Comments on: Leadership Under Fire

By: masa

masa — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 04:35:31 +0000

add on to doug’s comment, it is true, mel gibson was just a cast, in fact, that the film was produced by paramount (u.s.) and icon (owned by a german copmpany). it was a great movie, i think because it was the first war movie of vietnam produced by not just the u.s., which portraits various point of views on “the past”, unlike most of vetman movies came out back in late 70-80s (except stallone’s “first blood” whitch was written by a canadian writer david morrell). me too, i had known a little bit of “yellow-ish hair” moore, I have read about him when i was in school in japan, i got to know more through the movie. put aside of debate of rivera for now, one other thing what america needs learn besides “war” is film rating. it is ok to tell your kids about your war story like moore had, but you cannot show war movies to them. uh??

By: Michael Hyatt

Michael Hyatt — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 20:56:49 +0000

Doug,

You are right about Randall Wallace. My bad. Thanks for correcting me.

Mike

By: Doug Smith

Doug Smith — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 20:43:43 +0000

I was introduced to General Moore quite a number of years ago, but I had no idea who he was until I saw the movie. An article on Madeleine Stowe in a magazine we were advertising in mentioned that she had just completed filming a movie where she played the role of the wife of the greatest battlefield commander in Viet Nam. I had read The West Point Way of Leadership years before and gravitated toward the conclusion that leading troops in battle has to be the greatest leadership challenge imaginable. (And that the best education there is begins with four years at West Point.) It was a very uncharacteristic impulse buy for me when I came across a display of DVDs of We Were Soldiers in the supermarket, but the movie had a profound effect on me. (One minor point: Mel Gibson didn’t “make” the movie, though I think perhaps his production comany did. It was written and directed by Randall Wallace, who wrote the screenplay for Braveheart.) I devoured the book the movie was based on–which read more like an after-action report–but curiously nowhere could I find some of the most memorable lines from the movie (three strikes and you are not out, etc.). Subsequently, I’ve read them all in various pieces that General Moore wrote on military command. Of course, Randall Wallace had regular access to the General and other veterans during writing and filming. Finally, when Geraldo Rivera, was embedded with the troops during the great rush to Baghdad during Gulf War II, he reported on all of the impressive young American officers he was encountering, how well educated they are, and how capable they are. Any one of them, he said, could go home and run IBM or run General Electric or any of American industry. Agreed!

By: Austin Bob

Austin Bob — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 19:38:46 +0000

Great post, Mike. I especially like General Moore’s #3. I’ve expressed a similar thought in the following variation:

Good news is no news (it’s what we all expect of each other).

Bad news is good news (it gives us a chance to address a problem while it is still “new”).

No news is bad news (when nobody is worried, everyone should worry).

I often couple this with a quote from one of my leadership mentors:

Bad news does not improve with age.

I just discovered your blog and have signed up as a subscriber. Thanks for sharing your wisdom.

By: TesTeq

TesTeq — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 19:20:05 +0000

Michael,

Thank you for your answer. I only wanted to stress that people can wholeheartedly follow the leader if the leader’s goal is noble and he can convince them that his intentions are right.

Best regards,

TesTeq – Krzysztof Wysocki

By: Kristy Dykes

Kristy Dykes — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 18:34:08 +0000

Powerful post! Thanks for sharing it. My husband and I watched the clip together and discussed it, applying it to our church and its mission (we pastor). As you said, these principles are for anyone in leadership.
Kristy Dykes

By: Michael Hyatt

Michael Hyatt — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 15:07:44 +0000

Tes,

Yes, I deleted your previous comment. This is not a political blog, and I didn’t want to see a debate ensue. It’s completely off-topic.

Thanks,

Mike

By: TesTeq

TesTeq — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 15:03:15 +0000

Thank you for deleting my comment. I understand that it is not allowed in the United States of America to even mention some issues.

Best regards from post-totalitarian Eastern Europe.

P.S. There are no issues that a honest man can’t discuss.

By: Blair H.

Blair H. — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 14:15:18 +0000

Good suggestion from the last comment. I too found “Leadership Lessons from West Point” and although I am only into the second chapeter right now I am very impressed with its content. We are actually beginning to use some if its concepts here at my company.
Great article Mike and thanks for the video feed.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 03:27:02 +0000

Anyone interested in how the leaders of our military are developed should read “Leadership Lessons from West Point.” I’ve only read the first quarter of the book so I can’t really give a full report on it, but I’ve enjoyed what I’ve read so far.