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Title: Manpower

Author: Lincoln C. Andrews

Release date: June 11, 2014 [eBook #45942]

Language: English

Credits: E-text prepared by chenzw, Greg Bergquist, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Internet Archive/American Libraries (https://archive.org/details/americana)


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available by Internet Archive/American Libraries
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      Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).





MANPOWER

+------------------------------------------+
|           _BY THE SAME AUTHOR_           |
|------------------------------------------|
|                                          |
|     MILITARY MANPOWER                    |
|                                          |
|       Psychology as Applied to the       |
|     Training of Men and the Increase     |
|     of their Effectiveness.              |
|                                          |
|------------------------------------------|
|          E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY          |
+------------------------------------------+


MANPOWER

by

LINCOLN C. ANDREWS

Author of
"_Military Manpower_," "_Basic Course for Cavalry_," _etc._







[Illustration]

New York
E. P. Dutton & Company
681 Fifth Avenue

Copyright, 1920
By E. P. Dutton & Company

All Rights Reserved

Printed in the United States of America




In appreciation of the splendid work of the civilians who qualified as
military leaders during the war, I dedicate this book to the officers
and non-commissioned officers of civil life. Charged with directing
the work of others, they are responsible for both accomplishment and
spirit, and their ability to inspire loyalty and cheerful service
therefore means quite as much for the nation's welfare now as
leadership ever meant in war.




CONTENTS

                                                  PAGE
   Foreword                                         ix

   CHAPTER

     I. Using Human Tools                            1

    II. Psychological Elements of Organization      34

   III. The Principles of Leadership                53




FOREWORD


Some years ago, for the instruction of National Guard officers,
I undertook the then unique task of analyzing the psychology of
military training and leadership, and of putting into written form
the principles of the art of handling men. The necessity for quickly
training great numbers of inexperienced men as leaders in war proved my
chapters on Leadership and Training to be both practical and helpful
to thousands of civilians fitting themselves for positions of command.
Many of these, business and professional men, have suggested that I
rewrite these chapters, adapting my ideas and methods to use in civil
life. We believe that the fundamental principles for handling men
are universal in application, and that it will be of service to the
community to put these principles into form for study by those whose
responsibility it is to direct the work of others.

The term "leadership" in this restricted sense has been applied
to the art of handling men. It has for its purpose the object of
arousing and directing that latent force which exists in every man
and doubles his accomplishment under the impulsion of loyalty, pride
and interest when they are aroused by a skillful leader. Practical
leadership is an art, not an exact science. No two leaders succeed in
exactly the same way. One may not hope to acquire this art by learning
specific rules to guide his conduct. A good leader of men is one whose
impulses are right; and these impulses come from a genuine acceptance
of principles, from one's own belief, feelings and experiences. It
is a question therefore of personal understanding and sincerity of
purpose to play the game fairly; of having a sympathetic understanding
of the human animal and of what the laws of life make him do under
certain circumstances; and finally of having an appreciation of one's
own personality and how it affects others. It becomes a live, vital
matter, to which one's own personal experiences bring the most valuable
contributions. Its infinite variety of elements lends an unending
interest to one's daily tasks, while success in dealing with its
practical problems brings constant gratification, especially in seeing
the development of stronger character and increased efficiency in one's
subordinates.

The war has enriched our democracy in the awakened individuality of
millions of citizens and in the hundreds of thousands of young men
whom it has returned to civil life experienced in the responsibilities
and possibilities of group leadership. Both these are to be potent
influences in the future, and may be made a great national asset if
properly directed. The measure of a nation, in peace as now in war, is
found in the soul and purpose of all its people. The world has been
taught that machines and the cold products of science cannot win in
war. They test almost to breaking the endurance of man, but in the end
superior manpower emerges the victor. It is the _fiber_ of the bodies
and nerves and souls of its manhood which meets the final test and
proves the issue. Preparation for war, preparation to meet any test
of our nation's claim to worthiness, demands that we give thought to
the quality of that fiber. If we are to assure our nation's future
success in any endeavor, we must guard her manpower now. To this end
everyone who is charged with the control of others should appreciate
his responsibility and his opportunity. He may easily so handle his men
as not only to increase their efficiency in the work at hand, but so as
to ensure that they leave their daily tasks in a frame of mind which
will make them happier and better citizens--stronger in character,
higher in purpose, more loyal upholders of our democratic institutions.
In that thought I have written this book, addressed to all who are
responsible for the work of others.

I am indebted for particular ideas to an article in the _Infantry
Journal_ of April, 1918, by Professor William E. Hocking, of Harvard
University; to a lecture by Admiral Sims, U. S. Navy, published in
the same journal in February, 1918; to the series of lectures given
by Bishop Brent at Harvard University and published under the title
"Leadership"; and to "Industry and Humanity" by W. L. Mackenzie King.

                                                    Lincoln C. Andrews.

    New York,
  June 15, 1920.




MANPOWER




CHAPTER I

Using Human Tools


"Aw, what do I care!" says the man who is working under a poor leader.
"I'd do anything for him!" explains the happy man who has a good chief.
A poor leader may even so antagonize his men that each will actually
try to do the least that he can and still hold his job; while a good
leader may take the same men through the same tasks and so handle them
as to inspire a spirit which will make every man try to do his very
best. Manpower is thus seen to be a direct function of leadership. And
the difference between the results from good leadership and from poor
is often astonishing. The wonder is that we have so long neglected this
psychological factor for increasing accomplishment. It is probably
because we thoughtlessly accepted the idea that leaders have to be
"born," and did not stop to realize that this kind of leadership is in
reality an art which may be readily acquired by anyone who has enough
native character.

Recent experience has taught us that this art may be acquired--so
we need no longer sit with folded hands in admiration of the "born
leader." What is instinctive in him may be analyzed, reduced to
principles, and made applicable to ourselves. It was done for the army,
and by study many an inexperienced man made himself a successful leader
of troops in the late war. It may be quite as easily done in any other
field of activity.

A knowledge of this art is of practical value in every phase of human
endeavor--in bringing up children, in school, college and hospital, in
the office and in the field, and most particularly in industry where
men are grouped for the purposes of material production. Applied to
any large business organization, let every leader from the big chief
to the lowest sub-foreman practice the same principles of leadership,
and there will soon permeate the whole machine a spirit of loyalty,
teamwork and _esprit_ which will drive it with a marvelous degree of
efficiency.

It appears that industry is quite awake to this fact to-day. Industrial
literature abounds with considerations of the humanity of labor.
Employers have come to realize that the purchase of labor is a contract
for future delivery, and that what they get from it will depend not
so much on the bare delivery of the labor they have purchased, as on
the continuing spirit in which it is daily and hourly delivered. The
employer knows that he wants the loyal, enthusiastic, co-operative
service of his employees, and that he cannot get it for money alone. He
therefore adopts such organization and policy in his business as will
make possible the loyal co-operation of all, and then attempts to have
his men so handled as to get this result.

The latter consideration is vital, for the best of policies may be
ruined by the meanness or incompetence of subordinate executives. The
morale officer of one of our largest corporations has recently stated
that he has no trouble with the employers or with the men, but that he
has all kinds of trouble with the superintendents and foremen, who seem
unable to understand how to handle the men. Knowledge of leadership is
essential not alone for the chief, but even more for his subordinates
who are in direct contact with his men.

It is easy to say that leaders must so handle their men as to inspire
loyalty and enthusiastic service--but most of them will have to be
taught _how_ to do this. That was the failure in army training. The
manuals all prescribed that the officer must so handle his men as to
build up discipline and a high morale, but nowhere were there any
instructions as to how to do it. The art was handed along by tradition,
often incorrectly. War brought the need for quickly training hundreds
of thousands of leaders, and it was found necessary both here and in
foreign armies to reduce this art of handling men to written principles
which the young aspirants could study and learn to apply. This was
found very efficient in the army. It may well be equally efficient in
civil life. The ghastly wastes from poor leadership and consequent
inefficient work, the heartburnings and discontent and lack of high
purpose which are so common in every field to-day, certainly call for
some attention if we are to meet successfully the tests which the next
few years have in store. We have got to quit looking for cure-alls and
get down to work; and work efficiently and happily, knowing again the
homely joy of doing things well and the satisfaction of accomplishment.

