Tag Archives: US Army

Be-Know-Do, The Army’s Leadership Model

Posted on

The following is one of my favorite posts from 2011.  Thought it was appropriate to share with you one more time.  Hope you have a great weekend!

Being a former Army officer, the Army holds a special place in my heart.  Additionally, they have been the premier leadership training organization in our country for the last couple of centuries.

The Army has a simple, but profound model for leadership:  Be – Know – Do.

By the way, the Leader to Leader Institute (Peter Drucker) has published a great book on this called BE-KNOW-DO, Leadership The Army Way.

The model is simply this:

BE – this is all about your character as a leader and is foundational to your ability to lead.  It gives you the courage to do what is right regardless of the circumstances or the consequences.  As part of BE, you should be aware of your personal core values as well as your organization’s values.  For the Army, their values are:

  • Loyalty
  • Duty
  • Respect
  • Selfless Service
  • Honor
  • Integrity
  • Personal Courage

KNOW – This is about the knowledge and skill sets you need to be competent as a leader and cover four areas:

  1. Interpersonal skills
  2. Conceptual skills
  3. Technical skills
  4. Tactical skills

Your mastery of the knowledge and skills required for your role are essential to the success of your organization.

DO – Leaders act. They bring together everything they are, everything they believe, and everything they know how to do to provide purpose, direction, and motivation.  This involves the following three leader actions:

  1. Influencing
  2. Operating
  3. Improving

For me, it’s a great model of leadership.  You can either order an actual copy of The U.S. Army Leadership Field Manual or the book on the model, BE-KNOW-DO, Leadership The Army Way.

Hope you have a blessed day serving those the Lord has given you to shepherd at your place of work.

BG

The Soldier’s Creed

Posted on

I have had the privilege of serving as a commissioned officer in the US Army.  It is something that has marked me for life and I am deeply grateful that the Lord allowed me the opportunity to serve my country in this manner – it was an honor.

Following is the Soldier’s Creed. Some great statements and many still apply to my ife.

I am an American Soldier.

I am a warrior and a member of a team.

I serve the people of the United States, and live the Army Values.

I will always place the mission first.

I will never accept defeat.

I will never quit.

I will never leave a fallen comrade.

I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills.

I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.

I am an expert and I am a professional.

I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy, the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.

I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.

I am an American Soldier.

Strong statements. Could these be adapted somewhat to apply to your life?

BG

What Do You Believe?

Posted on

Good morning! The question for you this morning is what do you believe?  What do you stand for?

Do you know what it is that is truly important to you?  Have you decided on the areas in which you will not compromise?  Do you know what you stand for?  Can you articulate your personal core values?

An organization I greatly respect is the US Army.  Many of their core values I have adopted (especially as I was a part of the Army for many years!).  Read the following values and see what they spark within you.

Loyalty -Bearing true faith and allegiance is a matter of believing in and devoting yourself to something or someone. 

Duty – Fulfill your obligations.

Respect – Treat people as they should be treated.

Selfless Service -Put the welfare of the nation, the Army and your subordinates before your own.

Honor – Live up to Army values.

Integrity – Do what is right, legally and morally.

Personal Courage – Face fear, danger or adversity.

A good list to contemplate.  Click here to read the full definition or explanation of the Army’s core values as I only listed a summary sentence for each above.

So, what are the things that you hold to be core to your life?  What are the things on which you will stand and not waver?

Click here to see Life Action’s core values (we call them the Cutting Edge Commitments). You will need to scroll down the page some.

Hope you have a great week.
BG

Two Things to do Before You Can Lead

Posted on

Do you feel like leading people has become much more complex? Has the fact that there are now four to five generations in the workforce you lead become a challenge?  How about the rate of change?  Change has always been with us, but the rate of change is such now that it leaves our minds whirling.

General Stanley McChrystal had to deal with all of those forces, but magnified and in combat where mistakes result in people being hurt or dying. He is the former commander of U.S. and International forces in Afghanistan. A four-star general, he is credited for creating a revolution in warfare that fuses intelligence and operations.

Watch the following TED Talks video to see how he dealt with these things.  There are some great lessons in this for all of us.

Be-Know-Do, The Army’s Leadership Model

Posted on

Being a former Army officer, the Army holds a special place in my heart.  Additionally, they have been the premier leadership training organization in our country for the last couple of centuries.

The Army has a simple, but profound model for leadership:  Be – Know – Do.

By the way, the Leader to Leader Institute (Peter Drucker) has published a great book on this called BE-KNOW-DO, Leadership The Army Way.

The model is simply this:

BE – this is all about your character as a leader and is foundational to your ability to lead.  It gives you the courage to do what is right regardless of the circumstances or the consequences.  As part of BE, you should be aware of your personal core values as well as your organization’s values.  For the Army, their values are:

  • Loyalty
  • Duty
  • Respect
  • Selfless Service
  • Honor
  • Integrity
  • Personal Courage

KNOW – This is about the knowledge and skill sets you need to be competent as a leader and cover four areas:

  1. Interpersonal skills
  2. Conceptual skills
  3. Technical skills
  4. Tactical skills

Your mastery of the knowledge and skills required for your role are essential to the success of your organization.

DO – Leaders act. They bring together everything they are, everything they believe, and everything they know how to do to provide purpose, direction, and motivation.  This involves the following three leader actions:

  1. Influencing
  2. Operating
  3. Improving

For me, it’s a great model of leadership.  You can either order an actual copy of The U.S. Army Leadership Field Manual or the book on the model, BE-KNOW-DO, Leadership The Army Way.

Hope you have a blessed week serving those the Lord has given you to shepherd at your place of work.

BG