Muddy Boots Leadership: Real Life Stories and Personal Examples of Good, Bad, and Unexpected Results

By John Chapman

Examples of leader actions and decisions—some humorous, some tragic—that will help guide you whether you are a military officer or a civilian in an office.

 


John Chapman is a longstanding observer and chronicler of leadership events. In Muddy Boots Leadership, he describes 285 military leadership situations and the actions leaders have taken to meet the issue at hand. The leadership lessons learned and relearned by military leaders are applicable to a wide variety of organizations, both civil and military. Many are truly surprising; all are written with a certain "spark" that those in leadership positions will immediately understand. The text is augmented with some truly classic sidebars.


 

"When officers are being asked to 'do everything with nothing,' it costs a leader nothing but muddy boots to walk with them—and it can inspire extraordinary effort . . . It doesn't take money to get your boots muddy and lead by example. It does take courage and effort." —Officer.com

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jun 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9780811741118

John Chapman

We started the 'A Vested Interest' series in 2007 and it took over a year before I came up with an ending we were happy with. At 170,000 words A Vested Interest was too long though for a printed book. We cut it heavily but still ended with a 140,000 word book. There was no alternative, we had to split it into a two book series. Doing that, we thought, would allow us to put back some of the content we had cut and expand the second book (Dark Secrets) a little.Well that was the plan. We ended up splitting the second book and making a trilogy by adding 'No Secrets'. The original ending didn't quite fit now so we moved it into a fourth book - Stones, Stars and Solutions.And so it goes on. We are now writing book 10 and 11 of the series. Shelia has written a spin-off 'Blood of the Rainbow' trilogy. Altogether it's 2 million words so far! In terms of time, we've only covered a few months. There is an end in sight but not for another 5,000 years. Maybe I'll get to use my original ending then?About the AuthorsJohn and Shelia Chapman are a husband and wife team who met on Internet and crossed the Atlantic to be together. John, an English ex-science and computer teacher contributed the technology and 'nasty' bits while Shelia drew on her medical experience in the USA and produced the romance. The humour? That came from real life.

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Copyright © 2006 by Stackpole Books

Published by

STACKPOLE BOOKS

5067 Ritter Road

Mechanicsburg, PA 17055

www.stackpolebooks.com

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to Stackpole Books at the above address.

Cover design by Wendy Reynolds

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in Publication Data

Chapman, John (John E.)

Muddy boots leadership : real life stories and personal examples of good, bad, and unexpected results / by John Chapman.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 0-8117-0166-2 (alk. paper)

