Leadership Lessons from West Point

Chapter 14. TRUST: THE KEY TO COMBAT LEADERSHIP

Patrick J. Sweeney

If your men trust you, they will follow you into any situation.

——PLATOON SERGEANT, 101ST AIRBORNE DIVISION, TALL AFAR, IRAQ, MAY 2003

For military leaders, combat provides the ultimate test of their leadership abilities because it requires them to influence soldiers to willingly risk their lives to achieve the organization's goals. Based on my twenty-four years of leading Army organizations, I believe that trust is what gets soldiers to willingly follow their leaders into combat. The opening statement, from a platoon sergeant in combat, succinctly captures the notion that if soldiers trust their leaders, they will follow them in any situation. Therefore, leaders must earn their subordinates' ...