Our leaders must be "good leaders." This does not mean only employers
and their subordinates, or only labor leaders. It means every man in
the nation who is responsible for the control and work of others. These
men are all leaders in our sense, each one responsible for the effects
of his leadership on the members of his group, be it large or small.
Let these men sense their responsibility, realize that the quality of
their leadership has far reaching effects upon character as well as
upon immediate accomplishment, and they may easily by personal example
and thoughtful conduct of office arouse a tide of loyal service which
will sweep discontent and palliatives into oblivion and fairly flood
the country with sanity, prosperity and happy living.

As a first step toward this, no matter what his business or profession,
each leader should realize that in controlling the work of his men he
is _handling human tools_--sentient human beings, like himself. Here
is a craftsmanship worthy of study. One may not hope successfully to
handle these tools, hit or miss, without special thought or training.
Yet many have never thought of this, or considered what it means to
them personally as leaders. If they would do this alone, they would
find themselves self-prompted to such conduct of office as would give
far better results. When a man is charged with directing the efforts
of certain individuals to a given end, these individuals become
instruments in his hand for the accomplishment of this purpose. They
are his tools. He will find them sensitive, difficult instruments,
capable of splendid accomplishment if skillfully handled, but blunt
and ineffective in unskilled hands. Every leader should realize and
continually think of this fact: _My principal tools are human beings
and I must think how to handle them as such._

If a man has won promotion to leadership, no matter in what field of
activity--in sport, shop, office or the field--he may no longer win
success by skill in using the tools he has been using. It is now his
job to direct others in using them. These others, these human beings
such as he was, are now to be _his tools_. And as he won his promotion
by training his body, brain and nerves to use his original tools to
best advantage, so now he will succeed as leader by learning to use
skillfully these new human ones.

As a first step toward learning these tools, the leader should get at
least a crude conception of what this human being really is, and how he
is controlled in his daily walk. Let us therefore for a moment consider
man the animal. We find him in his beginnings running naked and alone
with the beasts in the primeval forest--without knowledge of community
life, even of family life, and not knowing the use of human speech. But
for his "will to improve" he was apparently no more highly endowed by
nature than some of his fellow species. Yet that will to improve has in
the processes of time enabled him to develop within himself his present
marvelous organization of nerve centers and co-ordinated control, and
through the power of his self-invented language to store his brain
cells with the wisdom of the ages. Thus enabled to analyze and to
reason, he has progressed step by step until he has reached his present
mastery of the forces of nature. To-day he may fly in the air higher
than the eagle, may work at will beneath the ocean, may sit at ease
and listen to the natural voice of a friend through thousands of miles
of distance, or may analyze the composition of the heavenly bodies and
predict with accuracy their every movement. And what the race has thus
accomplished in development through the ages, each man is privileged to
accomplish in his lifetime. For he is born into the world with brain
cells empty and with less nerve control than a kitten, but endowed
with hereditary capacity and that wonderful will to improve, which
enable him to talk and to read in early childhood, and to develop his
faculties in time to a degree limited only by the determined purpose of
his ambition.

Such is man in the outward manifestations of his prowess. Meantime
he is a creature almost pathetically responsive to his inherent
instincts and in his daily walk largely controlled by habit. It was
the beneficent intention of Nature to leave man's mind free for the
contemplation of higher things, free to form visions of better things
and to reason out the means for attaining them. She therefore relieved
his mind of the trivial cares of deciding just what to do in the
thousands of cases for action in his daily life, and designed him
to do all these normal things in response to impulses from natural
instincts, or in unconscious obedience to the direction of habits which
he commences to form in infancy and continues to form throughout his
development.

So we find man a creature of almost unlimited capacity, but
pathetically sensitive to his environment and treatment because so
helplessly responsive to instincts and habits. And this capable yet
sensitive animal, man, is to be an instrument in the hands of another,
a man like himself, except that he has qualified to be the leader.
How reasonable that this leader should have to give serious thought
to this situation and seek to understand nature's powerful influences
in guiding the actions of both himself and his men. What folly for
him to expect to be able to handle them blindly, hit or miss, without
consideration of man's peculiarities and the fundamental things that
control him.

Perhaps the most important of these fundamentals for the leader to
realize is the deep-seated desire of every individual to maintain
his self-respect and to have his right to self-respect recognized by
those about him. The biggest step man ever took in the attainment
of civilization was that of the ancient fathers when they discarded
the worship of Sun and Fire, and conceived a God endowed with human
attributes. They thus gave man the right to claim that he was "made in
the image of God." On that man founded his philosophy of life and has
more and more demanded and fought for and sometimes won a recognition
of his claim to self-respect. Made in the image of God; he resented
being lashed as a slave in the galleys or driven as one in the chain
gangs; he felt the indignity of being a serf; and he came to realize
the inconsistency of being arbitrarily governed. He has thus slowly
fought his way upward toward his ideal, and has won his right to
self-respect in government and in community living, to the profit of
both.

Out of this evolution came democracy; and the second fundamental for
the leader is to appreciate that in handling men to-day he is no longer
handling serfs or hirelings. His men are citizens of democracy--made
or in the making. Many leaders have not realized this, or thought
out what it should mean in determining their methods of control.
In reality it is the only foundation for any intelligent modern
system of discipline. Democracy requires of each citizen that he be
a self-respecting, self-thinking, responsible individual, capable
of making decisions and acting on them in his civil capacity. These
qualities of citizenship are demanded for participation in community
affairs and are publicly appealed to for political purposes. They are
of the atmosphere in which each man lives as a member of the community.
It is only reasonable that the self-same individuals who operate under
the principles of democracy in all their general affairs should do
better work under democratic rather than autocratic control. The rights
of individuality and of self-direction have been hardly won and are
dearly held. They do much toward making the democratic citizen the able
man he is to-day, and are in reality a splendid basis for his control.

The highest type of army discipline is developed on a thorough
recognition of these very qualities in the men. It is practiced
by all who have appreciated the meanings of the modern social and
political development of the individual, and learned how to benefit
by its advantages for getting efficiency. There still exist, however,
many unthinking officers who get their ideas of discipline from
the traditional rules formerly evolved for the control of serfs
and mercenaries. But their day is rapidly passing, as the modern
principle is more and more widely accepted that the man in ranks is
an intelligent, self-respecting individual, that he may be interested
equally with the leader in the success of the cause, and that in
large measure he is capable of adding to its success out of his own
individual effort and intelligence.

The following definition of democracy by Professor Carver presents
clearly the two elements which must be given consideration: "Two
things and two things only are essential to real democracy. The first
is an open road to talent, that is to say that every man shall have
an opportunity to rise to positions of power and responsibility in
proportion to his ability regardless of birth, privilege, caste or
other social barriers. The son of the peasant may become the ruler
in government or the employer in business by sheer force of his own
merit, if he happens to possess merit. The second essential of pure
democracy is that they who are in positions of power and responsibility
shall be made sensitive to the needs, the desires and the interests
of those over whom they exercise power and responsibility." Such
democracy may well be recognized in his dealings if one wants success
with his men. The road to advancement must lie wide open to ability
and ambition, without a suspicion of favoritism and with encouragement
for any individual who may aspire to follow it. Likewise the way for
the honest expression of individual opinion and feeling must be open
from the ranks to the leader without prejudice and with consideration.
This recognizes their rights and develops their powers as individuals
interested in a common cause. Such conception of rights in dealing with
men is practical, is truly democratic and is highly efficient. It has
worked to best advantage in army discipline, it is working successfully
in many business organizations, and it is a sure foundation for
efficient management in any group working for any purpose. When the
interior administration of states' prisons is successfully run on the
basis of democratic principles, it would seem possible to apply them to
the control of almost any other group of men.

