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

Chapter 39. Demonstrate Your Courage

Effective leadership requires courage. Leaders need courage to conceive and undertake personal and organizational risk, to accept accountability for failure, and to enlist followers in their cause. For all these reasons and more, MacArthur cultivated, demonstrated, and celebrated courage.

In the military, and in any other profession that carries the risk of bodily harm, physical courage becomes a vital concern. MacArthur articulated its importance on December 12, 1944, the day he presented the Medal of Honor to World War II flying ace Major Dick Bong. He said, “Of all military attributes that one which arouses the greatest admiration is courage. It is the basis of all successful military venture.”

Even his ...