Lessons in Leadership

I was here to learn about leadership and the lessons I learned were far reaching from the classroom.

This particular Sergeant, the one that asked me to go “on point” had been an advisor of sorts for me all along. He looked out for me in a brotherly kind of way but he also respected my rank and position but being a CAV soldier with far more experience and knowledge than I had, he helped me along. He was a smart young man and would be a great leader in the Army someday. No, I don’t know what happened to him and sadly, I don’t even remember his name.

What I learned from watching him and working with him were the greatest lessons I learned in PLDC.
First of all, a good leader must know his/her people. He knew my weaknesses, he saw that I was struggling.  Most of the other guys didn't notice and if they did, they didn't care.  He saw a problem that was effecting not only me but our entire platoon as well --so he sought to fix it.  He helped me where I was weak.  There's no way having me on point alone was a good option but he was by my side, walked me through it and helped me get stronger where I was weak.  He didn't try to exploit my weakness, make fun of me or worse yet, just leave me behind.  You might have to switch things up midpoint.  I didn't start out on point but I ended up there.  You also have to make decisions that might not set well with the group.  The platoon was not happy at all to hear of my decision but then again, they were mostly thinking of themselves.

You have to be able to look at your group as a whole but then you must also consider each individual part.  You can't always make everyone happy and sometimes making them happy isn't what is best.   Sometimes what's good for only one individual is what is best for the whole group and other times, vice versa.

I guess that's the whole point of doing the field exercise in PLDC.  You spent all these weeks in a classroom taking notes and multiple-choice tests but here in the field you do those things and see those things and experience those things.

I will never forget that soldier uh--well, I mean --I did forget his name but I'll never forget what it was like to work with him and learn from him.  After PLDC I saw him one more time. 

I guess I'll save that story for another day.