’t trust you.

Knowledge - You need to be competent and know-ledgeable

about the technical aspects that will make your team successful.

Persistent - Don’t quit at the first sign of resistance. Push

forward.

Empathy - You need to understand the emotions of those you

lead.

Humility – Be a servant first.

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Judgment - You need to be decisive.

Unselfishness - If your team thinks you are selfish, you will

have a difficult time creating success.

Bearing - Remaining calm regardless of the situation.

Dependable - Your team must be able to count on you.

Meticulous - Attention to detail.

Flexible - Don’t fall in love with one plan.

OEL Leadership Principles

1. Nosce te ipsum “Know thyself”.

2. Ductus Exemplo “Lead by Example”.

3. Emotionally commit to your team.

4. Communicate your goals/objectives/priorities

frequently.

5. Inspect what you expect.

6. Take responsibility for your actions.

OEL Leadership Rules

Every successful leader has rules that they use every day to

assist them in leading, directing, and guiding those they lead. I

have dedicated a chapter to the OEL leadership rules and how

you can create your leadership rules. A leader’s rules need to be

communicated to those he leads.

I’ll provide one rule below as an example.

46

Rule #32 - Set habits for your team and organization.

Example of Successful Leader’s Doctrine

John Wooden was one of the most successful college basketball

coaches in the history of the sport. He won 10 National

Championships as the head coach of the UCLA basketball

team. He is a wonderful leader to study because every time he

speaks, he is communicating his leadership doctrine. I would

encourage you to research, study, and listen to his thoughts on

leadership. You should not try to be John Wooden. A leader

will never be successful if they try to be someone else. You

must study his strengths and then make decisions on what you

believe you can add to your doctrine. Below are a couple of his

Leadership Rules.

Rule – Always be on time.

Rule – Never use profanity.

Rule – Always dress nice and neat.

His teams were dominant on the basketball court but it is

interesting to hear him say that winning wasn’t the most

important aspect for him. He wanted his team to do their best.

He wanted his team to put forth their best effort. He felt if

they put their best effort forward they would win. His track

record seems to validate that philosophy. You should also

study his legacy. His former players love, respect, and adore

him. His actions and how he treated his players created those

emotions in his players. You need to think about that as you

develop your doctrine. People think about winning and driving

47

the bottom line, but at some point you are going to start to

think about your legacy. What do you want your legacy to be?

How will you be remembered? Don’t try to make everyone

happy along the way. You can’t make everyone happy and if

you try, you will fail. However, you can treat people with

respect and be firm, fair, and consistent.

Paul “Bear” Bryant had a huge influence on my leadership

doctrine. He won six national championships as the Head

football coach for The University of Alabama. He had the

most wins of any coach in college football history at the time he

stopped coaching. Below are a couple of his Leadership Rules:

Rule – In a crisis, don't hide behind anything or anybody.

They're going to find you anyway.

Rule – There's no substitute for guts.

It is important for you to study successful leaders and

determine what you can integrate into your doctrine. You

should not try to be John Wooden or Bear Bryant. You have to

match your strengths and personality to your style. Let’s take a

look at how you should create your leadership doctrine.

How to Create Your Leadership Doctrine

The challenge for you is to create your own personal leadership

doctrine. You have to make it yours. It needs to match your

strengths and personality.

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Writing your Core Values

Your personal core values should guide your actions and be

understood by your team. You must live these values with

integrity when you communicate them to your team. Your core

values are what is important to you and what you think would

assist in creating a successful team.

Examples: Honor, Teamwork, Commitment, Courage,

Respect, Trust

You have to select core values that mean something to you.

Writing your Leadership Definition

If you are an aspiring leader, you probably are not ready to write

your own personal leadership definition. However, you can use

another leadership definition; just make sure you give credit to

the original author.

Example:

“The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things.

He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.”

-Ronald Reagan

Writing your Leadership Philosophy

Your leadership philosophy does not need to be long.

However, you do need to spend some time reflecting on your

philosophy and how you will lead your team. What is important

to you and why? Why will people want to follow you? Why

would anyone join your team? Why should they listen to you?

49

You don’t have to answer all of these questions in your

leadership philosophy, but you need to think about them.

Writing your Leadership Traits

What leadership traits are important to you? These are traits

that you will expect your team to exercise every day. You must

also follow your own advice. I have listed a few examples

below:

Unselfishness Integrity Dependability Humility Judgement Initiative Loyalty Knowledge Persistence

Writing your Leadership Principles

Your leadership principles should create habits of action for

your team. These principles should reinforce the type of

behavior that you expect on a daily basis. You don’t have to

have 20 leadership principles, but you need a few of them. You

can always add more over the years. I have listed a few

examples.

-Be honest with your team

-Be clear with your expectations and hold your team

accountable

-Mentor, provide guidance, and empower people to accomplish

the mission

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Writing your Leadership Rules

Your leadership rules are expectations that you have for your

team but they don’t rise to the level of a trait or principle.

Below are a few examples of Officers Eat Last Rules:

OEL Rule #73 – Leaders create, build, and sustain the culture of their

team.

OEL Rule #81 – Intimidation is not leadership.

OEL Rule #48 - Be firm, fair, and consistent.

All of this is your personal leadership doctrine. It guides your actions every day as you lead your team. You need to spend the time to write out your personal leadership doctrine. You need to share your doctrine with a trusted leadership mentor. If you don’t have a trusted mentor at the moment, you can share your leadership doctrine with me, please send it to jason@officerseatlast.com.

51

CHAPTER 5

“We’re gonna butt heads until I see what I want.”

-Paul “Bear” Bryant

The team I was leading was executing multiple projects

simultaneously. This was the middle of our peak season in an

e-commerce distribution center where time was short, but our

project list was long. It was like painting and repairing a

moving train. Every project would have been easy if we could

only stop the train, but we couldn’t. Every day seemed to bring

another project that senior leadership wanted to know the

answers to. I leaned heavily on a couple members of my team.

52

I would have to reset their priorities daily based off the desires

of senior leadership. The Leadership Rule that I kept going

back to was the “70% Solution”. I knew we would not meet

any of our deadlines for projects if we did not move through

the projects as quickly as possible. We had to collect and

analyze as much data as possible and present a recommendation

using the 70% solution. I must have said it every day for weeks.

It allowed us to focus and meet the deadlines imposed by senior

leadership. The 70% solution is a mentality to take all available

information at that time and make an immediate decision.

There are numerous decisions a leader needs to make in order

to hit deadlines and many times all desired information isn’t

readily available. A leader has to be comfortable making these

decisions as it is a huge part of being a leader.

Why Leaders Need Leadership Rules?

All leaders have a vision of how they would like their team to

accomplish their goals and objectives. Leaders need to

communicate those expectations to their team on a regular basis

and at a level that is incredibly clear. Some leaders get

frustrated if people do not arrive to meetings on time or early.

Other leaders don’t care and are comfortable with people being

a few minutes late and even missing a meeting entirely. Your

team does not have mind reading skills, they need to understand

what is important to you. If you get frustrated every time one

of your team members is late to a meeting, you must

communicate your expectations in a calm and clear manner.

53

How do You Develop Your Leadership Rules?

Your leadership rules will be developed during your years

leading others. If you have never lead a team, you are not going

to have many rules. If you have been leading teams for 5-10

years, you are going to have tons of rules that you use to create

and sustain success for your team. All of these rules need to be

written down. You need to spend some time thinking about

what allows your team to be successful. A rule is not as

important as a leadership trait or principle, but they are still vital

to the success of the team you lead.

Ten Officers Eat Last Leadership Rules

My current leadership rule count is at 75. I’m not claiming

original thought on every one of these rules. They are

expressions and behaviors that have created success for teams I

have lead. They are deliberately numbered out of order.

Leadership rules are not followed step by step like a recipe you

follow to bake a cake. They require thought by the leader in

their application. If one of my employees is working on a

project that has an extremely tight timeline, they might hear me

say, “Please use the 70% solution”. I’m not encouraging them

to deliver a poor product, but I am clearly stating that we must

deliver the project on time. I have listed ten Officers Eat Last

Leadership Rules below as a sample.

OEL Rule #30 - You only feel stress if you allow yourself .-USMC

OEL Rule #11 - Use the 70% solution. -USMC

OEL Rule #25 - Never raise your voice in anger.

OEL Rule #16 - Do not complain to your employees.

54

OEL Rule #14 - Embrace confrontation.

OEL Rule #32 - Set habits for your team and organization.

OEL Rule #73 - Leaders create, build, and sustain the culture of

their team.

OEL Rule #81 - Intimidation is not leadership.