The governing idea is therefore for the leader to build up the
self-respect of his men and their sense of individual responsibility,
and thus to control their actions. He does not want them to be dogs; he
must never treat them like dogs. He wants them to show intelligence;
he must show confidence that they have intelligence. He wants them
able to make decisions and to act on them for the common good; he
therefore tells them what is to be done and why, not _how_ to do it,
and thus develops their resourcefulness and initiative. He wants
their co-operation in loyal teamwork; he therefore asks their ideas
as to methods, encourages their suggestions, and assumes that they
are intelligently interested in the common success and able to bring
something of value toward winning it. In short he considers them to be
_active partners_ with himself in the working out of a common purpose,
and treats them as such.

The only possible excuse--not reason, but excuse--for the old-fashioned
"roughneck" foreman with his discipline inspired by fear is the
existence of his gang of ignorant immigrant laborers, uninterested
in civilization and decent living, apparently willing to live like
dogs and to be treated as such. Even these could be better handled by
better methods. Furthermore the nation has learned that such citizens
do not pay and intends by education and restriction of immigration to
free herself of them. This will mean more intelligence among laborers,
and that the foreman of the future will have to be able to boss not a
group of ignorant foreigners but a group of thinking citizens, many
of whom will be properly striving to win the job of being the boss
themselves. This will mean that to hold his job he has got to be a good
foreman, know his work, and above all know how to handle men decently.
Being a foreman is going to be a real job, for which real men will fit
themselves in order to make good.

A third fundamental consideration is to appreciate how modern
conditions have made the possession of personal character an essential
to successful leadership. The development of the individual,
self-conscious that he is a reasoning being with the rights and
responsibilities of self-determination, has put into the discard the
divine right of kings and the infallibility of sphinx-like utterances
from those in authority. The man who rules to-day does it through
personal contacts with his subordinates. He must therefore really
have the personal character. It is of course inherent in us to endow
the holder of an office with those attributes of dignity and personal
character which should go with it. But personal contacts are going to
pierce this hereditary veil, and will soon expose the man for what he
really is. And he cannot make good unless we find him possessed of
_character_--find him a man who always keeps his word, who lives up
to the principles of the square deal, and who appreciates that he is
dealing with humans and is accordingly considerate. Such qualities
preclude his showing injustice, deceit, indifference, or brutality.
They thus eliminate fear and suspicion from the minds of those about
him and give free play to their better instincts, which makes for
getting their best efforts either as followers or as co-workers. It
is clear then that it is vitally important to give careful thought
in the selection of leaders to their personal characters; and that
this possession of character must come to be the _sine qua non_ for
candidates for office, political, civil, or industrial. For all this
applies quite as forcibly to the leaders of labor as to any other. Here
as elsewhere only those can win in the end whose character and purpose
are pure; who believe in the square deal; who are unselfishly honest in
the administration of office; who consider the human rights of their
followers and give them opportunity to grow and develop through the
free exercise of their constructive instincts. Democratic leadership
is constructive. It builds individual character in its followers, and
stands secure on that foundation.

A fourth fundamental is to appreciate the big part played in man's
control by his own personal instincts and habits. "Man is a reasoning
creature. God's image." Yes; but he is also the willing slave of
instinctive impulses and personal habits. He uses his reason to
determine the course he will pursue, not to regulate the multitudinous
details of his actions in carrying it on. As planned by nature, these
minor actions are directed by natural impulses and personal habits.
Impulses and habits--they rule almost our every act. It is remarkable
when we stop to think of it and realize how few things we do actually
as the result of thinking. Thus in a well-ordered life a man may get up
in the morning, bathe, shave, dress, and go to breakfast without having
to make a conscious decision. Instead of having to decide which shoe to
put on first, he even laces and ties his shoes without thinking, and
thus may occupy his mind with thoughts of the day's work. Habit guides
him without thought through all these necessary steps which he must
take daily.

The interesting fact to the leader is not alone that these habits
control so absolutely, but that any habit may be easily and
unconsciously formed by repetition of the act or thought, and that a
habit once formed is overcome only by conscious effort and even by
determined action of the will. The leader uses this for controlling
his men. By insisting on certain things always being done in certain
ways, he establishes in them habits of daily conduct which make his
routine administration of duties free from constant care of details.
A wise leader finds the reason for many of the difficulties and
seeming derelictions of his men in the fact that they were the acts
of previously formed habits not yet eliminated. For this reason also
he prefers to train green men rather than old ones. He knows he can
readily inculcate in them the habits he wants them to have, and without
the great difficulty of eradicating the previously formed habits which
he does not like.

Equally common with habits in their control of the actions of man, and
equally important as a consideration for the leader, are the impulses
to action that come from natural instincts. Of course it is true that
man's will and determination are stronger than his instincts, and that
if they are set to any given purpose they can force every instinctive
impulse from his field of consciousness and hold his actions to the
predetermined course. But such control of man's actions is fatiguing
to the man, and does not give the results that come when his mind
is happily at ease and free to entertain the impulses from the
constructive instincts with which nature has bountifully endowed him
for the good of the race. Thus necessity may make a man determine to
do his work in spite of brutal treatment and injured self-respect, and
he will carry through the day's work well enough to hold his position,
but not much better. Good work, anything like the maximum of a man's
accomplishment, cannot be produced in that spirit. Such work comes
only with the free play of man's better instincts. It should be clear
then that the leader who controls through appeal to these instincts
will get better results than he who rules by force or the compulsion
of circumstance. A good leader must therefore give thought to these
things, until he comes to feel instinctively how men react to the
ordinary things of life. They are matters of frequent reference in
discussing the principles of leadership.

Among these instincts, those of the greatest interest to the leader are
naturally the instincts of leadership--the instinct to lead others and
the instinct to follow others when we think they know the answer better
than we. The manifestations of both these instincts are very common in
our daily life, which shows their availability and value to the leader
as agents for controlling men. He should therefore understand why they
exist and how to appeal to them. Why is it that mankind is always
wanting to proselyte, and preach, and teach, and step to the front with
suggestions? And why is it that one so readily follows another who
presents any proposition which seems reasonable? These instincts were
implanted in man to make him play his part in the world's progress.
The whole scheme of the universe, physical and spiritual, is one of
development and progress--of making everything engage in a constant
effort to rise to a higher plane. Man was intended to be the foremost
instrument of this purpose to advance civilization. His instincts were
given him to ensure progress, to help the race win along, to lead
others where he felt he knew best what was to be done, to follow where
he felt that another knew better than he. To want to lead is therefore
a natural instinct and a good one; and any man may take honest pride in
striving to qualify as a good leader.

It is an important point that the instinct to follow is likewise an
instinct for progress, and therefore that the would-be leader must make
his men feel that he best knows the way, that his leadership will bring
the best results. This is a fundamental thought in an understanding of
leadership; and it explains why knowledge of his job is essential to a
leader, and why bluster and arrogance seem so ridiculous. It is clear
then that a man is appointed leader because it is believed that he can
get the best results; and his men will measure his ability as such by
the good work accomplished under his guidance. Inefficiency, lost time
and energy, indecision and stupidity, undermine his hold on the men;
while the opposites inspire them to enthusiastic following.

Another thought of importance in this connection is the significance
of the word "leader." It means that this man is the _foremost_ of the
group, of his companions. A leader is not a lord or dictator; he is one
with his men--the leading one--knowing their pulse and their passions,
leading because of superior preparation, experience and ability, not
driving through brute force. He should keep his kinship with these
fellows whom he leads, not allow himself to feel that he has become a
human being of a different class to lord it over them. Great leaders
like Lincoln are careful to retain, and to appear to retain, the
simpler attributes of their fellows, to continue the close touch and
sympathy that spell an understanding of human nature.

Nothing so surely ruins the success of the newly appointed leader as a
suggestion of pomp and vainglory in his demeanor. A case of swollen
ego has wrecked many careers. It is quickly noted by the men as an
evidence of smallness of soul and limited experience. Modesty, quiet
dignity, even humility, are characteristics of greatness of character
and broad experience. It is dangerous for the leader to admit his
self-importance even to himself. Magnifying his own importance is
likely to make him take credit to himself that should have gone to his
men, make him consider his own welfare when he should consider theirs,
and end by betraying him as unfit for the leadership.

