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'On the field of battle all men's lives are equally precious, as they are in the sight of God.'1
Some of the greatest battle commanders have expressed that leaders should be dedicated to the welfare of their troops, and overarching that view has been an apparently profound respect for the intrinsic value of each individual human life. From these premises they have gone on to declare imperatives of leadership, that is, characteristics that cannot be done without. I choose to call these imperatives, taken together, real leadership, a term implied by Gen John A. Lejeune to make a distinction between leadership necessary to responsibly-nobly-serve others from the more self-serving kind of leadership so common in our culture.2 The imperatives are:
* Being morally worthy.
* Being thoroughly responsible.
* Being highly competent.
* Being an impeccable example.
* Being dedicated to highest standards.
* Being dedicated to noble service.
* Being physically and morally courageous.
Properly understood and attended to, these imperatives require all of the positive characteristics expressed in other treatises on leadership. Still, they are attainable by anyone, even though attainment in the roughly equal balance necessary calls for great commitment. There is little or no room for mediocrity. Uncorrected failure in one can lead to failure across the board. They are attainable, but for most, daunting, so much so as to suggest that military leadership should be viewed as a special calling-a calling that requires transformation to a nobler state.
The imperatives are closely related, and together they form a tough but nonetheless elegant fabric, the threads-in addition to contributing bright lines of meaning in and of themselves-serving to reinforce and strengthen all of the others. They also serve importantly as checks on one another.
The order in which they are presented is significant, since the whole is best approached sequentially, from self-mastery developed alone, through application in garrison, to the ultimate test on the battlefield. For example, a person equipped solely with technical skills can at least initially perform with some success. But for what purpose? To serve others or to serve oneself? Better to be dedicated to technical competence having first looked into one's personal qualifications of character. Having placed first things first-sober preparation of one's spiritual and moral...