OEL Rule #48 - Be firm, fair, and consistent.

OEL Rule #35 - Hope is not a course of action. -USMC

Let’s take a closer look at each one of these rules.

OEL Rule #30 - You only feel stress if you allow yourself .-USMC

This was taught to me when I was a young Marine officer. I

can’t remember who passed it along, but I have tried to live my

life with this mind set. I have had serious test to this rule in

combat and business, but I remind myself each time to not

allow stress to affect my life or the decisions I make.

OEL Rule #11 - Use the 70% solution. -USMC

I always get mixed reviews on this rule when I introduce it to

people I’m leading. A brain surgeon should probably not use

this rule if they are in the middle of surgery. The purpose of

the rule is to focus your effort and meet a deadline. There are

many decisions when you are leading that you can’t wait for

additional information. You need to make a decision and live

with it.

OEL Rule #25 - Never raise your voice in anger.

This rule is directed at your actions in front of your team. You

should not yell at your team or use profanity directed at any

member of your team. We are all human, so you will get

55

frustrated and you might even get angry. However, you must

remain calm in front of your team. When you get in your car,

or when you are in a field with no one around for miles, you

can yell and scream, but never do it in front of your team. You

will destroy your credibility instantly.

OEL Rule #16 - Do not complain to your employees.

Once you become a leader, you can’t complain about things

that are going wrong or employees that aren’t pulling their

weight. The only people you should complain to are your

mentor, spouse, or a trusted peer that does not work with you.

You have to hold your tongue.

OEL Rule #14 - Embrace confrontation.

The only way to hold people accountable is to look them square

in the eyes and have a discussion with them about their

performance. You don’t have to make these discussions

confrontational, and there are leaders that can essentially chew

someone out and the person feels good about it. I’m not one

of them. As a leader you need to embrace confrontation

because it is your responsibility to deliver good and bad news.

If you have ever had to fire someone, then you know what

confrontation is all about. Don’t let the thought of

confrontation cripple you. Embrace it and move forward.

OEL Rule #32 - Set habits for your team and organization.

When you are a leader you can’t just think about your daily

routine and your habits. You have to think about your team’s

habits and their actions. What does a day look like for your

team? What does a week look like? Should you have a daily

56

operations meeting? Should you only meet once a week? You

have to set the habits for your team.

OEL Rule #73 – Leaders create, build, and sustain the culture of their

team.

You must be deliberate about the culture you want to create. A

culture will develop without any thought as you bring people

together into a team. The successful leader recognizes culture

and influences it. Don’t let it just unfold.

OEL Rule #81 – Intimidation is not leadership.

Successful leaders do not lead through intimidation. There is

never a reason to threaten anyone on your team or attempt to

induce fear. You must act in an ethical way and hold people

accountable.

OEL Rule #48 - Be firm, fair, and consistent.

It is extremely difficult to be firm, fair, and consistent in

everything that you do as a leader. The idea is to do your best

each day in the treatment of your team.

OEL Rule #35 – Hope is not a Course of Action. -USMC

I learned this as a Marine. I’m not sure if a Marine coined this,

but if it was a Marine it was probably one of the first Marines

back in 1775. This means that you should have a plan for

everything. When we were planning combat operations in Iraq

and Afghanistan, we didn’t hope that the enemy wouldn’t plant

improvised explosive devices (IEDs). We had a plan in place to

mitigate and deter any impact IEDs would have on our

57

operations. You need to take the same attitude with your team.

Don’t “hope” that your team will accomplish the goals you

have set, put a plan in place to ensure success.

Successful Leader’s Leadership Rules

Every successful leader has leadership rules that guide their

actions. They didn’t have a bunch of leadership rules the first

day they became a leader. Their thought process and way of

thinking evolved through years of experience. Aspiring leaders

need to study and attempt to emulate successful leaders in a

manner that fits their personality and situation. Please find a

few successful leaders and some of their rules below.

Paul “Bear” Bryant

“It’s not the will to win that matters...everyone has that. It’s the will to

prepare to win that matters”.

“If you believe in yourself and have dedication and pride - and never quit -

you’ll be a winner”.

“The price of victory is high but so are the rewards”.

Andy Grove - Former CEO of Intel

“Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the

paranoid survive.”

“Leaders have to act more quickly today. The pressure comes much faster.”

58

Warren Buffett

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you

think about that, you'll do things differently.”

“It's better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates

whose behavior is better than yours and you'll drift in that direction.”

“There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make

easy things difficult.”

Condoleezza Rice

“Self-esteem comes from achievement. Not from lax standards and false

praise.”

59

Do you want another leadership book

for FREE today?

Go to the link below for your FREE eBook.

OfficersEatLast.com/index.php/rules-book/

Carnegie Institute

of Technology

85% of your financial success is due to your

personality and ability to communicate,

negotiate, and lead.

Shockingly, only 15% is due to

your technical knowledge.

Are you seeking a path to greater financial

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60

.

Officers Eat Last

Leadership Development Rules

Every successful leader has leadership rules that

guide their actions with their team.

Jason has compiled a list of 75 leadership rules

that he has used throughout his 20 plus years of

leading teams.

Add them to your personal leadership doctrine

today.

Get your FREE copy at the link below.

OfficersEatLast.com/index.php/rules-book/

61

PART II

62

CHAPTER 6

“Pursue one great decisive aim with force and determination.”

-Carl von Clausewitz

My first position on staff at Officer Candidates School was as a

Tactics Instructor. The curriculum was already set in place, but

we had the leeway to edit the training slides to fit our style and

knowledge of the subject. The instruction included platform

instruction, field instruction, and leading practical exercises. I

did not have much experience with platform instruction and I

was looking forward to the opportunity to learn the best

techniques. The normal process at Officer Candidates School is

to first present your class to your peer instructors and your

boss. This can make a person a little nervous because it is their

job to find fault in your presentation, and any good instructor

63

will be able to find fault. It was my turn. I walked up behind

the podium and began my presentation. Early on, I felt like

things were going well. I felt like my confidence was growing as

I moved through the presentation. I was thinking, “yes, I’m

probably the best platform instructor ever at OCS.” When I

arrive at the last slide, I expected to bask in the praise and

admiration that is sure to flow from my peers and boss. The

first feedback I received was someone telling me that I said

“umm,” about 58 times. I think back and can’t remember

saying it that much. Then more criticism came my way. I

didn’t make eye contact with the audience enough. I was

speaking to the projector screen instead of the audience. There

were a few of my slides that didn’t flow very well. It felt like

everything I had just done was wrong. My first presentation to

my peers was a huge failure. Shortly after, I was informed that I

would be presenting again the next day. I had the rest of the

day to work on improving. I immediately went back to my

office and focused on all the feedback that I had been given. I

spent the rest of the day practicing and rehearsing. When I

went before my peers the second time, my practice, focus, and

rehearsals had paid off. The feedback had taken a 180 degree

turn.

Why is it Important to Build Leadership Skills?

Leaders are made through skill building development. You

can’t build every skill you need to be a successful leader in one

day. It takes years to build all of the skills that you will need to

lead complex or large organizations.

64

Skill Building Process

Every leader needs tons of skills in order to be successful as a

leader. One option to build those skills is to use the OEL How

to Build a Skill Process. As you can see from the diagram

below you first need to identify the skill that you would like to

65

build. The skill needs to be narrow in focus. Let’s use the

example that you would like to be better at running a meeting.

Now you have your input and you are ready to move to the

process. Your focus will be researching all the best techniques

on how to run a successful meeting. The steps listed below can

assist with running a successful meeting.

1. Establish a purpose for the meeting

2. Decide who needs to attend and send the invite

3. Create an agenda for the meeting

4. Commence the meeting

5. Review agenda and purpose

6. Ensure all attendees stay focused on purpose

7. Provide guidance on next steps and wrap up

Once you have focused on how you would like to run a

meeting, it is time to move to the practical application of

running a meeting. The best technique to use for your practical

application is to have a trusted mentor evaluate your ability to

run a meeting. This should be done with your mentor without

any personnel from your team. You need to walk through the

steps with your mentor and explain how you will run the

meeting. Your mentor should provide feedback on your ability

to run a successful meeting. You need to be willing to accept

the constructive feedback from your mentor. Now you are

66

ready to execute and hold your meeting. If possible, you can

have your mentor attend your first meeting and silently observe

your actions and behaviors. After completion of the meeting,

you should meet with your mentor and review what went well

and where you can improve your technique. You should

continue to repeat this process until you feel comfortable

enough that you could teach and mentor someone else in

running a meeting.