The last of these fundamental considerations of man, and by far
the most important to the personal success of any leader, is an
appreciation of what his _own personality_ means for success or
failure in the effect it has upon his fellows. In some way it should
be possible to make each man realize the truth of this, and thus
give it due consideration. The leader responds to the fact that he
must learn how to use his human-being tools, yet often ignores the
equally important fact that he has to use these tools through the
instrumentality of his own personality. His ability and success will
largely depend on how this personality of his impresses others, on
how it affects these sentient tools. His purpose and character, his
personal bearing and manner, the tones of his voice, his habits and
way of looking at things--all the manifestations of his personality
are more or less important influences in determining his ability to
handle others. Yet the average of leaders not only accepts himself
complacently as he is, but actually ignores the advantages of even
finding out what he is, let alone trying to improve himself.

The progress of the race depends upon the development of the
individual--albeit in co-operation with his fellows. In consideration
of this fact nature apparently designed man to accept complacently
his own personality and thus be content to use and develop it without
being discouraged because he was not as some other man. It is certainly
true that we rarely find a man who would exchange his personality for
that of another. But nature never intended this complacency to go to
the point of ignoring all possibility of improvement, and even of
failing to use understandingly the personality one does have. The great
trouble with mankind is that they generally see themselves only as they
are reflected in the near-by mirror. They rarely get the perspective
of themselves as they really exist in the life around them; and so
they miss the benefit of measuring their egos by comparison with the
realities of life. It would help us all "to see ourselves as others see
us." We could then learn each how to use his personality advantageously
from seeing how it affected others, and we would then lose some of our
arrogance from seeing what unimportant individuals we really are after
all. It is good for the soul of any man to visit some height like the
tower of the Woolworth building and thence view humanity on the earth
below him, hurrying to and fro on its self-important business. These
humans then appear of about the size and importance of ants, and the
spectator is lead to realize the unimportance of any one individual man
in comparison with the world about him, and to wonder just how big he
himself really appears to the distant Eye of Omnipotence. He may thus
develop a wholesome humility which may lead him to fit himself to play
his part more reasonably.

Giving thought to oneself and to the meanings of those things that
affect the relations and control of men is essential to acquiring
leadership. It is what we ourselves believe and feel and live--what
comes out of our own inner consciousness--that will make it possible
for us to appear before others as their leader. Even the inspired
Leader withdrew into the wilderness for long inner communion before
He essayed the responsibilities of leadership. We should hardly
expect to lead even in our small way without some preparation. And
this preparation will not be in learning rules to guide us, but in
attaining such an understanding of the principles and realities as will
make us do the right thing naturally. For above all a leader must be
genuine,--his own true self, not an imitation of some other, be that
other ever so successful.

There remains for consideration the special case of handling men in
those industrial situations where labor unions exist. Though it
be true that an application of the principles of leadership will
give better results even in the presence of "labor troubles," how
infinitely better the results if there exist mutual understanding,
confidence and co-operation. There is, however, no thought here of
telling any management how to run its business. It is recognized that
each business concern has its own problem to solve in accordance
with its own peculiar conditions. The questions of welfare, labor
turnover, supervision of personnel, self-expression, sharing of
profits or savings, etc., have been analyzed and discussed in fullest
detail. It is beyond our scope to add anything in these fields. But
even where management has adopted the broadest policy looking to the
loyal co-operation of its employees, its successful operation will
still depend on how the men are handled by those directly in contact
with them. We are concerned with that one phase; and for its better
understanding in those special cases where labor unions are involved,
let us briefly consider the origin and purposes of these unions. When
fundamental motives are clear, it becomes possible to understand their
manifestations and guide them for the greater good of all concerned.
An understanding of the psychology of labor unions is therefore vastly
important to employer, to subordinate bosses, and to labor leaders
themselves. We may not attempt to cover this subject, but only to
suggest certain fundamental thoughts which should be helpful.

In the evolution of the race, the processes of time ultimately
taught primeval man to leave the isolation of his cave and form a
community with his fellows for better protection against the beasts
that threatened his existence and for mutual assistance in carrying
on the slow developments of civilization. Thus the interdependence of
man and the advantages of co-operation were first demonstrated, and
organization had its beginnings.

The processes of modern industry, through its introduction of machinery
and the consequent development of its vast modern enterprises, took the
tools of his trade from the personal hands of the laborer into company
ownership, stripped him of all but his bare power to work, and cut him
off from the former close personal relationship with his employer.
So the laboring man found himself again an isolated individual, this
time in the competitive markets of labor, where he fought alone for
his existence against the cold impersonal organizations which bought
his services in the cheapest market and discarded them at will. And as
once long ago he found his salvation and opportunity for development
through combination with his fellows, so now he again learned that
his future could be secured only through combined effort. Thus came
organized labor to protect with force if necessary the human rights of
its members and to assure their equal opportunity for development in
the progress of the race.

We thus see that this organization of labor with its potential power
to fight was but a natural logical step in the evolution of modern
industry--as natural and as necessary as were the organizations and
combinations of capital. Both are the products of evolution. And as is
generally true, the application of the laws of evolution to individual
cases often caused hardship and distress and even loss of life, but
without changing their inexorable course in the purpose of progress.

It was the accepted philosophy of the time that labor was a commodity
to be taken to any market at the will of the laborer and sold to the
highest bidder, who was likewise free to buy labor at the lowest figure
and to employ it only at his pleasure. The rapid increase in the size
of enterprises having eliminated the personal relationship between
the employer and his men without finding anything to replace it, it
was natural that labor became little more than a chattel and that all
consideration of the human equation was forgotten in the excitement
and keen competition of managing these enterprises of such novel
magnitude and unknown potentialities. Meantime public opinion failed to
appreciate that the welfare and social development of these laborers
was a matter of vital concern to the community, and that the rights and
responsibilities of the management of these big concerns were equally
matters of grave importance to community welfare. In short, public
opinion had to be taught that the community is a party to industry, and
must be concerned with how industry conducts its affairs.

It was therefore a naturally accepted condition that labor should be
treated as any other soulless commodity. And it is fair to assume that
it would have long continued to be but for the valiant spirit of the
laborer demanding recognition of his rights as equally a son of God
and a self-respecting, responsible member of the democratic community.
These rights are now recognized. Splendid minds have given their best
efforts toward evolving the means and methods for the conduct of big
business on bases which admit full recognition of these rights, with
opportunity for the fuller development of the laborer through the free
play of his nobler instincts. Many progressive firms have found a way
for adopting a policy embodying these ideas--others are seeking a
practical solution of this problem as it is presented to them by the
peculiar conditions of their particular business. Many are so organized
that union leaders themselves find that everything is being done which
they could ask. Public opinion has largely accepted the thesis of
labor, and feels that its laboring citizenry must be given opportunity
to develop. It is futile then for either capital or labor to fight
against either of these organizations, and unreasonable to consider
either of them the product of man's viciousness or ignorance. It were
far better that both parties accept the inevitable fact of their
existence and learn to develop their vast possibilities for increasing
efficiency. There is no just cause for recriminations--unless for the
slowness of human intelligence to grasp the true conditions.

So it appears that the fight of the unions is almost won, and this
phase of evolution nearing completion. But it is evident that even
so unions must persist. They are demanded by strong human instincts
and make for fuller development and better service. Organization
and co-operation, more and more comprehensive, are pronounced
characteristics of modern development. Therefore the present unions
may well be continued with the purpose of social betterments and of
increasing the efficiency of labor, meantime designed to continue
the fight only where employers fail to find the way themselves to
give labor its opportunity to work and grow to advantage. Where well
organized, each union may certainly render great service to its
members, to industry, and to the State, by interesting itself in the
development and welfare of all men engaged in its line of work, and
by keeping available for immediate reference complete industrial and
social data of all this personnel. Such statistical work requires
time and expense, but it gives the unions the benefit of feeling that
they are rendering a valuable service to the community as well as to
themselves.

