The following article is from GeneralLeadership.com
Debunking the Leadership Myth
by Brigadier General John Michel
In the
spring of 1943, a B-17 bomber departed its base in England on a mission to bomb
the German City of Kassel. Just weeks earlier, the Allied forces had learned
that this particular location was one of the Nazi’s primary ammunition producers.
As the crew of this particular aircraft, The Tondelayo, neared their target,
they found themselves barraged by heavy flak from antiaircraft guns. This was
not particularly unusual for a daylight bombing mission over enemy territory,
but on this occasion an enemy round hit one of the plane’s internal fuel tanks.
Miraculously, the twenty-millimeter incendiary shell failed to explode. Dumbfounded,
Captain Bohn Fawkes and his crew were quietly thankful for this unexpected
miracle.
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| “Leadership is a choice you make, not a place you sit” Robert F. Tucker |
Upon
landing, the crew assessed their heavily scarred aircraft, marveling at the workmanship
that enabled this flying machine to withstand such an incredible amount of
damage while still maintaining its ability to fly. Summoning his crew chief,
the man who would be leading the repair efforts, Captain Fawkes asked for the
unexploded shell that had hit the aircraft. The captain wanted to keep it as a
souvenir of the crew’s unbelievable luck.
The crew
chief agreed, offering to bring it to the crew’s debriefing room at their
squadron’s headquarters as soon as possible.
A little
more than an hour later, the chief arrived at the briefing room, an unexploded
shell in hand and a strange look on his face. Stammering at first, seemingly
unsure how to start or what to say, he finally simply blurted out that he’d
discovered not just one shell in the fuel tank, but eleven—eleven unexploded
shells with enough potential explosive power to destroy several aircraft.
Bohn and his
crew were awestruck, unsure of how something like this could occur. Something
that seemingly defied all odds…until he heard the next words out of the crew
chief’s mouth. “Sir, the shells that hit your aircraft had no explosive charges.
They were clean as a whistle and completely harmless. Empty.
“All but
one, that is.”
As it turns
out, one of the eleven shells contained a carefully rolled piece of paper. On
it, scrawled in Czech, were the words: “This is all I can do for you now.”
Somewhere,
in an armament factory behind enemy lines, someone had chosen to render the
shells inert and unable to bring about the pain and destruction they were
designed to deliver. The unexpected actions of this unknown brave man or woman teach
us a valuable lesson about leadership. Namely, that leading is not primarily a
matter of title, rank or role but rather, of choosing to accept responsibility
for doing what we can, when we can, where we can to build value into our
surroundings—one opportunity at a time.
I love this
story because it so clearly dispenses so many myths about leadership. Myths
such as:
- Leadership
is something reserved for a special few; those anointed or appointed to lead;
- Leadership
is complicated; it demands we possess a certain IQ or attain a minimum level of
education;
- Leadership
is about being connected; it demands we have influential friends in the right
places; and,
- Leadership
is about what we can get or gather for ourselves; it’s about being served by
others.
Succeeding
in today’s fast-paced, dynamic world, means we have to dispense the myths
surrounding leadership. In these times of dynamic change, everyone needs to
innovate, inspire and take responsibility for results. Everyone needs to be
committed to giving their best to leading wherever they are planted.
Leadership
expert Robin Sharma once remarked “Each of us is born into genius. Sadly, most
of us die amid mediocrity.” What Robin is speaking of is the reality that,
although there are many times in life in which we know we are capable of doing so
much more, we settle for living far below our potential. Leaving the work of
trying to improve conditions around us to someone else.
Why not
follow the inspiring example of the unknown armament factory worker in World War
II and choose to lead…right where you are today
- Contact John Michel via email (JohnMichel@MediocreMe.com)
- Military Biography (http://www.af.mil/information/bios/bio.asp?bioID=15666)
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