If you follow this process and keep an open mindset towards

constructive feedback, you can build just about any leadership

skill that you desire.

67

CHAPTER 7

“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”

-John Wooden

Everyone has their own style of communication. Your

communication style is going to be closely tied to your

personality type. You can model your behaviors and adapt your

style, but it needs to be comfortable for you. Your

communication with your team needs to be genuine and

sincere. You can’t try and be someone else. I had an

68

outstanding Commanding Officer when I was a First

Lieutenant. He was extremely professional, competent, and

cared for his Marines greatly. He was and still is a very nice guy.

On various occasions he would attempt to be stern with the

Marines. The only problem is that it wasn’t natural for him.

His communication style didn’t really come off as stern because

he was just too nice to be stern. I was his Executive Officer at

the time and the Battalion Commander had tapped me to be the

next Commanding Officer of the Company. I was talking with

one of the Lieutenant’s in my office one day, and the subject of

how nice our current Company Commander was came up and

how it was difficult for him to be stern. The Lieutenant

indicated that he didn’t think it was going to be hard for me.

He had observed my communication style in the past and knew

I would use the same style in the future. It has always been

natural for me to be stern. It is a part of my personality. I

actually have to change my behavior to be less stern with my

team. If I’m working on a complex issue or problem my facial

expressions will turn intense. I have had employees ask if I’m

upset with their performance just due to a facial expression.

We all have a communication style and we must understand and

master our style so we can lead our teams in an effective way.

You don’t have to be stern to be successful. You have to

leverage your personality and build your own communication

style.

Why is it Important to be an Effective Communicator?

The only way to build your team is through your

communication. You do not have to be a successful orator to

grow your team. You only need to speak with authority and

69

conviction. Your team cannot read your mind. You have to

communicate with them frequently in order for them to

understand your goals and objectives. Communication is a

leadership skill that must be learned. There are techniques that

leaders need to use to be effective. If you always look at the

ground when you talk with someone, you will not build

confidence. If you bounce from one topic to the next and can’t

stay focused for more than five seconds, you will not build

confidence. The leader has to communicate their ideas that

they believe will make the team

successful. These ideas need to

be communicated using

multiple methods in order to

convey the message. Effective

communication as a leader is

geared towards moving your

team towards a common goal.

I’m not talking about your

company’s marketing message

to your customers. That type of

communication is totally different from building and leading

your team.

Effective communication will allow you to build a loyal and

successful team. It will allow you to build a team with a

foundation of trust. There are studies that validate that money

is not the number one reason for people choosing to work at a

particular company. The other intangibles are what keep people

dedicated at a company. One of those intangibles is being

valued. A person only understands and sees this through the

actions of the leader and those on the team. The leader must

People will forget

what you said,

people will forget

what you did, but

people will never

forget how you

made them feel.

Maya Angelou

70

lead this effort through communication. Don’t assume that a

person on your team knows you think they are doing a good

job. Don’t assume a person on your team knows that they are

performing substandard. You will develop your own style over

time, and your team must understand your style and thought

process. Your communication methods will not allow you to

make a zebra into an elephant, but through listening and

learning you will be able to shape and mold the people on your

team to be effective. Engage your team and learn from them.

What Types of Communication Methods and Techniques

Should an OEL Stage I Leader Use?

There are many types of communication methods available and

a leader must have some level of skill in each method. An OEL

Stage I Leader needs mastery in the communication skills

outlined in the following chart.

71

Let’s look at each communication skill and their purpose.

Types of Communication

1:1

This method should be used often as a leader. A leader

must be able to effectively communicate one on one with

any member of their team. This method will assist you

with building trust and confidence with your team on an

individual level. That trust will allow your team to

accomplish the goals and objectives you assign them.

Huddle

The huddle is used to solve an immediate problem or

issue. It is used to present a plan. These need to be

short and concise, and focused on problem solving or

presenting a plan. A huddle normally comprises less than

ten people.

School circle

The school circle is used to pass information to your

team. You might be informing the team that they have

this Friday off because everyone has been working so

hard. This is generally used as one way communication.

Most leaders will ask if there are any questions and

normally there are none. If you have tons of questions

at a school circle it means that your communication plan

is poor and ineffective. You should not problem solve

with a school circle. Use it to pass information. A

school circle can range from a few people to several

hundred.

72

Staff/Operations meeting

These types of meetings are used to run the business.

There should be a rhythm to them. There should be an

agenda. Your team should come prepared to the

meeting. Every leader develops their own style, but my

style is to start these meetings on time and to follow the

agenda. If an issue is complex and will take more time

to resolve, the leader should set another meeting to

resolve the complex issue. These meetings should have

less than twenty people and be 30 minutes or less in

duration.

Speech

An aspiring Stage I leader will not likely be giving

speeches but it is clearly a skill that a leader must

possess. If you know that you will be giving multiple

speeches in a given year than you would spend time

building this skill. However, if you don’t anticipate

having to give speeches any time soon, you should focus

your time on the other communication methods.

Delivering a speech can take years to perfect.

Vision

The word vision for leaders is over used. You don’t

have to have visions like Steve Jobs to be a leader.

Providing a vision to your team is not complicated. A

vision needs to look out into the future one year or

more. It needs to be broader than a set of tasks that you

need your team to accomplish that day or week. It does

73

need to be written down, and you should refer to it at

least once a month.

Guidance

Guidance communicates your expectations in a certain

area. This can be simple things like you expect the break

room to stay clean, and you would like people to pick up

after themselves. You can have guidance on working

from home or morning start times.

Policy

The leader is responsible for the policies of the team.

Policies guide the actions of the team. Stage I Leaders

have to enforce corporate policies.

Procedures

Procedures need to be written for repeatable actions that

the team needs to execute. Every leader needs to be

able to create procedures that people can follow.

Email

This cannot be your only communication method as a

leader. If you rely on email as your main method to

communicate with your team, you are heading towards

failure. Email is effective for team communication,

when the message is relevant to the entire team.

How Should You Build Your Communication Skills?

One option to use is the Officers Eat Last - How to Build a

Skill Process, that was described in Chapter 6, to master your

74

communication skills. Let’s start by building the 1:1

communication skill. The process starts with a focus on 1:1

communication. The practical application requires a competent

mentor or instructor that you trust and has years of experience

in 1:1 communication. You will need an individual to play the

part of one of your employees. You should not practice with

your actual employees. You will need various scenarios for

your practical application. The first scenario could be an

employee that has continually missed deadlines for recent

projects. You need to select a quiet conference room or office.

Your mentor should be in the room with you. The person will

enter the room and play the part of an employee that has

missed deadlines. The mentor should instruct the individual on

the scenario and the responses they are expecting based off of

your actions. The mentor should allow the entire scenario to

play out, and take notes for the critique. This should play out

for 5-10 minutes. The mentor will announce the end of the

scenario. At this point, the mentor will provide feedback to you

on your 1:1 communication skills. This should be an honest

and critical critique. You need to perform hundreds of these to

build your confidence level and your style. You need to be

confident in your communication style and you will develop

your own style that will be unique to your personality. Your

confidence will shine through the more you execute these

techniques.

75

This needs to be done for all of the communication skills that

require verbal skills and human interaction.

1:1

Huddle

School circle

Staff/Operations Meeting

Speech

You should use a mentor to develop your written

communication methods as well. You must focus on each

individual communication skill, and execute the process to build

your confidence to mastery. When you take on a new skill and

ask yourself “How would I teach someone else this skill?”, it

allows you to focus more. You need to hold yourself to a high

standard for each of these skills, because they are the building

blocks for your confidence in leadership communication. They

are the building blocks for inspiring your team to achieve more

together than they would individually.

76

CHAPTER 8

“Plans are nothing; planning is everything.”

-Dwight D. Eisenhower

Our task was to write a detailed patrol order for a platoon size

unit. This was going to be a graded test and it had to be hand

written. We were all dreading the thought of writing a ten page

patrol order, and we knew our instructors had high expectations

for the finished product. We had to use a specific format for

the plan. It is the acronym SMEAC, which stands for Situation,

77

Mission, Execution, Administration and Logistics, and

Command and Control. It is called a 5-Paragraph order. The

planning doctrine of the Marines at the small unit level requires

the use of the 5-Paragraph order. Marine officers are trained on

how to write, and deliver 5-Paragraph orders. Enlisted Marines

are also trained on how to write, and deliver small unit level

orders. This creates a common language for planning purposes.