A union of the future, certainly a natural and efficient one, will
be the union within each separate enterprise of the two elements
essential to its success--management and laborers. And this union will
find its greatest usefulness in close liaison with the third party to
industrial effort--the community. For the efficient conduct of the
community's business of providing law and order, schools, sanitation,
transportation, banking, shopping, etc., is as essential to the life of
industry as is industry's production and proper management to the life
of the community.

Many such unions exist already, a most notable example being the
Loyal Legion of Loggers and Lumbermen. Most notable because of its
great size, the variety of interests and human types involved, and
the vast area covered in its operations. Originally organized for the
patriotic purposes of getting out spruce for the war, it soon became
a practical co-operative union of employers and employees. Their
combined intelligence and effort met the war needs in a tremendously
increased production, and have since met the strains of reconstruction
without a break. It thus made the unique record of stabilizing labor
conditions while doing rush war production instead of upsetting them
as was done in many other enterprises. All this resulted from the fact
that representatives of both employers and laborers were required to
sit around a common council table and there discuss and settle all
questions of the conduct of the work. In doing this, both parties
learned that they really spoke the same language and that success
and good feeling were the natural result of working together. They
therefore continued the organization on a permanent basis, with the
added element of keeping in touch with local community affairs.

These co-operative unit unions should be of great psychological benefit
and become strong political influences, particularly in affairs of
local government. The topics of informal discussion among the men and
of talks from their leaders may be no longer matters of antagonism
toward their employer but rather those of common industrial and
community interest. And as industry is sure some day to realize how
dependent it is on the integrity, wisdom and statesmanship of the
public officials chosen by the people to make and administer the laws,
so it will surely come to take an active part in selecting these public
officials and in determining the policies they are to further. Well for
industry then if it be organized and accustomed to the co-operative
functioning of capital and labor. No political appeal can then be made
to class distinctions, and industry can then bring into the political
field the same strong co-operative purpose for the common good that it
is accustomed to exercise in its management of business.

In these unions employee and employer come to find that both are
laborers in the common cause, each according to his skill and training
doing his own part in the industrial machine and receiving respect and
credit in accordance with how well he does it. Both come to appreciate
the true meanings of democracy, that opportunity lies equally open to
all on their merits, and that men are classed in accordance with their
fitness for positions. Here they come to realize that demagogic appeals
to class are unreasonable and often of questionable motive, as the
fact is brought home to them that employers are mostly but graduates
from the ranks of labor--or more accurately, are but leaders of the
class.

The word "class" with its European meaning is quite out of place in
discussing American conditions. Classifications we have, based on
accomplishment, etc., but there are no insurmountable barriers between
them. All doors stand wide open for any individual if he but have the
will to attain the necessary qualifications. And there are back doors
which stand equally wide open, from which the unfit are being daily
ejected to find their true level according to their individual worth.
Such are the laws of democracy and of progress, and all schemes to
thwart them must sooner or later end in failure.

As agents of good citizenship these unions could well be a power for
good to the community by becoming schools in Americanization and in
the practice of democratic government. Good citizenship is as vital a
consideration for the industrial state as it is for the political--in
fact their interests are so closely interwoven that they must stand
or fall together. We know now that cheap labor does not make cheap
production, and often does make cheap political government. It is in
reality both expensive and dangerous to the community, and we should
do without it. And as it is our pride to establish before the political
world the worth of our political institutions; so should we solve our
industrial problems and show to the industrial world the advantages
of democracy operating practically in industry. Let us show that the
spirit and aroused skill and ingenuity of our loyally co-operating
labor will reduce the costs of production while largely increasing
its output, to the advantage of mankind and the credit of our nation
founded on individual freedom.




CHAPTER II

Psychological Elements of Organization


If even two persons are going to work together for a common purpose,
they will do better if they "organize" for it. The more clearly
they define their purpose, their policy and methods, and the
responsibilities and functions each is to assume;--the more they will
gain in efficiency by avoiding friction, lost motion, and the deadening
mental effect of misunderstandings and questionings. As the number
engaged increases, the advantages of organization increase, until when
many are engaged organization becomes a necessity. And no matter what
the purpose, from building a cathedral to robbing a bank--in conducting
a school, office, hospital, or factory--the success of the affair will
depend largely on the efficiency of its organization and the extent to
which all concerned understand its purpose, its policy and methods, and
the responsibilities and functions of all engaged.

Organization is of course the responsibility of the governing head.
The more attention and skill he shows here, the less he will need give
to all the varied requirements of his position. Our present interest in
organization lies in such a sketch as will show its framework, and thus
enable us to analyze such of its psychological elements as affect the
question of handling the men who compose it.

_The Framework._--No matter how large the number of men brought
together for any purpose, proper organization groups them into
divisions and subdivisions in accordance with the nature of their
work. This grouping is continued until in each case the smallest
subdivision contains no more individuals than one man can control in
that particular work through direct personal contact and supervision.
A chief, or leader, is put in charge of each division and subdivision.
He transmits instructions from higher authority, and is held personally
responsible for the control, work, discipline and efficiency of
everyone under him. Thus organization lines everyone up in his own
place, gives him a definite part to play under a prescribed chief, and
thus enables the whole body to function smoothly like a machine in
exact response to the policies and control of the governing head.

In military organization, no matter how large the army, the will of
its high command quickly passes from superior to subordinate until in
the end it has reached the squad leaders and they have transmitted it
to the men in ranks. The whole vast machine may thus move uniformly,
accurately responsive to the master mind. So in any large business;
department heads, superintendents, foremen and subforemen furnish the
line of control from the head to all his men no matter how numerous or
how far removed. These subordinates represent his policies, his will,
and his spirit. How important that they understand them clearly and
execute them fairly and efficiently.

It is impossible for one mind to encompass all the details of a large
undertaking, and furthermore too much attention to detail crowds out
the possibility of vision and future planning. Hence the necessity for
organization and for delegating to subordinate leaders the authority
and initiative of the chief. For this reason we say that the big man
as an executive is he who picks good subordinates, develops them
into his responsible and responsive agents, and then gives them wide
initiative. And as army officers must be trained for their positions
and particularly in the art of handling men, so these subordinate
leaders must be so schooled as to assure to the chief that policies
and instructions are being carried out properly, and that the men are
being handled to the best advantage.

_Psychological Elements._--The chief thus finds in the organization of
his undertaking a machine with which he is to work out his purpose. And
this machine, in all its component parts, is built up of live sentient
human beings, capable of splendid work if properly handled. Maximum
results depend therefore on the chief's understanding of human nature,
and on his applying this understanding to the practical management of
the undertaking. Thus the psychological elements assume importance.
The wise chief therefore clearly defines his purpose, and his policies
and methods for accomplishing it. He provides regulations which define
the responsibilities and functions of the various members of the
organization, and sees to it that all understand and observe them. As
the affair progresses he keeps the requirements of organization ever in
mind, makes frequent changes in personnel and methods as developments
require, and continually watches the working of the psychological
elements which make his organization a going concern. This means to
see that all are observing the requirements of _subordination_ and
_command_; that there is intelligent _teamwork_; and above all that
there exists throughout the whole organization a fine spirit of
_discipline_ and _morale_. All these important elements lie directly
in the hands of his subordinate leaders, who are responsible under him
for their existence and proper use throughout the organization. These
leaders must therefore know how to handle their positions so as to
develop and maintain these important elements in their subordinates.
This introduces the last and most important of the elements,
_leadership_, which must be understood by all subordinate leaders. The
importance of maintaining all these elements so vital to the success
of an organization explains why his qualifications for leadership are
so carefully considered in determining a subordinate's fitness for his
position, and why his training in leadership may be necessary.

