Good to great leadership

Lessons learned from D-Day

Concrete Bunkers at Ponte Du Hoc

This June marks the 75th Anniversary of the World War Two D-DAY Invasion. It was the greatest military operation of the world and changed the direction of the war and history.

On that day 425,000 allied forces led by Supreme commander General Dwight Eisenhower hit the beaches of the French coast of Normandy against Adolf Hitler s German Army.

What made the Operation Overlord invasion successful is a study in historical leadership greatness exhibited by General Eisenhower and a failure in leadership demonstrated by Adolf Hitler.

What makes for great leadership has always sparked interesting discussion. Are leaders born with innate qualities or can effective leadership be taught and learned? This is a very important business issue since recent American employee surveys indicate that half of workers are unhappy because due to weak and apathetic organizational leadership.

So I wanted to compare the bold leadership styles of these two historical WW2 figures to see what lessons we can glean and learn going forward.

For General Eisenhower (Ike) we know there was no plan B for D-day—meaning he was dedicated and focused on the mission. He loved and was loved by his troops. He was a team player and instilled a love for one another pulls you through philosophy. He was a practicing optimist who knew a leader must have positive confidence to lead by example. He was in control and could subjugate his own ego to manage the egos of others. He saw himself as a normal GI. He took his job seriously never himself. He knew his purpose and he sold his people on the mission and got all engaged in a larger cause. He was able to make sure the team understood “the why behind the what”.

And he took responsibility—in case of failure he was ready to take full blame.

Hitler s leadership style was the complete antithesis of Ike s. Hitler commanded solely by personality. He lacked trust in his people (troops and generals). He was a leader that relied on his own instinct. He was an authoritarian who was dedicated to top down “my way or the highway” final say in orders. He was more of a politician versus military strategist. He was focused on details and was annoyed by any discrepancies cited. He possessed a megalomaniac personality and refused to listen to experts. Indecisiveness and stubbornness plagued his command and he was weak on strategy. His was the only voice that counted. Hitler relied too much on ideological supremacy thinking that his forces would prevail because of their racial superiority.

The successful invasion of France by the allied armed forces led by General Eisenhower truly transitioned Europe by overcoming totalitarianism to free Western civilization.

Outcomes speak for themselves and truly great moments in history have given rise to great historical leaders.

Although we will never be called upon to lead in a war type scenario we need to go out every day and put our principles to work and be the best leader we can be for our credit union organizations.

Are you as good a credit union leader as you think you are? If so, how would your people rate you on some of the following traits or characteristics of an effective CEO leader?

Are you perceived as great or just good?

How would you Score Your Exec-Checklist?

* Are you all in and does your mission matter?
* An embracing of diversity/inclusion.
* The ability to inspire (not coerce) your people to achieve results.
* A clear vision of seeing the possibilities and the preferred future for their organization.
* The ability to build partnerships and alliances.
* Being servant leaders to members/community.
* A curiosity about the world and a facilitator of change.
* Leading more by actions than words.
* The ability to utilize technology to achieve business results.
* A risk taker who doesn’t fear innovation or failure.
* The ability to convert the learning of ideas into practice.
* Take time to recognize/reward your people.
* Be prepared to take personal responsibility (blame) for outcomes.
* The ability to develop goals and execute plans.
* Be a developer of people– A “Human Horticulturalist”.
* And Great Leaders “Eat Last”! Put people before yourself.

Great, not just good effective leadership will be one of the key factors of how the success of credit unions will be measured in the future. And I hope the heroic leadership lessons learned from D-Day might help set a mindset to follow and make a difference in inspiring greatness in you and your people in overcoming the challenges of future.

John Vardalas

John Vardalas

John A. Vardalas CAE, CUDE is Founder/CEO of The AmericanBoomeR Group, a Madison, Wisconsin based speaking/consulting firm. He is also a frequent speaker and facilitator of strategic planning ... Web: www.theamericanboomer.com Details