I have been on patrols in three different countries and combat

zones, with four different Marine infantry battalions, and

everyone used the same framework for the patrol order. The

patrol order starts with a brief overview of the situation in the

area. The last paragraph details the chain of command and who

is in charge if the patrol leader is killed. Every Marine on the

patrol must understand the details of the plan so that the patrol

will be successful in their mission.

Planning is at the heart of

successful leadership. If you don’t

have a plan, the people you lead

will not know how to contribute to

the success of the team. It doesn’t

have to be the best plan in the

world to move forward and take

action, but it needs to be something. Your plan needs to be

written. It can be written on a piece of paper, email,

presentation slides, or other formats, but it needs to be written.

When you are leading your team, you will have multiple plans

and they all need to tie together. It is your responsibility as the

leader to tie the plans together. The Marine Corps uses the

term “nesting” to tie all the plans together. If the President of

the United States is trying to accomplish certain objectives in

Afghanistan, every operational plan Marine Corps forces

If serving is

below you,

Leadership is

beyond you. Anonymous

78

execute need to be nested properly in order to work towards

those objectives.

Why is it Important to be an

Effective Planner as a Leader?

A ship will never reach a destination without a heading. A team

will never reach their full potential without a plan. It doesn’t

matter if you know where you want to go. The only thing that

matters is if your team knows where you want to go. Your plan

does not need to be extremely complex, but it needs to be

written down. It needs to be organized into some type of

format, and it needs to be shared with your team. As a business

leader you will have more than one plan. Planning facilitates

critical thinking about the goals you are trying to achieve.

Planning should be inclusive of your team. Do not attempt to

plan in a vacuum. You don’t need to include every member of

West coordinating combat operations, Fallujah, Iraq 2005

79

your team, but you need to include relevant people that

understand the subject matter.

Every Marine Corps school for career level Marine officers

focuses a tremendous amount of time on planning. The

entirety of the Department of Defense spends a tremendous

amount of resources and time on planning. The military knows

that lives are at stake with the majority of their operational

plans. All operational planning is taken extremely serious, and

the smallest details are examined. My experience in the

business world does not represent the level of focus and

attention DOD places on planning. In my opinion, planning is

an area in which many business leaders and entrepreneurs have

an opportunity to improve.

What Types of Planning Methods and Techniques Should

an OEL Stage I Leader Use?

There are many types of planning methods and techniques

available to you. Let’s look a few of them below:

Kaizen

Kaizen is a Japanese term meaning continuous improvement.

The purpose of the planning process is focused on improving

existing processes. A Kaizen works well for established

companies that already have processes and policies in place.

The processes don’t have to be great but they must exist

because that is the starting point for a Kaizen.

80

Six Sigma

Six Sigma is a planning process that uses specific techniques and

tools to improve existing processes. It was originally developed

in 1986, by an engineer at Motorola named Bill Smith. It was

subsequently adopted by General Electric in 1995, and gained

favor with many companies across the globe. This is another

planning process that needs existing processes to already be in

place in order to improve.

Project Management Professional (PMP)®

The PMP® is an internationally recognized professional

designation offered by the Project Management Institute. I

think this is an outstanding designation for any aspiring leader

to pursue. The doctrine has a planning process built into the

designation, and it is not just focused on improving an existing

process. The basic requirements to sit for the exam include, a

bachelor’s degree, at least 4,500 hours of experience leading and

directing projects, and 35 hours of formal project management

education.

I would encourage any aspiring leader to review these different

methods in order to gain a better understanding of the

principles of planning. I highly recommend that aspiring

leaders use the Officers Eat Last Planning Process, which is

derived from the Marine Corps Planning Process. It is six

steps. Planning is effectively organized brainstorming. You

need a product that you can use at the end of the planning

process, and if you follow the following steps you will get that

product.

81

Step 1 - Mission Analysis

Step 2 - Course of Action Development

Step 3 - Course of Action War Game

Step 4 - Course of Action Comparison and Decision

Step 5 - Write the Plan

Step 6 - Transition to Execution

Let’s break down each step.

Step 1 - Mission Analysis

The first step in the planning process is focusing on the Who,

What, When, Where, and Why but not the How. The best way

to plan is to designate a Planning Team Leader. This will

normally need to be you. You need an open space with dry

erase boards and lots of coffee. Set a time limit for the duration

of step one. If you know that you are tackling a complex issue,

then Mission Analysis may need to be 1-2 days. If less complex

only set aside 1-2 hours. Once you begin the planning process

it is about capturing the ideas that will flow from the

brainstorming session.

What are you trying to accomplish? Are you planning to

launch a new product? Are you planning to open a new office

location in another country? You need to decide what success

looks like as well.

Who will be involved? Can your team handle all of the tasks?

What are all of the tasks that need to be completed? Do you

need to hire more people to get it done? Can you use a

consulting firm to assist?

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When will you commence the execution of your plan? When

does it need to be accomplished?

Where will execution take place? Will there be people in

multiple cities involved with the plan? Will there be multiple

time zones, multiple countries?

Why are we putting this plan together? Why now?

The planning team leader needs to keep everyone focused on

these 5 W’s. You should not dive into the How in this step. At

the end of this step you should have a written mission

statement that answers all of the 5 W’s.

Step 2 – Course of Action Development

Course of action development is about the How. The planning

team needs to focus on developing three courses of action that

they believe would accomplish the mission written in Step 1.

The planning team leader needs to maximize engagement from

the team and continue the brainstorming in order to create

three distinctly different plans that will accomplish the same

mission. At this step in the planning process you don’t need

specific detailed plans, but you need a broad overview of the

plans.

All of the information from the first step is the starting point

for COA Development. One of the most critical pieces of step

2 is developing 2-3 courses of action that accomplish the same

mission you set in step 1. They need to be distinctly different

plans.

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Step 3 – Course of Action War Game

The purpose of Step 3 is to determine what will prevent your

team from accomplishing the goal. You need to focus on the

first course of action that you developed in Step 2. Ensure the

entire planning team is focused only on COA #1. Once

everyone is focused, ask what can happen that will derail this

course of action? Allow brainstorming to flow on what

possible pitfalls may arise. All of this needs to be recorded in

your notes. Then use the same process for COA #2 and #3.

This step will reinforce your plan and minimize risk, because all

of the brainstorming ideas will be integrated into the plan to

ensure success.

Step 4 – Course of Action Comparison and Decision

The best way to perform this step is to have an overview of

each COA on dry erase boards or paper so that everyone on the

planning team can see all three COAs at the same time. You

can get extremely detailed in this step and create a criteria

matrix with a 1-5 ranking system for each major element of the

plan. The easier way to do it is to go around the room, and

allow each person on the team to vote for the plan that they

believe will achieve success. They must also explain why they

are selecting one plan over another. Once everyone on the

team has voted, the planning team leader needs to decide which

COA the team will execute. This can also include merging the

most effective parts from each COA into one plan.

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Step 5 – Write the Plan

Now that you have a selected a course of action it is time to

write the plan. This step does not include the entire planning

team. The planning team leader needs to write the plan and/or

enlist the help of a member of the planning team to assist with

the final product. The plan needs to include the Who, What,

When, Where, Why and How. All of the details from your

planning should be included and any contingency plans that

were derived due to the brainstorming. If your plan is complex

and will take weeks or months to accomplish, I would

encourage you to break your plan down into manageable phases

or stages.

Step 6 – Transition to Execution

Once you have a final copy of your plan, you are ready to bring

your team back to together and deliver the plan. Your plan

should have immediate buy-in from your team because they

were involved in the planning. You need to utilize your team to

continue to create more buy-in for the plan and to ensure

successful execution of the plan.

How Should You Build Your Planning Skills?

The best way to build your planning skills is to plan. You

should use the Officers Eat Last – How to Build a Skill Process

to improve your planning skills. I would encourage you to use

the Officers Eat Last Planning Process because if you are new

to planning, you will need a planning framework. I have spent

thousands of hours planning. I have led operational planning

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teams in developing combat operational plans in Iraq and

Afghanistan. I have led operational planning teams as an

entrepreneur and business leader. I’m very comfortable with

planning, but it is because of the number of years that I have

spent planning. When you first begin to use the OEL Planning

Process it may feel challenging, but you must stay the course.

Let’s think about what a plan will provide you as a leader:

A plan will:

- Guide your decisions.

- Give you confidence in your decisions.

- Provide a foundation to fall back on when

challenges arise during execution.

- Facilitates policy, procedures, and guidelines.

If you are new to planning this is only a quick overview. The

ability to plan with your team is key to any leader’s success. It is

hard work and why many leaders don’t do it. To be a successful

leader, you must educate yourself on planning and spend the

time to do it.

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CHAPTER 9

“Making good decisions is a crucial skill at every level”.