_Subordination_ means that everyone shall continually recognize the
fact that each individual in his own office has his own particular
responsibilities and privileges, and that these must be observed by all
both above and below him. Particularly must each superior take pains
always to recognize the rights and responsibilities of his subordinates
and to give full play to their powers in the proper exercise of the
functions of their grades. If the superintendent saw a man going wrong
he would properly correct the foreman, not the man himself; if he
was so fortunate as to see something praiseworthy he would commend
the foreman, or at least be sure that the foreman was present and
shared the praise. This makes the men realize that the foreman is
held responsible for their work, good or bad, that he is really their
leader, thus strengthening his authority over them. It also shows the
foreman that superior authority recognized him as the boss and holds
him responsible for results, thus developing his initiative, his
legitimate pride of office, and his keen interest in the performance of
his men.

While for the sake of this psychological effect these minor corrections
and commendations are thus made in the presence of the men involved, if
the foreman needs serious correction for mistaken policy, slackness,
poor judgment, anything which corrected in the hearing of his men would
necessarily lower their respect for him, he should be corrected in
private and given the opportunity to win the added respect of his men
by appearing to make the correction on his own initiative. Where the
subordinate does not respond to these methods, he is lacking in the
essentials of teamwork and leadership and not up to his job.

To prevent friction, the function of each of these steps in
subordination from the chief down to his men in the ranks should be
well defined, and thoroughly understood by all members of the entire
force. And as these steps form the quick, sure means of transmitting
the will of the chief to his men, so in the ideal case they would be
the equally sure means of transmitting to the chief the sentiment,
opinions, and suggestions of his men. In any case these steps form the
rungs of the ladder by which any man may aspire to climb to advancement
in the organization, and there should be an ever present atmosphere of
encouragement for every man who will strive to fit himself to do the
work of the man next above him. Such an atmosphere frees in the man
the instincts of ambition and construction and thus promotes interest,
inventiveness and constructive criticism and suggestion.

_Teamwork._--The meaning of teamwork and its importance to the success
of an undertaking are easily understood, but its practical application
to our daily affairs is not always so easily brought about. Too often
selfish interests seem to stand in the way, and it is necessary in some
way to make the interests of the team appear of greater importance
to the individual than his own. It can generally be shown that the
greater success of each is dependent on the success of the whole, and
if the leader always gives merit where it is due, he should be able to
establish this understanding. It should help the leader, particularly
in getting this spirit of co-operation into his men, if he realizes
how this too is one of the great laws of nature. Bishop Brent says
"Bible history--and for that matter all history--begins with a garden
and closes with a city." This is because the developments of progress
necessarily depend on the co-operative efforts of mankind, and thus
force men to live and work together. It is true that progress results
from the development of the individual; but not in isolation. He
must work in close relations with his fellows. A man can do little
alone, but in combination men perform miracles of achievement. So they
have got to work together, have got to practice the give and take of
common membership in community living, and of common responsibility
for accomplishing the progress of the race. This means fellowship and
teamwork all along the line. It means that each man has a part to play
and is entitled to respect and consideration in accordance with how he
plays it rather than what it is; and it means that no man is entitled
to consider solely his own selfish interests, but must faithfully play
his part in the team with his fellows. Our ideals of fairness and
decency in work and play are built on this foundation.

Good teamwork assures two states of mind in the individual which
are most helpful for efficient work. No matter in what isolation or
obscurity the individual has to work he feels sure that his work is
a necessary and important part of the whole and that it will receive
due appreciation; and he is also borne up by feeling sure that each
of his fellows is doing his own part with equal faithfulness and
likewise counting on him to do his. In many phases of work as well as
in sport this latter feeling is a great incentive to doing one's best.
Teamwork is of course intimately connected with leadership; and will be
frequently mentioned in discussing the latter.

_Command._--It is very important to get a clear conception of the
modern theory of command, or way of directing what subordinates shall
do. It is important because rather new and not always understood, and
particularly because it is the one guiding principle for the leader
in all his conduct of office. Command no longer depends solely on
the implicit obedience of subordinates, but gets its best results
from developing in them the two essential qualities of _loyalty_ and
_intelligent initiative_, and then trusting them to play their part
in the proposed work. This is a development of the last half century,
an intelligent response to changed conditions. It is based on the
modern development of the individual as a responsible unit in the
social and political community, and more particularly on the fact
that the bigness of modern-time enterprises makes impracticable the
older-time dictatorial control by a single head. Implicit obedience
to exact orders can be successful only when the man who gives the
order is on the spot and fully acquainted with the existing conditions
at the time, and this is impossible for all the details of large
enterprises. The "I order, you obey" and the "you're not paid to think"
stuff is entirely inadequate for big affairs, where opportunities for
subordinates to do good work must constantly occur beyond the vision
of the big chief and go unimproved if the subordinate has to wait for
the chief's instructions before acting, and where circumstances will
often have arisen without the chief's knowledge which would make it
disadvantageous to carry out certain instructions which he had given.

So modern command recognizes that the man who is on the spot is in the
best position to judge what to do, and that if he has been properly
instructed, we will get better results from his acting on his own
judgment than from his blindly obeying orders. Sad as it is for
romance the man who to-day led a "Charge of the Light Brigade" would
be considered stupid, and probably relieved as unfit for command.
Subordinates are now required to know what is going on about them, and
to use intelligent judgment. Positive orders are of course as rigidly
obeyed as ever, but they are not given unless the superior is on the
spot in person and knows all the conditions. In the general case the
subordinate is instructed as to the plan of action and the part he is
to play in it, and then expected to carry on to the best advantage. For
this purpose army training is now designed, not only to cultivate the
man's exact obedience to positive orders, but even more _to develop
his powers of observation and analysis so he may sense conditions; his
powers of reason so he may arrive at a logical decision as to what
should be done; and his strength of character so he may willingly
accept and cheerfully bear the full responsibility of acting on his
own initiative._ Can anyone find a better formula for training to play
one's part in any of life's activities!

This system of command is thoroughly in keeping with the democratic
character, and is eminently adapted for use in civil undertakings. The
keynote for any successful management is the development and use of
loyalty and intelligent initiative in subordinates. Initiative without
loyalty would be dangerous, but from the combination flow the big
results.

_Discipline._--The discipline of any group is the direct responsibility
of its particular leader. Many men shrink from this responsibility
through distaste for administering discipline as they understand it.
And the old ideas of discipline based on fear and punishments are
indeed calculated to be repugnant to any democrat of sensibilities. But
let him once understand what discipline really is, and how the highest
type of discipline is brought about through employing the better
qualities of mankind, and his responsibility for it may then become a
matter of keen interest and satisfaction.

It will make an understanding of discipline much easier to realize how
common a thing it is in everyday life. It is perhaps the most common,
for it controls us in practically all our personal affairs. Even the
cave man has to observe the discipline imposed by the laws of nature;
while civilized man must bow more or less cheerfully to social and
community regulations ranging in seriousness from some convention as
to wearing his hat up to the Eighteenth Constitutional Amendment. We
are always the objects of some discipline; that of the home, of school,
church, office, the hotel or the street car. The decent man and the
happy one is he who accepts this discipline cheerfully--or else flees
from the strictures of community living. How absurd therefore is the
common conception that army discipline is such a unique affair, and
that to be a disciplinarian is necessarily so difficult. In fact the
most perfect example of real efficient discipline, and the example most
worthy our emulation, is the discipline which a wise father inspires
in his son. Here we see the unswerving loyalty, quick, cheerful
obedience, and readiness to fight for the honor of his chief that are
the characteristics of good discipline and the sure rewards of good
leadership.

Group discipline may be defined as the spirit which pervades the
members of a group--the controlling spirit which governs the impulses
of the individuals and makes them try to do right and give their best
in the common cause. It is as essential to the successful working of
an organized machine of humans as is live steam to the working of a
cold engine. Its existence in any group is recognized by a ready,
cheerful obedience to instructions, by respect for those in authority,
by keenness for the common success, and by a high sense of individual
duty. It has been well called the "soul" of armies. This means that
it is the responsive animating spirit which leads men to splendid
deeds of heroism, gives them heart for cheerful endurance of untold
hardships, makes them freely surrender individual wills to the will
of the leader, and binds them into a loyal fellowship, aspiring,
sacrificing, working together for a common cause.

