Leadership Lessons from West Point

Chapter 1. BECOMING A LEADER DEVELOPER

Eric G. Kail

It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.

——JOHN WOODEN, HALL OF FAME BASKETBALL COACH

I was one month away from promotion to major in 1998 when my father, a career Army officer of thirty-two years, passed away. In our final conversation, I asked him how I would know if I was a successful leader. His answer provided me a definition of success that changed the way I see myself as leader, whether leading as a soldier, husband, father, or community member. He told me not to look at my rank or, for that matter, any of the medals or badges on my uniform: these are just things created to make ourselves feel important, and they are really the results of the efforts of others. He told me not ...