-Peter Drucker

We had a Thursday evening battalion operations meeting every

week when I was the Assistant Operations Officer for 3rd

Battalion, 4th Marines in Fallujah, Iraq. The meeting had already

started when a Marine who worked for me in our Combat

Operations Center (COC) quietly walked in and approached

me. He said that there had been a Suicide Vehicle Borne

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Improvised Explosive Device (SVBIED) attack on the main

route in Fallujah, and there were multiple Marine casualties to

include female Marines. He was looking to me for an answer,

for guidance. I looked at him and whispered, so as not to

interrupt the meeting that was in progress, “Well I guess we

better get back to the COC.” I quietly got up and let the

Operations Officer, Major Matt Watt know there had been a

SVBIED attack. I left the building with the Marine walking

back to the COC. I asked him how many casualties, and he said

that he thought it could be as many as ten. I looked at him and

said maybe we should jog and he agreed. We arrive at the COC

and I calmly walk in and ask for a brief from our Watch Officer.

He informs me that a vehicle had come from the North side of

the main route, jumped the median and rammed into one of our

7-ton vehicles. The 7-ton was carrying Marines from our Entry

Control Point on the West side of Fallujah back to their base.

West and leadership of 3rd

Battalion, 4th

Marines in front of the

contractor bridge. Fallujah , Iraq 2005

88

There were females Marines in the back of the vehicle. Marines

from our India Company had already sent their quick reaction

force to the area. I could hear the radio and it was the

Company Executive Officer for India Company indicating that

they were taking fire from the North side of the main route. He

was requesting the ability to return fire. I immediately approved

his request. I looked at the Watch Officer and told them to get

1st Battalion, 6th Marines (1/6) on the phone. I had just

approved a request for direct fire into battlespace that we did

not own. This is something that a unit never wants to take

lightly. The main way to prevent friendly fire incidents is to

maintain strict adherence to the boundary lines. At the time

that I allowed our fires to enter 1/6 battlespace, I had no way of

knowing whether they had units close enough to get hit by our

fires. My watch officer hands me the phone and says that it is

1/6. I pick up the phone and I hear, “This is LtCol Brown”. I

knew immediately that it was the Battalion Commander for 1/6.

It is not normal for a Battalion Commander to be on the COC

phone, but I proceed to let him know about the situation. He

confirmed that they did not have any troops in that area. We

quickly worked out a plan where his Marines would clear from

North to South to the main route. Together, we established

some fire control measures and set the plan in place. I radioed

India company to brief them on the plan. They had already

secured the attack site and were clearing the buildings on the

North side of the route. They had one enemy killed in action

(KIA), and were exploiting the site of the ambush. The medical

evacuation (medevac) of our wounded was in full motion. I

sent our battalion Quick Reaction Force to the area and

repositioned our M1 Abrams tanks to assist in securing the

ambush site. Our Air officer was working to determine air

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medevac, and to see if we had air assets on station for close air

support and surveillance. Everyone knew their job; everyone

was calm and doing what they were trained to do.

Why is it Important to be an Effective Decision Maker?

Leaders make decisions every day that have an impact on many

people. If you have a desire to lead, you have to embrace this

fact. You have to respect this fact. You have to respect the

weight of responsibility that comes with being a leader and a

decision maker. Your decisions will impact the pay and benefits

of your team members. Those decisions will impact their

families. It will impact where they get to live. It will impact

decisions in their lives. It will impact their stress level.

Decision making is one of the most critical skills to be an

effective leader. Leaders will constantly need to make decisions.

It doesn’t matter if you have a small or large team. You will

need to make decisions every day that affect the direction and

morale of your team. There are many decisions that need to be

made quickly, and others that you will need to analyze and take

time to answer. There are decisions that you should not make,

and have your team members make them instead. The situation

doesn’t matter; the only thing that matters is having confidence

in your decision making.

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What Types of Decision Making Methods and Techniques

Should an OEL Stage I Leader Use?

There are many types of methods and techniques available for

decision making. The key is to have a method that you feel

comfortable using.

A leader has to have a decision making process that can handle

the simple to the complex. A simple decision making cycle

does not require rigorous planning. I recommend that leaders

use the OODA (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act) Loop for simple

decisions or decisions that need to be made quickly. It was

developed by Colonel John Boyd, who was an Air Force pilot.

He developed the OODA Loop to train American fighter pilots

to make faster decisions in air-to-air combat.

Let’s take a look at the OODA Loop.

The OODA loop is perfect for making decisions that need to

be made now. It is not a deliberate planning process. If you are

being chased by a bear, you need to use the OODA loop. The

first step is to observe that you are actually being chased. The

second step is to orient yourself on what you should do next.

You see a small cliff ahead and think the bear might not jump

off the cliff after you. The next step is to decide that you are

going to jump off the cliff. The last step is to act and actually

jump off the cliff. Now you are at the bottom of the cliff and

the OODA loop starts over again. Did the bear jump off? Are

you alive? Can you run again?

I’ve seen some material on the OODA Loop that indicates you

should use it as a deliberate planning process, but I’m in

disagreement with that recommendation. A leader should use

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the OODA Loop to make quick decisions that require speed.

Marines use the OODA Loop to make decisions in all aspects

of Marine training, and combat operations. It is used to lower

frustration and stress levels. If I observe a Marine getting

frustrated about a particular problem, I might say “Don’t let the

issue get in your OODA Loop”. The Marine will know exactly

what I mean, and will push forward in resolving the issue.

If you are dealing with a complex problem then you need to use

a deliberate planning process. I recommend Stage I Aspiring

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Leaders use the Officers Eat Last Planning Process. If you

know that you are going to be operating in the Alaskan

wilderness on Kodiak Island, then you need to conduct some

deliberate planning so that you are not being chased by Kodiak

bears. Every leader needs to have a decision making process

for simple and complex problems. I wouldn’t limit yourself to

the two methods I have outlined, but I would use them as my

starting point.

How Should You Build Your Decision Making Skills?

You need to build you decision making skills the same way you

are building all of your other Officers Eat Last skills with the

OEL Skill Building Process. The priority is to make thousands

of decisions. Each decision will allow you to gain confidence in

your decision making style. You will develop your style over

time. Your style will impact everything that you do.

One of the techniques that Marines use to grow leaders, and to

increase their decision making ability, are Tactical Decision

Games (TDGs). TDGs are normally conducted with less than

ten individuals participating. The leader gathers the participants

around a table to start a TDG.

Example Marine Corps TDG

You are a squad leader in Fallujah, Iraq. It is July and your

battalion has been in country for four months. Your patrol

base is on the West side of the city near the Euphrates River.

Your squad has been tasked to depart on a security patrol.

Your patrol has 13 Marines and one Navy Corpsman. You

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depart heading South out of your patrol base. You are about 20

minutes into your patrol, when you hear machine gun fire

impacting around your patrol that is coming from the other side

of the Euphrates River towards your patrol. The next thing you

hear is someone yelling in pain and “Corpsman Up”, which in

Marine speak means somebody needs immediate medical

attention.

What now?

At this point in the TDG, the

instructor would advise all of the

participants that they have about

ten minutes to put together a

plan as if they were the squad

leader on patrol. The instructor

would give everyone a minute to

ask any clarifying questions about the situation, and then every

participant would need to create their plan.

When the ten minutes are up, the instructor will pick a

participant at random and ask them to explain their plan. Let’s

say that the instructor picks Sergeant Brown.

Sgt Brown explains that the first thing he would do is direct his

patrols fire at the machine guns across the river. He would

ensure that his patrol was getting effective suppression of the

enemy machine gun position. He would then use his radio and

provide a situation report (SITREP) to his combat operations

center. The SITREP would include the fact that his patrol is in

a kinetic fight with the enemy, and that he has one friendly

wounded in action and needs a medical evacuation for the

The growth and

development of

people is the

highest calling of

leadership

Harvey S. Firestone

94

injured Marine.

At this point, the instructor would stop Sgt Brown and then

look at another participant and ask if they agree with Sgt

Brown’s plan. The entire TDG process effectively uses the

Socratic method in order to stimulate critical thinking, and to

illuminate ideas.

The idea is for Marines to do thousands of TDGs with all kinds

of scenarios focused on decision making. All of these build

confidence in the Marines decision making process, so when

they are downrange in Iraq, Afghanistan, or some other

country, they will respond, and make good sound decisions.

Officers Eat Last uses this same technique to improve decision

making, except the games are called Leadership Decision

Games.

Let’s look at an Officers Eat Last LDG.