Given a policy of unfailing justice, and no matter for what purpose men
are brought together, this spirit of discipline may be made to pervade
the whole group. It is the direct result of good leadership, and comes
naturally from knowing how to handle men. It cannot exist under poor
leadership. Its relative value for attaining results has been measured
by Napoleon as seventy-five per cent of all the elements that go to
make success in battle. In any undertaking demanding the continued
application of the powers of man, its value must be rated very high.
An organization that lacks discipline may not hope for efficiency. And
as poor leadership thus denies efficiency to an organization, so may
its efficiency be increased in direct proportion to the quality of
leadership shown by those in control, especially by those in direct
contact with the men.

The object of discipline is therefore seen to be an increase in the
total of results. So do not let the mind get fixed on discipline as the
end sought by leadership; it is but a means to the attainment of this
real object--better results. As in the army many an officer failed of
success because he centered his attention on being a disciplinarian and
forgot that the object of all training and discipline was success in
action, so in any activity, the leader must not let the importance of
discipline in itself obscure his judgment when deciding any step toward
attaining or maintaining it. It is not the end, but is to be used as a
means toward attaining the real end--one hundred per cent results.

_Morale_ is the final development of the highest type of discipline,
and is thus the prize reward for good leadership. Based fundamentally
on a belief in the cause for which we are working, it can never be
inspired in an atmosphere of injustice or suspicion. Having morale
means that no matter what obstacle or difficulty we face, we meet it
absolutely confident of our ability to overcome it. Confidence--a
justified confidence--is therefore the cornerstone of morale.
Discipline and experience have made each man confident of his own
fitness and ability, confident of the intelligent leadership of his
chief, and confident of the ability and loyal co-operation of his
fellow-mates in the team. To establish his men's confidence in these
three things must therefore be a constant consideration in the mind of
the leader. This consideration influences his every decision as to
what to do and what to say, and how to do and say it. He uses the words
and the method best adapted to work toward these results, well knowing
that his men are influenced by his every act toward either confidence
in or distrust of his leadership, their own ability, or the worth of
their fellows. He thus builds up through honest, intelligent confidence
that morale which is going to make his team ready to meet anything.

The manifestations of discipline and morale, and the various appeals
to inspire them, differ in accordance with the work to be done by the
members of the group and with the personalities of both the leader and
his men. But all spring from an application of the same principles--and
making this application to the specific case in hand becomes the
interesting study and exercise of wit for the leader concerned. It is
for him to arouse just the kind of spirit he needs for the special
work and with the particular men he has. The spirit which holds the
stoker faithful to his task in the bowels of the ship is different in
form from that which animates the gun crew on the deck above--yet both
spring from the same sources.

_Leadership._--The development of man as an individual, his inherent
qualities of manliness, high purpose, and a self-respecting
individuality which still recognizes its responsibility as a citizen
of the community--all these developed qualities make him potentially a
splendid tool in the hands of a skillful master, and a dangerous one in
the hands of a bungler. To handle these tools skillfully has therefore
become a recognized art. It will be only when this art is generally
known and practiced by our leaders that the nation may hope to benefit
by anything like the full measure of its manpower.

This art of handling men is called leadership; and during the late
war was made a study for practical application in all armies. On his
excellence in the practice of this art depended every military leader's
ability to deliver that superior manpower of his men which made his
unit victorious. In the past this used to be the function of the few
"born leaders" who seemed to know instinctively how to inspire others
to give their uttermost. But these born leaders were too few to meet
modern requirements, so we were forced to make their natural art a
matter of analysis and instruction.

This art is based on the fact that there is in every man a tremendous
latent force which may be aroused and used by a skillful leader who
knows how to inspire the man's loyalty, pride, and ambition to do
his utmost for the glory of his group and the honor of his cherished
leader. The poor leader leaves all this enthusiastic service and
devotion dormant in his men, and therefore commands only mediocrity.
His men do just well enough to conform to cold requirements. The letter
of the law is their sole guide, and they may even seek means to evade
that. Such leadership paralyzes efficiency, and does actual harm to the
character of the man who must operate under it. Denied the privilege
of giving free play to his constructive instincts, he becomes prey to
those which breed on discouragement and discontent, and the end of this
man is far worse than the beginning.

Not so with good leadership. It wins its efficiency and material
reward, not at the expense of manhood, but by appeal to the very
instincts whose free play gives pleasure to the inner man and results
in the upbuilding of his character and his faculties. The end thus
finds him a better man and citizen for the kind of work he has done.
It is this dual result which so highly commends the practice of this
art. The most mercenary may well adopt it for the material gain it
will bring; the altruist may adopt it for the inner joy of seeing the
character and manliness of his men growing under his hands. And in the
end even the leader who accepted it for material reasons will find
self-satisfaction in that he must feel that the community is better
for his living in it.

Leadership is an art, not an exact science. Its seat is in a man's soul
rather than in his brain. To attempt to teach it we appeal broadly
to a man's understanding and appreciation of what the laws of life
require. It is a comprehensive subject which may be far from completely
covered in one chapter. But fortunately one need not attain anything
like perfection in order to be recognized as a good leader and to
win a fine response from his men. So much is man a creature of the
better instincts, so responsive is he to fair and decent treatment,
that if his leader but be genuine in his practice of but a few of
these principles of leadership, his men will deny his weaknesses and
failures, and give him their loyalty and service without measure.




CHAPTER III

The Principles of Leadership


Our object in this chapter is to get at the practical elements of
leadership; to find out what leadership requires in one's own personal
qualities and in the methods of dealing with men. In doing this the
first consideration is to understand the object of leadership. To get
a clear conception of the object of an undertaking should always be
the first step in its execution, for men work to better advantage and
leaders lead to better advantage, when the object of their efforts
is clearly defined in their minds. One would think that the Allies
had been fighting the war to the best of their ability; yet recall
the tremendous impetus given their efforts, when, in answer to the
President's question, they had clearly defined their object in fighting.

_The Object of Leadership_ then is so to handle one's men as to build
up and maintain a high spirit of discipline and morale, of individual
initiative, of loyalty and of teamwork; and so to direct this spirit as
to win the highest efficiency for the accomplishment of the purpose
in view. In short its object is to develop the psychological elements
of the machine of organization, and thus increase its efficiency by
doubling its manpower. So the object of every step in this discussion,
the psychologic object of every step in leadership, is to secure better
discipline and morale, more intelligent initiative, keener loyalty and
better teamwork. The student must keep these objects ever in mind in
both study and practice, as furnishing a purpose or guide in all that
is said or done. The accomplishment of these objects is a constant
inspiration to a good leader; by his comments and criticisms during the
progress of the work, by his every act in administration, he seeks to
build up morale and initiative and all these essential qualities in the
characters of his men.

As to the _Personal Qualities_ required in the leader, we only ask that
each man use intelligently the ones that he has. It is not intended
to enumerate all the high qualities of the great leaders of history,
and then expect the reader to adopt them as his own. None of us begin
to have all of these qualities, or any of them in perfection. But all
of us do have some sense of justice and fairness, are possessed of a
degree of manliness and self-control, and can use our judgment and will
power. The point is to learn the value of our various qualities, and
to cultivate them by intelligent use. We are all human--let us admit it
and act accordingly. And that would be a very good first step toward
success in leadership, for there is no other one thing so often heard
of a good leader from the sincere lips of his admiring men as that "_he
is a real human being_." An appreciation of the meaning of that fact
alone should serve as an inspiration and an excellent guide.

Many men of but mediocre ability have successfully carried through one
big job after another simply because they had the faculty for inspiring
the loyalty, initiative and best endeavors of their subordinates.
Many others of stronger character and higher mental attainments have
failed to do so because they failed to inspire, and even antagonized,
their subordinates. And while this seeming lack of tact may have been
due to natural deficiency, in nine cases out of ten it was due to the
fact that they had accepted as their guide some old-time rule about
how to enforce discipline, or else that they had never given thought
to the subject of handling men and realized its importance. It is not
difficult to learn how to avoid their mistakes, and to acquire the art
of those who know how to inspire the enthusiastic efforts of others.

