What Band of Brothers Taught Me About Leadership
“It was 830. Captain Sobel was about to get a little revenge on Hitler, the US Army was about to get a big payoff from its training and equipment investment, the American people were about to get their reward for having raised such fine young men. The company that Sobel and the Army and the country had brought into being and trained for this moment was going into action” — Stephen E. Ambrose on Easy Company going into combat for the first time.
Leadership Experts vs. Real Leaders
In our book club, we’re reading “Good leaders ask great questions” by John C. Maxwell. Maxwell is a pastor that led churches in Indiana, Ohio, California, and Florida. He describes himself as a leadership expert, speaker, and author. His accolades made me skeptical right away. Anyone who describes themselves as a “leadership expert” instead of a “leader” seems like they may be selling snake oil. His book “Good leaders” offers decent advice on how introspection helps evolve leadership into an act of service rather than a selfish endeavor. However, most of his advice is vague and abstract with no real-world application. Segments like “Specialize until your special” and “Pay attention to what you need to see” add no utility.
Books on leadership are hit or miss for me. Many are like self-help books. They include a lot of fluff and inspirational quotes. Some person who’s become a successful businessman monetizes their winning formula for how to lead which usually consists of trite expressions and predictable examples. I’ve always preferred leadership books written by men who served in combat. The books are tactical, gritty, and much less narcissistic. Jocko Willink’s book “Extreme Ownership” is my most highly recommended book on leadership.
I’ve read the non-fiction book Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose before. Last week I began watching the HBO miniseries at the same time I was reading “Good leaders ask great questions” so the concept of leadership was top of mind.
I learned vastly more from Band of Brothers than I could ever hope to from Maxwell’s book. The series dramatizes the story of Easy Company, of the 101st Airborne Division, during World War II. These men were the elite Army paratroopers that fought in D-Day and Bastogne. They were the first men to reach Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest in the German Alps. The story of the Band of Brothers is a remarkable testament to the generation of soldiers who responded to the call of duty and protected the democracy that we take for granted today.
I wanted to write about the five leadership lessons I learned from watching the Band of Brothers, breaking it out into five parts. The first lesson being:
Effective leaders are always first into the fire
Easy Company’s landing in Normandy on D-Day was far from easy. Haha. The planes were flying too low as they tried to avoid German machine gunfire. The paratroopers were carrying too much equipment including the infamous leg bags that dragged them down fast and hard. The brave men of the 101st Airborne were scattered across Normandy. Some of the men never made it out of the airplane. But this is what they had trained for. They were the best men in the army and never lost their cool.
The 101st Airborne reconnected at a small town called Le Grand-Chemin. Command of Easy Company had temporarily fallen to First Lieutenant Richard “Dick” Winters. After Winters and the Company linked up with the parent unit, Winters was ordered to attack a German battery of four heavy machine guns with his twelve men. There was no intelligence briefing and the only instruction from command was “There’s fire along that hedgerow there. Take care of it”.
The Brécourt Manor Assault, led by Winters, occurred on June 6th, 1944 during the US parachute assault of the Normandy invasion. The assault is often cited as a classic example of small-unit tactics and leadership in overcoming a larger enemy force. After that day, Lieutenant Winters would go down in history as one of the greatest field commanders of World War II.
Winters was decisive. Immediately after surveying the situation, he commanded his men to drop all equipment except necessary weapons. He set up machine guns to draw fire and ordered three men to the left and two more men to flank on the right. Winters would lead the frontal assault. As the assault began, Winters leaped out of the hedges in front of his men and uttered two words:
“Follow me!”
The attack went according to plan. Winters’ frontal assault combined with the flanks’ covering fire caught the Germans off guard. Winters continued leading as Easy Company took the trenches. He ran back and forth shouting orders, making sure every soldier knew their role. Easy Company had wiped out an entire platoon of fifty German paratroopers. Winters was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and promoted to Captain. Later, he would claim fame for other successful assaults and eventually would hold the rank of Major for the 2nd battalion.
Do you fight in the trenches with your men?
There are a lot of leadership lessons that come from the soldiers fighting in this famous military battle— from Winters, his men, and their superior officers. I could have placed emphasis on Winters’ decisiveness or the Company’s ability to improvise under duress.
What resonated with me most though was Winters’ adamant philosophy:
Leadership isn’t about being in charge. It’s about leading the charge.
Good leaders should never require that people do something they themselves would be unwilling to do. The men of Easy Company would not respect Winters if he didn’t fearlessly charge into combat. If he ordered his men to charge while remaining behind in the hedges, he wouldn’t be worthy of following.
You might make mistakes while diving in headfirst as a leader. At least you’ll learn from those mistakes. Rolling back your sleeves and running directly at a problem with your team builds camaraderie, increases the chances of successful execution, and provides valuable l experience.
While delegation and decentralized command are important, delegating tasks is much more difficult if you’ve never executed that task before.
I think about the many managers I’ve worked with during my career. The best managers were those that supported me during difficult times and never left me out to dry — the ones who fought alongside me in the trenches.