You are the Head of Security at an eCommerce Fulfillment

Center. You get a call over the radio from your Security

Manager that you are needed in the company parking lot. You

proceed to the parking lot and see a wrecker with a car hooked

up to it. You see a female crying on the phone sitting in the

driver’s seat and a small dog in the car. Another individual is

standing nearby, it appears to be the wrecker driver. Your

Security Manager begins to brief you that the car is being

repossessed. The lady in the car left her dog in the car with the

windows all the way up. The temperature outside is 90 degrees

F/30 degrees C right now. You think that the dog probably

would have died. The police are on their way to the scene. The

female is a temporary employee of your staffing agency.

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What now Leader?

I realize that most of you are not the Head of Security at an

eCommerce Fulfillment Center. You may never be the Head of

Security or even be in the Security industry. It doesn’t matter.

The way to get better at making decisions is to make them. If

you walk up on this situation, you don’t have time to conduct

deliberate planning. You don’t have time to analyze data. You

need to start making decisions.

So what would you do?

If you want to let me know what you would do, please email me at jason@officerseatlast.com. You can also visit my blog at www.officerseatlast.com to find more Leadership Decision Games.

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CHAPTER 10

“A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus,

but a molder of consensus.”

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

One of my senior leaders walked into my office and let me

know that his wife’s grandmother had passed away. He

explained how close his wife was to her grandmother and how

she was taking her death very hard. I was the Commanding

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Officer for Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines at the time

in Twentynine Palms, California. The senior leader was my

Company Gunnery Sergeant (GySgt) Rodney Buentello and his

wife’s family lived in Texas. We were in the middle of planning

a major live fire exercise that would include four days of

training. GySgt Buentello was a key member of the planning

team, and would be critical to our success in execution. He

knew this, and did not intend to accompany his wife to her

grandmother’s funeral. I let him know that he needed to go and

support his wife during this time. His commitment and

dedication was so high towards the Marines, he did not want to

let them down and felt he should stay. I told him we would be

fine and that his wife needed to be his priority. He reluctantly

agreed. The Marine Corps has a policy for just about

everything, as you might expect. The policy in this case would

allow me, the Commanding Officer, to deny a leave request in

this situation because the Marines wife’s grandmother is not an

immediate family member. I knew of this policy, but I also had

the discretion to grant the leave request. GySgt Buentello

accompanied his wife to Texas for the funeral. We made the

necessary adjustments to our staffing and executed the live fire

training successfully. When GySgt Buentello returned, he

stopped by my office and expressed his gratitude to me for

encouraging him to go with his wife. He said that his wife and

her family were very thankful that he was allowed to attend.

This seemingly minor action created an extremely loyal senior

leader who became a greater asset to our team. It also pulled

his wife closer to the Marine Corps and our entire team. This

action and other similar actions contributed greatly to other

team building techniques we were instituting at the time in an

effort to build a close knit group.

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Why is it Important to be an Effective Team Builder?

Team building is the very essence of leadership. If you can’t

build a team, you can’t be a successful leader. A leader needs to

spend a good deal of time ensuring they are creating an

environment where a team can flourish. The leader sets the

tone for the team. If the leader is frustrated all the time, it will

create friction and frustration amongst the team. If the leader is

calm and maintains a positive attitude regardless of the

situation, the team will have a positive attitude. This isn’t about

being a cheerleader.

Effective team builders

focus on how the team is

organized, and the roles

they are executing. They

focus on all members

knowing and doing their

job for the team. They

hold people accountable,

and everyone knows that

they will be held

accountable. It doesn’t matter what goal or objective you are

trying to achieve as a leader, you won’t achieve anything of

significance if you can’t build a team and hold them together.

What Types of Team Building Methods and Techniques

Should an OEL Stage I Leader Use?

The main method you need to use is to build trust with your

team. An OEL Stage I Leader should get to know everyone on

their team. You need to understand their strengths and

Leadership is about

making others better

as a result of your

presence, and making

sure that impact lasts

in your absence.

Sheryl Sandberg

COO of Facebook

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weaknesses. You need to leverage their strengths and minimize

their weaknesses. You need to ensure your team works

together and builds trust amongst one another. This is where

you start to lean on your Officer Eat Last Personal Leadership

Doctrine. Your leadership doctrine is the foundation of your

leadership and your team.

How much should you know about the members of your team?

You can go really deep on this, but I found the most successful

method is to have a balance. I want to know the family

situation of the members of my team. I don’t do this through

interrogation. I do this through casual conversation. If you

can’t be genuine about learning about your team members

families then you will struggle to build and maintain the trust

and respect of your team. The only reason people are coming

to work with you is because of their families. They want to take

care of their families, and provide for them, or they want to

prove something to someone in their family. The “Prove”

something types are generally single individuals. The “Provide”

types are married or just have a deep respect for their family

and want to provide for them financially. All of this is

important because it affects their attitudes and performance

every day. You should know their personality and how they like

to work.

All of this information builds your framework on how you

should organize your team for success. You need to align

people in your organization where they have the best chance to

succeed. Everyone needs to know the overall team goals and

objectives. They need to know their role and responsibility.

They also need to have an understanding of everyone else’s

roles and responsibilities. This will allow all members to work

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together and solve issues before they become obstacles for the

team.

The next piece is to establish a rhythm to your work. The team

needs to be moving the ball forward towards accomplishing the

goals and objectives you have set. Do you have a weekly

meeting to keep everyone on track? What types of reports do

you want to review in order to understand if the team is moving

in the right direction? If your goal is to launch a new product

six months from today, it is the leader’s responsibility to chart

the path to get to that launch. The rhythm you set needs to be

aligned with your personality. I like to know what is going on

with my team and if the ball is moving forward, so I always

have at a minimum weekly status check meetings. If somebody

on the team is stuck and can’t seem to overcome an obstacle, I

want to know so that I can help resolve the issue. You will

develop your own style; just make sure there is a rhythm to the

work.

How Should You Develop Your

Team Building Skills?

You have to establish clear goals and objectives for your team.

They need something to rally behind in order for the team to

grow. These need to be long term goals like increasing sales by

25% over the next year. You need to get buy-in on your goals

and objectives from the team. These need to be individual,

regular conversations that you have with each team member.

Each member of the team needs to believe the team can

accomplish the goals and objectives you have set. If your goal

is to take the company public by the end of the year, but you

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haven’t sold one product, and you have never taken a company

public, guess what? You might not get buy-in from your team.

The goals need to be realistic and achievable. You need to get

to know your team. You need to know their personality,

behaviors, strengths, and weaknesses. You need to know about

their families and what is important to them. What motivates

them to work for you? You need written job descriptions for

each of your team members with details regarding their roles

and responsibilities. These need to be shared with every

member of the team. The only way to encourage your team to

help each other is if they know everybody’s role and purpose.

You need to establish a rhythm for team meetings and

reporting. All of these things start to create a culture for your

team. The foundation of your culture is your Officers Eat Last

Personal Leadership Doctrine. You need to leverage your

doctrine to drive your team and the culture. You also have to

do the hard work of improving the performance of sub-

West working to resolve conflict with Afghan elders. Sangin,

Afghanistan, 2011

102

standard performers, and/or removing them from your team.

Do not allow one bad apple to ruin your team or the overall

culture.

I have just described how to begin building a successful team.

There is a ton of work involved in this process, but it is a

necessity if you want to create a successful team.

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PART III

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CHAPTER 11

“The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it,

no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a

football field, in an army, or in an office.”

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

I walked into the office and heard the news that Bill Tucker was

about to be fired. I was shocked. Bill had been a Financial

Representative and producer for over five years. We had

become friends over the last year and I really respected his work

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ethic and knowledge. The five year point in the financial

industry is an important milestone to achieve. It normally

means your days of struggling to build your business are over, if

you have built your client base the correct way. That is when

you will begin to get referrals from your current clients, and

your existing clients will be purchasing new products from you.

Bill was well respected by all of the Financial Representatives,

and viewed as a mentor, and expert. He had a serious ethical

lapse, and forged the signature of a prospective client onto

some life insurance forms. The process to purchase life

insurance can mean signing 5-10 forms depending on your age,

health, and the company you are acquiring the life insurance

from. Bill rationalized the forgery in his mind because he only

did this with clients that signed the initial contract, and paid the

first month’s premium. The majority of these forms require

original signatures by the client. Bill would review the client

package, and observe that one of the five forms that he needed

signed was somehow not signed by the client. This is where the

rationalization would take place. Bill knew that if he had to

send the form back to the client, it would delay the life

insurance in force date. So, he would sign the form as the

client, and submit the life insurance package. The client got the

life insurance on the date they wanted it, and he had another

client. The problem is that forged signatures are a serious

breach of ethics. The company we worked for used software

that would examine the signatures to determine if any were

forged. The software alerted that Bill had been forging

signatures on some of his clients. The company commenced an

investigation, and immediately started to find more documents

that had been forged. The senior leadership of this company

valued ethical leadership, and fired Bill within a few days of the

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discovery. Bill admitted that he had forged documents and left

the company peacefully.

