Building Trust through Having a Strong Devotion to Duty

This is a continuation of the postings on leadership traits that build trust as illustrated in chapter 14 of the book titled, Leadership Lessons from West Point. Chapter 14 is authored by Colonel Patrick Sweeney. This post will discuss the attribute of having a strong sense of duty. The attribute of duty, as you recall if you read the previous postings on trust, was ranked in a survey of military personnel as being number ten of ten of the most important attributes for developing trust by a leader.


Subordinates want to know that their leader is committed and compelled by honor to fulfill the responsibilities of their job, their office, or their profession. They want to know that their leader is committed to the end in the completion of the job or mission; that there will be no stopping or hesitation in fulfilling the assignment, irrespective of the cost or hardship. No quitting! Leaders do not quit! Leadership is not for sissies or the faint of heart. Leadership is for those with the courage to do their duty!




John Wayne

 This high expectation from our team members reminds me of the part in the movie Red River where John Wayne was asking for men to go with him on the long and difficult cattle drive. He basically told them that none were obligated or expected to sign up to go and if they chose not to go, there would be no hard feelings. But, for those who decide to go there would be no quitting. If you sign up to go there would be no turning back. John Wayne said…“there will be no quitting, not by me, not by anyone.” Those considering whether to go or not did not have to concern themselves with the question of whether John Wayne lacked a sense of duty to complete what he was about to start. He made that perfectly clear upfront. That is what our team members want to know about us! Subordinates want to know that if they go with the leader that when the going gets tough the leader is going to leaderup. They expect him to get as tough as the situation calls for and not turn and run with his tail stuck between his legs.

I must admit that I am a bit surprised that duty ranked the last of the top ten important attributes that build trust. I would have ranked it much higher, perhaps at the very top of the list. To demonstrate my high preference for duty as a leadership trait, I am including below a portion of the speech I was honored to give in 2006 to the North Carolina Highway Patrol 116th Basic Cadet class in which my son Ben was in. Here goes.



Ben and me at Basic School Graduation



"I want to talk with you this morning about what I believe is the most noble and supreme word in the English language. That word is Duty. The sterling Southern gentlemen, military genius, and Christian apologist, Robert E. Lee of Virginia, wrote the following words in a letter to his eldest son, who at the time, was a cadet at the United States Military College at West Point: I quote.

Duty is the sublimest word in the English language. You should do your duty in all things. You can never do more. You should never wish to do less. Unquote.


If you have ever visited West Point, VMI, or The Citadel, you would have seen these penetrating and thought-provoking words pinned by Lee engraved into bronze plaques secured to the walls of the sally port entrances to the cadet barracks.


Lee’s quote serves as a constant reminder to the cadets of their moral and legal obligation to their duty. Cadets in all of these great institutions spend many hours polishing those bronze plaques to ensure that the meaning of these words are infused into their moral consciousness.


I submit to you that these same noble and inspiring words should also adorn the walls of our training academy and Highway Patrol facilities across the state, to constantly remind each of us of our duty. Devotion to duty requires of us an unrelenting vigilance."


Lee



Little Round Top

When I think of the highest devotion to duty I often think of the battle on Little Round Top during the War Between the States. Duty was in great supply that hot July day in 1863 from both the northern soldiers of 20th Maine under the command of Colonel Joshua Chamberlain and the southern soldiers of the 15th Alabama commanded by Colonel William Oakes. Both sides were worn out, exhausted, and short of or out of ammunition. With the last charge up the extremely steep mountainside of Little Round Top by the 15th Alabama everyone was for the most part fighting hand to hand. Historians say it was the deciding factor in the outcome of the battle of Gettysburg. Had the southern soldiers defeated the northern soldiers on Little Round Top the left flank of the northern army would have collapsed. That would have spelled disaster for them and a victory for the southern Army of Northern Virginia.


Colonel Joshua Chamberlain was later awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his devotion to duty during that fight. Every soldier on both sides were equally deserving of the same honor because there was no shortage of courage, honor, or devotion to duty by anyone that bloody day, on either side.



Oates



Chamberlain



It you follow the three links below they will carry you a site that gives greater detail of the battle, a video of the battle, and a guided tour of Little Round Top. It has many great lessons for leaders. If you ever get the chance to take a leadership tour of the Gettysburg battlefield please take it. The fighting at Little Round Top is a vital part of the tour.

Duty is, as Robert E. Lee said, the most sublime word in the English language. May God grant each of us the courage to always do our duty. Our subordinates will not trust us, or nor will they follow us, unless we demonstrate that we have a unrelenting devotion to fulfill our duty at whatever the cost, whether it is on a battlefield, in a boardroom or in the squad room.


Information site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Round_Top

Movie clip from Gettysburg Movie
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=11&ved=0CFMQtwIwCg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DwYDhAmjmxYk&ei=0dOcTKySDsH6lwf5pITHCg&usg=AFQjCNHzrlMknnm3ZfBVlRU_SbXVfePfpQ&sig2=uWt-9Wzwu2hPdYAtJbqlNw
 
Guided tour
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=12&ved=0CFcQtwIwCw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DrDhu75RN3wQ&ei=0dOcTKySDsH6lwf5pITHCg&usg=AFQjCNH10s0TKP1i-FlVozWWUF6hoyP8HA&sig2=Syna2LDbfI-qrwgGmbVguQ