1. Leadership. 2. Command of troops. I. Title.

UB210.C482 2006

355.3'3041—dc22

2006002776

ISBN 978-0-8117-0166-2

eBook ISBN: 9780811741118

Table of Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgment

LEADERSHIP

Leadership Agreement

Checking

Chairbound Ignorance

Common Sense

Personal Commitment

Courtesy

Commendations

Credibility

Credit & Blame

Unit Bonding

Personal Growth

Honesty with Others

First Impressions

Bravery

Motivation

Inspections

Virtues for Leaders

Vision

People Selection

The Tyranny of Perception

Leader Personalities

Unit Personalities

Perception

Know Your Unit

Leader Selection

Great Leaders

Indicators of Effective Leadership

The Leadership Paradox

The Leader’s Dilemma

Leadership and The Law of Natural Selection

Obligation of Personal Recommendation

Quitting

Not Quitting

Benefits of Personal Experience

Leader Development

Commander vs. Leader

Planning

Power

Power Down

The Power of Praise

Command Presence

Priorities

Personal Priorities

Privilege and the Price of Leadership

Promises

Reenlistment

The Easy Way is Always Wrong

Trust, but Verify

A Soldier’s Trust

Thinking

Taking Charge

Taking Charge Timeline

Team Building

Developing Subordinates

The New Guy

The Secret of Expectations

The Power of Example

Reputation and Leadership

The Five Percent Solution

Sleep Plan

Socializing with Subordinates

New Sergeants or Corporals

Rights Card

Doing the Right Thing

Your Reputation

Personal Responsibility

Motivation

Reality

Names

Bad Leaders

Tolerance of Mistakes

Leader vs. Manager

Snivel Gear

Little White Lies

Roommate Hate

Soldier of the Month

PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE

The Chain Of Command

Delegation

Competition Management

The Ultimate Correction

Timing

The Execution of Unpopular Orders

Participation of Subordinates

When to Make Decisions

The Impact of Personal Interest

Delegation

Command Climate—Zero Defects

Planning

Supervision

Orders

Habit

Attention to Detail

Favoritism

Expertise

Global Positioning System

Friends

Timeliness

Apology

Moral Indifference

Coin Temptation

Guard Your Honor

Criticism

Suck up and Move Up

Ethics

Ethical Priorities

Situational Ethics

Honesty

Effectiveness

Soldiers’ Evaluation of You

Excuses

Confidence in Yourself

Courage

SOLDIERS

Family Readiness Group (FRG)

Family Readiness Group Information

Soldier Health

Help Me, I’m Drunk

HIV Policy

Home Visitation

Hospital Visitation

Section Visits

Soldiers on Quarters

Nicknames

Sponsorship

Drinking at Official Functions

Blood Alcohol Level

Motivation

Recognition

Rewards

NCO Work

Stupid Accidents

The Power of Appreciation: Deeds, not Words

Associates

Newcomer Certification

The New Guy

Fear

Recognizing an Emergency

Barracks Presence

Chaplain

Births

Hey, You Details

Promotion Boards

The Color Guard

Standards

COMMUNICATION

Vocabulary

Rumors

Situation Reports

When Less is More

Information Flow

Listening

Farewell to Your Unit

Command Philosophy

Contact Time

Newspapers

Fact vs. Rumor

Gossip

Writing

Communication is the Key to Command

Rolodex™

The Danger of E-Mail

E-Mail: Everything in Life is a Graded Event

Situation Report

COUNSELING

The Key to Counseling

Counseling Journal

Counseling Format

Counseling for Adverse Action

Footlocker Counseling

Impact Counseling

Initial Counseling

Counseling File Contents

Personal Counseling

Plate Counseling

When to Check Counseling

ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT

Weight Control Program

Passes

Uniform Inspections

The Headquarters Problem

In-box Shuffle

The Pain of Great Ideas

Promotion Preparation

Promotion Selection

Wills

Keyboard Time

Continuity File

Additional Duties

Cup and Flower Fund

Awards: Doing the Right Thing

Impact Awards

Play of the Week Award

Personal Emergency

Punishment

Justice and Mercy

Public Exposure

Requirements for Project Success

Support for Programs

Statistics

Records

Systems

More on Additional Duties

Discipline Drives Routine

Field Mail

Maps

Meetings

MAINTENANCE AND TRAINING

PMCS

Maintenance Schedule

Maintenance Standards

Equipment Service Schedule

Weapons Maintenance

No Pay Due

Technical Competence

Training Standards

Retraining

Internal Training Classes

Junior Leadership Development

Training Challenge and Unit Growth

Judgment

Physical Training

Training Motivation

PT Cadence

Command Emphasis at PT

Officer Training Responsibility

Applying Your Professional Education

After-Action Review

Supply Confidence

Reports of Survey

Inventory

Equipment Field Loss

Key Control

Hand Receipts

Clothing Inventory

The Commander’s Hand Receipt

PROSPERING PROFESSIONALLY

Your Boss’s Goals and Yours

Support of Your Boss

Don’t Hide Bad News

The Boss’s Loyalty

Unit Recovery

Leader’s Brief

Survivorship Briefing

Advice

Luck

Your Boss’s OER Support Form

Silver Bullets

Commitment to Soldiers

Doctrine

End of the Duty Day

Victim of Your Experience

Mission Priority

Perception: The First Report is Always Wrong

Planning Effectiveness

Optional Social Functions

Unit Hails and Farewells

Staff

Don’t Lose Your Sense of Humor

TEN RULES TO LIVE BY x 3

NCO vs. Sergeant

Soldiers

Leadership

The Soldier’s Creed

Index

Foreword

Author John Chapman, a superb observer and chronicler of leadership events, now shares in this book his observations and lessons learned about this essential military art. Today’s unit-level military leaders can learn much from their predecessors in what works and what doesn’t. In this book, Chapman covers just about every area of leadership and leadership interaction with followers, which in turn produces a large number of stories and vignettes servicemen will immediately recognize.

