No Substitute for Victory: Lessons in Strategy and Leadership from General Douglas Macarthur

Chapter 24. Extend the Personal Touch

Leadership eventually comes down to the individual level. A leader makes a connection to an individual follower, and the quality of that connection either reinforces the relationship or undermines it. Inspirational leaders are expert at using the personal touch to establish and maintain positive relationships.

MacArthur, who was often mistakenly criticized for his remoteness, had the personal touch. “Well, I think he had a little bit of what Franklin D. Roosevelt had: this ability to make you feel that you were doing something for him especially,” says Frank Rizzo, who worked in the Government Section at SCAP headquarters. Rizzo explained:

Let's say it was the top man's ability to engage you with the feeling ...