Ethical violations can arise frequently in business such as the

one above. Bill was a solid producer. He treated people with

respect. His clients did not complain about forged signatures,

because they were happy that they had the product within the

promised timeline. However, companies know that you can’t

run a business with forged signatures. At some point, the

company can be sued for forged documents, and it can destroy

the credibility and brand of the entire company. As a leader,

you need to look for situations where your team might

rationalize unethical behavior. You have to build a culture and

policies that prevent unethical behavior.

What is Ethical Leadership?

Ethical leadership requires a clear and coherent ethical

framework that the leader can draw on in making decisions and

taking action. Every decision and action by the leader needs to

be based on integrity. Ethical leadership should be woven into

the policies and fabric of the company. I have long held the

belief that you either have integrity or you don’t. There isn’t

any gray area with integrity. If you cheat a person for a dollar, it

isn’t any different than cheating someone for one million

dollars.

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Why is it Important to be an Ethical Leader?

Ethical leaders build trust, credibility, and respect with those

they lead. The only way to achieve real success with a group of

individuals is to build trust.

People need to know that they

will be treated fairly and they

need to see this in the actions of

their leader. If you consistently

lie to your customers, and

rationalize this behavior, it will

not build trust with your team.

It doesn’t matter how you

rationalize the behavior. You

have to create a healthy climate and environment for your team

to succeed. This happens through a focus on ethical leadership.

How do You Build a

Foundation of Ethical Leadership?

Everyone has some type of ethical foundation. You may not

have written it down, but it is a part of you. The foundation

began with how you were raised, and what part of the world

you lived. As you grow older, you have the opportunity to

shape your foundation to suit your personality, and the behavior

you want to model. If you desire to lead people, you must build

a solid ethical foundation that is accepted in the society you live

and the organization you lead.

It is not

fair to ask

of others

what you are

unwilling to

do yourself.

Eleanor Roosevelt

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Your Officers Eat Last Leadership Doctrine will be the guide

you need for yourself and your team. That is why an OEL

leader has their own Core Values, Leadership Definition,

Leadership Philosophy, Principles, Traits, and Rules. The

doctrine is your ethical framework. It is what should guide your

actions and decisions on a daily basis. The environment you

were raised in has a tremendous impact on how you will behave

as an adult. If you had parents that were positive and showered

you with love, your natural instinct will probably lean towards

being positive. If your home life was negative, your natural

instinct may lean towards being negative. The good news is

that you get to shape your behavior and actions as an adult.

You get to establish your moral compass as an adult. Your

moral compass does not need to match your parents’, or other

people in your life if they were negative and untrustworthy.

You are building your ethical foundation, and you control your

actions. The actions you choose will be what your team

mirrors, and integrity must be at the core.

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CHAPTER 12

“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you

become a leader, success is all about growing others.”

-Jack Welch

I was leaning up against the wall, and I had my glasses propped

on top of my head. He looked at me, and motioned for me to

not lean against the wall, and to take my glasses off my head.

He didn’t do it in stern way or to be mean. His direction was

from respect and authority. My first Commanding Officer was

a prior enlisted reconnaissance Marine. He was tough as nails

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and smart as a whip. He was extremely arrogant, but he could

back it up. He was the perfect Commanding Officer for me

because I needed to be molded, and shaped into a better leader.

He would correct my every move. If I crossed my arms and he

felt it was inappropriate, he would correct me. If I was

checking on my Marines too much, he would correct me. If I

wasn’t checking on them enough, he would steer me in another

direction. I didn’t know it at the time, but he was my mentor.

He embraced this role for every young Marine officer in his

company. There wasn’t any rebellion against his mentoring,

because of the respect we all had for him. He was an extremely

competent leader, and his military tactics were sound.

What is a Leadership Mentor?

A leadership mentor is an individual that has significant

leadership experience. They need to have in excess of 10-12

years of leadership experience. The best leadership mentor will

be an individual that has been in your industry or a similar

industry. They need to be an individual that is ethically sound.

They should be a skilled communicator, planner, decision

maker, and team builder. They should have a genuine care for

those that they are mentoring. They should have an altruistic

attitude towards their mentee. If the mentee is able to assist the

mentor that is fine, but the mentor should not enter the

relationship with that in mind.

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Why is it Important to Have Leadership Mentors?

The best way to improve your leadership abilities is to have a

leadership mentor. You will not reach your full potential as a

leader without solid

leadership mentors. You

need to bounce ideas off

of leaders that have

wisdom. You need sound

advice for the normal

struggles that leaders have

every day, week, and

month. You need leaders

to emulate. It is one of

the best ways to really

grow as a leader. You can read every book on leadership, and

only marginally improve as a leader. However, proper

leadership mentoring can make you grow by leaps and bounds.

How Do You Build Leadership

Mentor Relationships?

The best way to find someone to be your leadership mentor is

to ask. The ideal leadership mentor is a leader that does not

work for the same company as you, and they are not a family

member. They also need to meet the other criteria of years of

leading, and be willing to commit the time to actually mentor

you. I’m not discouraging family members from mentoring

you, but you don’t want this to be the only leadership

mentoring you receive. I would also encourage you to visit your

local Chamber of Commerce. Most Chambers of Commerce

Never tell people

how to do things.

Tell them what to

do and they will

surprise you with

their ingenuity.

General G. Patton

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have programs in place for mentoring. Another great resource

is to find mentors is SCORE. SCORE is a nonprofit

association dedicated to helping small businesses get off the

ground, grow, and achieve their goals through education and

mentorship. You have to be patient when you are trying to find

a leadership mentor. If you begin to meet with a leadership

mentor, and the advice you are receiving does not align with

your ethical framework, you need to politely find another

mentor. You do need to listen to constructive criticism from

your mentor. If you can’t find a leadership match with all of

the above methods, I would recommend you hire a leadership

coach. You will still have to have patience in finding a

leadership coach, because the first one you hire may not align

with your ethical framework. The key is that every leader needs

a leadership mentor whom they can have honest and open

communication geared towards continuously improving oneself.

It is one of the most vital ways to continue your growth as a

leader.

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CHAPTER 13

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.”

-John Quincy Adams

Growing up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, I was never the tallest kid

in class or on the football field for that matter. In high school I

was 5’ 8” and weighed 155 pounds, and I was tough as nails.

When I was on the football field and I hit my opponent, I hit

them as hard as I could. Paul “Bear” Bryant, the legendary

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football coach at Alabama, had a tremendous impact on my life

because he was a winner. I wanted to be a winner. From a very

young age, I wanted to grow up, and play football for Alabama.

In spite of my size, I did play for Alabama. It had been a

childhood dream, and it felt great accomplishing that dream.

Bear Bryant’s influence is what drove me during my youth to

train hard, and build strength so that I might have an

opportunity to play football at Alabama. When I was a

teenager, a group of us wanted to go to the beach without adult

supervision. My Dad told me that if I got into trouble, or if I

got arrested that he wouldn’t let me play football that Fall. I

wasn’t an angel on that trip to the beach, but my Dad’s message

was always on my mind, and it influenced my actions. I knew

he would follow through on his promise. I attempted to be on

my best behavior and stay out of trouble. I needed to continue

playing football if I was going to have a chance to make the

football team at Alabama. I embraced Bryant’s influence, and it

shaped my behaviors as I was growing up.

What is a Leadership Influencer?

A leadership influencer can be anybody throughout history that

you would like to study and emulate. It can be a leader today.

A few of my leadership influencers are Paul “Bear” Bryant,

Abraham Lincoln, and Jack Welch. I have never met any of

them, but I have studied their behaviors and thought processes.

I have tried to emulate many traits that they possess. My goal

has always been to integrate the traits that helped my

influencers achieve great success into my leadership philosophy.

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Why is it Important to Have Leadership Influencers?

Leading people can be incredibly challenging and difficult. You

need to learn as much as you can from others mistakes. You

will make mistakes the first year you are leading a team, and you

will make mistakes 40 years later if you are still leading. You

need to study others and understand common mistakes so that

you can attempt to avoid them. If you study the doctrine and

philosophy of leadership influencers it will assist you in

modeling your leadership behavior. How did they handle

complex problems? How did they handle conflict resolution?

