“War is much to brutal a business to have room for brutal leading; in the end, its only effect can be to corrode the character of men, and when character is lost, all is lost. The bully and the sadist serve only to further encumber an army; their subordinates must waste precious time clearing away… Read More
“Battalions certainly differed in their character and their competence both from others and within themselves over time. Battalions are much like an organic family. They are held together by intangibles ‐ leadership, comradeship, motivation, morale ‐ that defy quantification or even easy description. In good units, soldiers feel ‐ know ‐ they are in the… Read More
“Command and control of armed forces is an art, a creative activity based on character, ability, and mental power … Mission-oriented command and control is the first and foremost command and control principle in the army, of relevance in war even more than in peace. It affords the subordinate leader freedom of action in the… Read More
“Today’s officer must have the mental flexibility, the imagination, to utilize to the fullest extent the developments of modern technology. Nevertheless, he must not lose his soldier’s soul in the laboratory. Above all he must have the integrity and character of a Washington, the moral conviction of a Lincoln, and the tenacity and fighting ability… Read More
“The Officer Corps is the heart and soul of any military organization. It must be the reservoir of character and integrity, the fountainhead of professional competence, and the dynamo of leadership.” Matthew B. Ridgway (1895 to 1993) General Matthew Bunker Ridgway was a senior officer in the US Army, who served as Supreme Allied Commander… Read More
“When you are commanding, leading [soldiers] under conditions where physical exhaustion and privations must be ignored, where the lives of [soldiers] may be sacrificed, then, the efficiency of your leadership will depend only to a minor degree on your tactical ability. It will primarily be determined by your character, your reputation, not much for courage-which… Read More
“Just as the diamond requires three properties for its formation – carbon, heat, and pressure – successful leaders require the interaction of three properties – character, knowledge, and application. Like carbon to the diamond, character is the basic quality of the leader. But as carbon alone does not create a diamond, neither can character alone… Read More
