Whether you're a second lieutenant working with a captain and a lieutenant colonel, or a four-star general working with the Office Secretary of Defense and the White House, the decision makers have got to have ground truth. Otherwise, the decisions they make could be flawed - and that can be dangerous.
Interpretation
Decisions in leadership must be grounded in reality to avoid dangerous mistakes.
This quote emphasizes the importance of having accurate and truthful information at all levels of decision-making in leadership. John F. Kelly highlights that whether in military ranks or governmental positions, leaders need to be informed by 'ground truth' to ensure their decisions are sound; otherwise, they risk making flawed choices that could have serious consequences.
In practice
In a leadership seminar discussing the importance of data-driven decision-making.
Those with less of a sense of service to the nation never understand it when men and women of character step forward to look danger and adversity straight in the eye, refusing to blink, or give ground, even to their own deaths. The protected can't begin to understand the price paid so they and their families can sleep safe and free at night.
Unless confronted by an immediate, visible, or uncomfortable crisis, our nation's tendency is to take the security of the Western Hemisphere for granted.
The one thing I was always told is you absolutely have to tell truth to power. Whether you're a second lieutenant working with a captain and a lieutenant colonel, or a four-star general working with the Office Secretary of Defense and the White House, the decision makers have got to have ground truth.
We have a saying in the Marine Corps and that is 'no better friend, no worse enemy, than a U.S. Marine.' We always hope for the first, friendship, but are certainly more than ready for the second.
Since 1945, no one in the U.S. military has liked the end result of the military conflicts we've been in: Vietnam, Korea, certainly Iraq, and probably Afghanistan. But in a democracy, you salute.
One day, you'll get out of the Marine Corps; you'll put your uniform up, but you'll never not be a Marine.
A lot of people ask what it takes to move from being a creative to a leader: Take everyone's career personally. People will work hard for you if you work hard for them. Any idiot can be a boss; all you need is a title. But to be a leader, you need to earn respect and have an opinion you stand by.
As your captain, I'm going to push you to not fall back on defense, but to play offense, and to play our match -- the Gospel, together.
The First Lady is an unpaid public servant elected by one person - her husband.
In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war.
When we're playing a good scoring center, we tell our team that it is not our defensive man's job to stop the center. It's the responsibility of our perimeter people to stop the ball from going inside.
I love opposition that has convictions.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.