Leadership has many purposes—to build effective organizations, to successfully complete dangerous tasks in high-risk environments, and to mold teams that operate like winning sports teams.

For their part, the military services, as institutions, have a fairly common understanding of leadership. In no other profession is lack of sound leadership more potentially disastrous than in the armed forces. At the most basic level, military leaders are selected for their proven ability to do two things: (a) accomplish the mission, and (2) take care of their people—in that priority!

The primary task of any military organization is to perform its mission. This is paramount. As a leader, your primary responsibility is to lead people to carry out the unit’s mission successfully.

People perform the mission. They are the heart of any organization, and without their support the unit will fail in its mission. The successful leader is the one fitted by force of ideas, character, genius, and strength of will to arouse, excite, and direct individuals in their performance of duties necessary for the accomplishment of the mission.

Most leaders must, by the nature of their positions, also be managers. But there is a difference. Leadership is the art of influencing and directing people to accomplish the mission. Management is the manner in which both human and material resources are applied to achieve objectives. In essence, the leader leads people and manages assets.

All of the military services have relatively similar definitions of the ideal traits and characteristics of a leader. In the Army, these go by the acronym L-D-R-S-H-I-P, which include:

—Loyalty is to bear true faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, the Army, your unit, and your fellow soldiers.

—Duty means fulfilling your professional obligations to do something, and doing it to the highest standard.

—Respect is to treat people as they should be treated and as you would want to be treated.

—Selfless Service means to put the welfare of the nation, the Army, and your subordinates before your own welfare or desires or pleasures.

—Honor is to behave with human dignity, to be honest, to fulfill a commitment, to keep a promise.

—Integrity is doing what’s right, legally and morally.

—Personal Courage is to perform your duty in the face of fear, danger, or adversity (physical or moral).

Complementing these bedrock values are two leadership characteristics essential for professional success: Teamwork and Discipline. Military units cannot operate in peace or war without these two characteristics.

The Air Force uses a similar list of leader characteristics, but adds:

—Decisiveness, the willingness to act, to take timely and affirmative decisions.

—Energy, an enthusiasm, drive, and aggressiveness to take the initiative.

All the services agree that the leadership principles know yourself, know your job, and set the example are imperatives for leadership.

As you read through this book, you will find numerous examples of leader actions and decisions—some are humorous, some tragic. Many are examples of good leadership, others of not so good leadership, and some actions that caused quite unexpected results. Use these examples as a guide to your future actions, regardless of whether you are a commissioned officer, a warrant officer, a noncommissioned officer, or a soldier, airman, sailor, marine, or a civilian who aspires to leadership.

Acknowledgment

This document is the result of many fine soldiers with whom I have been privileged to serve. They include Colonels Ronald Robinson and John Spears; Lt. Col. Bruce Shabaz; Captains Joel Bagnal, Randal Flood, Jerry Stephens, Paul Shelton, and Randy West; 1st Sgt. Carr; Sergeants First Class Dennis Reilly, James Lyons, and James McGrath; Drill Sergeant Antrupp; Specialist Richard Richardson; and many others.

Regrettably, some of these lessons learned must be attributed to the weak, lazy, or excruciatingly bad leaders with and under whom I have unfortunately had to suffer. They remain nameless but not forgotten.

John E. Chapman

Spring 2006

LEADERSHIP

Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character.

But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.

—Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf

LEADERSHIP AGREEMENT

"I don’t want any yes-men around