Or: What I want to do I don't do, what I do, I don't want to do
1
Why do we do wrong?
General Douglas MacArthur had a phrase he used to repeat:
"Choosing the harder right over the easier wrong."
It was very clear that the General believed that in order to be an effective leader, you need to do what's right. Yet so often, we don't do it.
We don't polish our boots.
We don't study.
We don't PT like we should.
And, all too often:
We do lie to make ourselves look good.
We do exaggerate to make ourselves look good. (Hint: That's lying, too.)
We do cheat to advance by ignoring certain requirements
It's a fact; we do the wrong thing more often then we'd like to admit.
How can we do better?
The best advice I can is to ask yourself, each day: The actions I take define the person I am. Do I want to be the person that did [this bad thing]? It's the same for failing to get up in the morning to run PT as it is in failing to study as it is in lying to make yourself look good. If you don't want to be the person that did that, then don't do those things.
Self-discipline is like a muscle. If you exercise it now, it will hurt and grow tired, but it will be stronger. If you avoid exercising it, then, eventually, it will fail when you need it, because it's weak. Better to exercise it (and get all the help you can when you do this! Accountability pays off.) than let it waste away.
Pay now or pay later; it's up to you.
How can we instill in others the desire to be better?
If I knew the answer, I'd bottle it up and sell it, and be a millionaire. Seriously, real leadership is hard. You try to be a good example, inspire your subordinates, and get them to feel a sense of authority and responsibility. Get them to hate the idea of personal failure because, by failing personally, they are also failing the team. Pay close enough attention to catch them in lies, and make the consequences of those actions bad enough that it's not done again but do it gently, so they know that you care. As the wise man once said "Speak the Truth in Love2"
Footnotes:
1. The sub-title was inspired by a line for a letter written in the 2nd Century to the Christian Church in Rome by a religious leader named Paul of Tarsis.
2. Come to think of it, Paul said this also, didn't he?
Matt Heusser was a CAP cadet for most of the 1990's, spending most of his "cadet-hood" in the Maryland Wing before moving to Michigan just prior to his 21st birthday. As a senior member, Matt has served as leadership officer, Wing Special Activities Officer, CAC Advisor, and now advisor to the Michigan Wing Director of Cadet Programs. You can reach Major Heusser by email at mheusser@removethis.charter.net. (Take the 'removethis' out of the address, of course.)