Atitila The Hun On Navy Leadership

I have to post this one from Naval Leadership:

Repost - Attila the Hun on Navy Leadership

One of my favorites.

Advice and Counsel

• Written reports are only useful if read by your audience.
• An officer with Sailors who always agree with him reaps the counsel of mediocrity.
• An officer never kills the Sailor bearing bad news, he kills the Sailors that fail to deliver bad news.
• An officer who asks the wrong questions always hears the wrong answers.
• An officer never asks a question for which he doesn't want to hear the answer.

Character

• The greatness of an officer is measured by the sacrifices he is willing to make for the good of the squadron.
• Seldom are self-centered, conceited and self-admiring officers great leaders, but they are great idolizers of themselves.
• Great officers never take themselves too seriously.
• An officer adapts-he doesn't compromise.
• Weak officers surround themselves with weak Sailors.
• Strong officers surround themselves with strong Sailors.

Courage

• Officers must learn early that working through a hardship is an experience that influences them all the
  days of their lives.
• Successful officers learn to deal with adversity and to overcome mistakes.

Decision Making

• Every decision involves some risk.
• Time does not always improve a situation for an officer or his Sailors.
• Errors are inescapable when the unqualified are allowed to exercise judgment and make decisions.
• Quick decisions are not always the best decisions. On the other hand, unhurried decisions are not always
  the best decisions.
• Officers should never rush into confrontations.
• The ability to make difficult decisions separates leaders from followers.

Delegation

• Officers never place their Sailors in situations where their weaknesses will prevail over their
  strengths.
• Good Sailors will almost always achieve what their leaders expect from them.
• An officer never expects his Sailors to act beyond their wisdom or understanding.
• An officer always gives tough assignments to Sailors who can rise to the occasion.
• Abdication is not delegation. Abdication is a sign of weakness. Delegation is a sign of strength.

Developing Subordinates

• Strong Sailors have strong weaknesses. An officer's duty is to make Sailors strengths prevail.
• Sailors learn less from success than they do from failure.
• Sailors learn much faster when faced with adversity.
• A good officer takes risks by delegating to an inexperienced Sailor in order to strengthen his leadership
  abilities.
• Sailors are best prepared to become Chiefs when given appropriate challenges at successively higher levels of responsibility.
  If it were easy to be a Chief, every Sailor would be one.
• Without challenge, a Sailor's potential and a squadron's potential is never realized.

Goals

• Superficial goals lead to superficial results.
• As a squadron, we would accomplish more if officers, Chiefs and Sailors behaved as though squadron goals were as important to them as personal goals.
• Critical to a Sailor's success is a clear understanding of what the CO wants.
• A Sailor's goal should always be worthy of his efforts.
• A Sailor without purpose will never know when he has achieved it.
• Officers should always aim high, going after things that will make a difference rather than seeking the safe
  path of mediocrity.

Leaders and Leadership

• Officers should always appoint there best Sailors to the best positions, no matter how much they are needed in their current job.
• An officer knows he is responsible for the welfare of his Sailors and acts accordingly.
• Being a leader is often a lonely job.
• Shared risk-taking will weld the relationship of an officer and his Sailors.
• Strong officers stimulate and inspire the performance of their Sailors.
• The best officers develop the ability to ask the right questions at the right time.
• An officer can never be in charge if he bring up the rear.

Perceptions

• An officer who takes himself too seriously has lost his perspective.
• A Sailor's perception is reality for him.
• Sailors who appear to be busy are not always working.

Problems and Solutions

• We all need to focus on opportunities rather than on problems.
• Some of us spend too much time coming up with solutions for which there are no problems.

Reward and Punishment

• If leader has failed, so likewise have his subordinate leaders.
• If you tell a Sailor he is doing a good job when he isn't, he will not listen long and, worse, will not believe
  praise when it is justified.

Tolerance

• Every Sailor has value-even if only to serve as a bad example.
• To experience the strength of Sailors we must tolerate some of their weaknesses.
• Suffer long for mediocre but loyal Sailors. Suffer not for competent but disloyal Sailors.

Training

• Adequate training of Sailors is essential to war and cannot be disregarded by officers in more peaceful
  times.
• The consequence for not adequately training your Sailors is their failure to accomplish that which is expected of them.