How did they select talent? How did they juggle multiple

complex issues? What types of planning techniques did they

use? What type of people did they surround themselves with?

West conducting an assessment of area with Afghan government

officials and a member of the Provincial Reconstruction Team.

Sangin, Afghanistan, March 2011

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Bear Bryant would say that he didn’t have any reason to hire

somebody unless they were more intelligent and talented than

him. That statement screams confidence. Are you confident

enough to hire people that are more talented than you? Many

leaders in business are not. They fear that if they hire more

talented people they will be fired and someone on their team

will take over. You will never be a great leader if you don’t have

the confidence to hire people with more talent than you

possess.

Who Should be Your Leadership Influencers?

You should study a wide range of leadership influencers, and

emulate the best traits across all of them. You have to create

your own unique style that maximizes the value from each

leadership influencer you would like to emulate. You will not

be able to be Abraham Lincoln, so don’t try. However, you can

take lessons from President Lincoln’s style and integrate them

into your leadership style.

The leadership influencer needs to be someone that you would

like to model your behavior after. If Abraham Lincoln wrote an

angry letter, he would place it in his desk drawer after he had

completed writing the letter. He would pull the letter out the

next day and read it again. He would normally rewrite the letter

in a more productive way. I use this same type of technique in

my leadership. I never send an angry email or letter. We are

fortunate in our day because it is much easier to meet face-to-

face, over video, or have a phone call. The influence of

Abraham Lincoln provided me a leadership rule that I use

frequently. I never attempt to counsel individuals on my team

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through email. I only provide constructive criticism face-to-

face, over video, or a phone call. My preference is face-to-face,

but I will use other tools if we are separated by long distances.

The influence of Jack Welch provided me a leadership rule

associated with ensuring everyone is rowing the boat in the

same direction as a productive team member. He focused on

having the right talent on the team. His subordinate leaders

knew that they would have to defend the organization of their

teams. If they could not communicate why particular

individuals were benefiting the team, they were removed from

the team.

You need to think about the traits and skills you would like to

build. Then study influencers throughout history that possess

those traits. Study how they used those traits. How did they

create successful teams? Why were they successful? Where did

they learn the traits you desire? How can you best model their

Captain Ramotowski and West near Helmand River.

Sangin, Afghanistan 2011

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successful traits? How do you integrate their traits into your

daily actions? How do you use their traits to enhance the

performance of your team?

You should use, and integrate quotes from your leadership

influencers with your teams. Don’t do this so that your team

will be impressed with your memorization skills. Do this to

influence their behavior. When you are an aspiring leader, your

team is going to be more impressed with following the

leadership lessons of Abraham Lincoln or General Eisenhower

than they are following your lessons. You can use this to your

advantage. It makes the leader of the team seem like Abraham

Lincoln or Gen Eisenhower, and you are just a steward in

charge at that moment. It allows you to act with a certain level

of humility, because you are executing leadership lessons from

great leaders throughout history.

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CHAPTER 14

“Some people wonder all their lives if they've made a difference.

The Marines don't have that problem.”

-Ronald Reagan

When I arrived at Parris Island, South Carolina, for Marine

Corps boot camp, I had an arrogant chip on my shoulder. I

had watched and listened to the recruiting messages about

Marines. It was clear they thought they were the toughest of all

the branches of service. I was eager to find out for myself. I

was in great shape due to my training and playing football at

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Alabama. The Marine physical training was not difficult for me.

I let my arrogance, and cockiness get the best of me during a

sprint competition. We were lined up in a field for a 75 yard

sprint. The drill instructors said they wanted 100% effort. I

heard “on your mark, get set, go”. I took off and started to

look to my left and right. There wasn’t a single recruit near me.

As I was getting closer to the finish line, I turned around like a

hot shot and started pointing at everyone, and went backwards

across the finish line. I learned very quickly it was a bad

decision. I had about five to six drill instructors all over me.

They were yelling at me for

being a hot shot. It was the

exact kind of attention you do

not want at boot camp. I had

just identified myself as an

arrogant recruit, and from that

day forward for the rest of boot

camp, the drill instructors were

all over me, all the time. My

respect for the Marines continued to grow every day. I was

finding out that the Marines were every bit as tough as the

commercials stated.

I didn’t take the easy path through Marine boot camp due to my

arrogance. However, I realized while I was there that I had a

ton to learn about leadership, and I was in the right place at the

right time to learn. How about you? Are you going to take the

hard path due to a lack of maturity? Or are you going to do the

hard work that it takes to become a leader?

A true leader is

one who is

humble enough

to admit their

mistake

Anonymous

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Growth Path

It takes about 10-18 years for an American doctor to practice

independently. A person cannot skip steps because they want

to, or because they are impatient. You must complete your

undergraduate degree, then graduate medical school, and lastly a

3-5 year residency program. There are longer paths for some

specialty physicians, or surgeons. If you plan to become a

doctor you study and understand this path. You may want to

speed it up, but it is not going to happen. The only way to

speed it up is to choose a specialty that takes less time for

residency. I recently visited a neonatal intensive care unit

(NICU) because my cousin’s newborn had been admitted to the

NICU. I happened to be there when one of the team lead

doctors was making her rounds. She had two residency doctors

with her and two RNs. They invited the family to listen to the

brief. The lead doctor kicked off the meeting by indicating she

was ready to hear the brief. One of the residency doctors

started to read off a list of healthcare data, and stats that applied

Afghan boy and West. Sangin, Afghanistan 2011

122

to my cousin’s daughter. The brief was very efficient and

thorough. Every person was engaged and providing data to the

lead doctor for her to make the best decisions regarding the

baby. It struck me that this team of doctors held the life of my

cousin’s baby in their hands. If they were able to use their years

of experience and wisdom, mixed with modern technology, his

daughter would continue to thrive and grow. The opposite is

also true if they provided poor advice. The lead doctor

displayed compassion, and care for the two doctors that she

was clearly mentoring. I was impressed with the entire process,

and how the medical profession was ensuring the

professionalism, and competency of the next set of doctors.

The young aspiring doctors were being mentored, and they

seemed to embrace the process.

How do you create a similar scenario for yourself? The

business world does not provide this type of path for

individuals that plan to grow into leaders. The business world

has more of a sink or swim mentality. The medical profession

knows they cannot operate based off of a model of sink or

swim. There are lives on the line with their decisions. The

interesting piece is that leaders have lives on the line as well.

However, poor leadership in business doesn’t normally lead to

death, but it can destroy a person’s career. As an aspiring

leader, you need to have the maturity and humility to be

developed into a leader.

Your Leadership Journey

Every person’s leadership journey is different. There is no such

thing as born leaders or even natural leaders. There are people

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that possess certain characteristics that embody leadership.

However, just like a person cannot become a doctor in one

year, a person does not become a successful leader in one year.

The journey takes time, and you have to be mature enough to

realize that it takes time. The Officers Eat Last Leadership

Development Process details a path to develop a rock solid

foundation in which you can build a career of success. This

path requires hard work, and it will take years to achieve, but

the reward and joy will be well worth it.

Let’s quickly review the process below:

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If you follow the Officers Eat Last Leadership Development

Process you will not wonder if you have a made a difference,

you will know that you have made a difference.

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Successful teams are built through the contribution of great

people. I would not be writing a leadership development book

if it wasn’t for all the people that have coached, mentored, and

nurtured me throughout my life. I would like to provide a

special thanks to the following people, Chris Ellison, Stephen

Pate, Rob Peterson, Brian Merz, Amy Merz, Matt Fritsch,

Vance Sewell, Scott Campbell, John Childers, and Brantley

Wilks. Each of them provided insight and feedback that

strengthened the content of my first book.

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Do you want another leadership book for FREE

today?

Go to the link below for your FREE eBook.

OfficersEatLast.com/index.php/rules-book/

Carnegie Institute

of Technology

85% of your financial success is due to your

personality and ability to communicate,

negotiate, and lead.

Shockingly, only 15% is due to

your technical knowledge.

Are you seeking a path to greater financial

success within your organization or as an

entrepreneur?

Do you want to have a greater influence on

your team, peers, managers, and customers?

Start your journey to become a successful

leader today.

Start your journey to achieve greater

financial success today.

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Officers Eat Last

Leadership Development Rules

Every successful leader has leadership rules that

guide their actions with their team.

Jason has compiled a list of 75 leadership rules

that he has used throughout his 20 plus years of

leading teams.

Add them to your personal leadership doctrine

today.

Get your FREE copy at the link below.

OfficersEatLast.com/index.php/rules-book/

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