It is understood then that we are not discussing the high qualities of
the superman, or striving to attain to the leadership of a Lincoln. It
must also be understood that not all these points will apply to any
one case of leadership, in which many of them might be unreasonable.
But all are based on the same philosophy of human control, and are
consistent with the modern spirit of individualism which has become a
prime consideration. So as you read something that may strike you as
unreasonable in the case you have in mind, give it fair consideration
as applicable to certain cases, and weigh it as a means of adding to
your comprehension of the true spirit of leadership. You cannot know
too much about this in the general case. The broader your knowledge and
the better defined your individual opinions, the better judgment you
will be able to bring to your particular problems. _You_ are the big
factor. In the end it is going to be what you believe and think and
feel that is going to make you successful or not. You will never win by
following any abstract rules you do not yourself feel and live by.

_Qualifying for Leadership._--Any man of native character may fit
himself to lead successfully. Hundreds of thousands of young Americans
thus fitted themselves in the late war to lead their fellows as
officers, commissioned and non-commissioned. Many had had no previous
experience of command to guide them, had never given a direction even
to a servant. Yet by application they rapidly learned how to handle
themselves more or less successfully as leaders and their men as loyal
followers. No one expects perfection. All history records but one
Leader without fault. It is impracticable to follow rules or to assume
qualities that are not natural. The thing to do is to realize that
leadership may be developed, to absorb its ordinary fundamentals into
your system, and to study yourself as applying them to the problems of
your position.

Your own personality is the one big thing for you. Learn to appreciate
its strong points and its weak ones, its possibilities for doing
the right thing and the wrong, and its probable effect on others.
Get it well in hand through practicing self-control, and make it
work intelligently in accordance with your wishes. You will make
mistakes--the best men do. The point is to have sense enough to
recognize the mistake, to correct it and try to avoid repeating it. You
watch yourself and you watch others, asking in each case if the best
thing was done to get the desired result. There is generally one best
thing to say or do, and at least a dozen wrong ones. The chances are
largely in favor of using the wrong one, but by giving it thought you
learn to pick the right until in the end it becomes quite instinctive
for you to do so. We can sum it all up in just about this: that you
begin to think seriously about yourself in your job, and determine that
you are going to be natural, genuine, fair and self-controlled; that
you realize that your instruments are human beings and that you have
got to control them through _your own_ personality; and that therefore
you determine to study your personality and your tools so you may use
them intelligently. Observation and personal application of its results
are the great things.

No two leaders may act exactly alike, for each must use his own
personality. One may be naturally cold, short-spoken and stern, the
other suave and gentle, yet both be equally good leaders. But when you
analyze their treatment of their men you will find that both observe
the same fundamental principles of justice, fairness and regard for
their individual development.

And as the personalities of leaders must differ, so even more will
those of the men. To control them you must have a working knowledge
of human nature--for while all mankind respond more or less alike
to well-known instincts and habits, there are times when you have
to consider the individual. Here is where observation, experience
and thinking about it prepare you to act intelligently. As a good
horseman soon comes to handle a thoroughbred or a cold blood with equal
assurance and success, so the leader of men gets to know instinctively
what touch to give the reins or spurs in order to get the result he
wants. And if in any given case you are not sure what to do, think
what would make you respond cheerfully if you were in his place, and
what would make you "buck." Let this decide what you will do. It will
generally be the right thing, for at bottom we are all pretty much the
same.

Above all you must be genuine. You must use the personality God gave
you--only use it naturally and with earnest purpose to play the game
fairly. If by nature you are gentle and tactful, thank God, and do not
try to be a bear, because you have seen and admired some big burly man
who was a successful leader. The genuineness and earnestness of your
personal efforts to do the right thing will go further than the best
possible imitation of some other, be he ever so good.

_Self-Control._--You are probably shrinking from the thought of taking
yourself in hand in preparation for leadership. But it is quite natural
that you should thus train yourselves, for self-control is the one
first step toward ability to control others. And you will the more
eagerly accomplish your own self-discipline, as you observe human
nature and note the blessings of the man who is self-disciplined and
the curse both to himself and his fellows of the man who is not. Those
parents who allow a child to grow up to manhood undisciplined put a
great burden upon the community in which he is to move, and above all
a great handicap upon the man himself. Selfish, petulant, flaming into
passion at any opposition, egoism coloring everything in life for him,
he is a poor member of the team in sport or business, and is more
often tolerated by his fellows than heartily welcomed. He has many
hard lessons to learn before he comes to appreciate true values in the
life about him, and thus become a truly worth-while member of society.
Far from being fit to lead others, he is generally the most difficult
problem for the leader, who now has to do the work that the parents
should have done in the man's childhood.

You may assume that you have the requisite native character for
leadership, or you would not be in position to use it. It remains for
you to prove its worth and improve its natural qualities. You will
not do this by any grandstand plays, or even by prayer. You will do
it by continued thoughtfulness in meeting the human problems of your
position, and by a discipline of self which will make and keep you fit
for your duties.

_Consideration for Rights of Others._--It is a good thing for any
citizen to make himself realize that he is part of a community whose
members are entitled to some consideration as well as himself. This
certainly is important for the man who is responsible for the conduct
of others. Everyone hates a hog as a candidate for fellowship in sport,
business or community living. You see him elbowing women and old men
aside as he crowds himself to the front at a ticket window; and so
through a busy day always jamming and trampling others to get the best
for himself. He gains a questionable satisfaction for his swollen ego,
but at the cost of the scorn of his fellows who have thought enough
about life to realize that his type is a curse to community living and
far from desirable as a characteristic of the race.

_Put Yourself in His Place._--If you want to put something over
with a man you may take an ax or a hammer and drive it into him--in
which case you leave him sore and rebellious--or by putting yourself
mentally in his place you may so express yourself as to win his
cheerful acquiescence--even if, as may often happen, he does not end by
thinking he originated the idea himself. The latter method is called
being tactful--and compared to the former gets tenfold results, not
to mention adding to the joy of life for all concerned. In presenting
an idea by this method you give your attention to the form and manner
in which you present it, rather than concentrate all your thought on
the idea alone, let him take it as he will. It requires only a bit of
consideration of what are the probable feelings and thoughts of the
other, a realization of his point of view and how you would feel in his
place. The leader who has won his promotion from below has an advantage
in having experienced the point of view of his men. Yet he often throws
it away and exhibits a case of swollen head by bellowing his "Hey you!"
in absolute disregard of the outraged feelings which he must know this
always engenders.

It is so much more efficient to be reasonably tactful--to be
considerate. To do it one may sacrifice a bit of vainglory, may not
appear to himself and his fellows as such a lord of creation, but he
will get better results, make life more worth living for all, and win
for himself a place in the estimation of others which may well return
him tenfold of advantage in some future contingency. It is never
the really big man whose arrogance hurts the feelings of the less
fortunate or forbids him to show respect and consideration to each
man who does well his appointed task in no matter what capacity. This
arrogance is found rather in the toad who is trying to make others
think he is an ox--and the humbler a man's station the more likely he
is to recognize a toad when he meets one, and the more pain it causes
him to have to bow to its bovine pretensions.

_Loyalty and Initiative._--We have seen how the leader is responsible
for developing these qualities in his subordinates. He wins their
loyalty to him by gaining their admiration of the personal qualities
he displays; and their loyalty to the larger organization and the
cause, by his own example and by timely comments. He develops their
intelligent initiative by the policy and methods he employs in handling
them in their work. He constantly encourages individual effort, taking
pains to commend every display of interest, inventiveness, ingenuity,
or improvement. He keeps the group informed of what it is trying to do
as a whole, so each may understand the object of his particular part
and seek opportunity to do it better. He tells the man what to do, not
how to do it, and praises whatever shows original effort and decision.
By constructive criticism and explanation he encourages the man so
that he wants to do it better next time. In short he encourages his
men to observe, to think, to decide, and to act on their decisions. So
long as their spirit is loyal, the best results come from such service,
and he must be patient in developing these faculties.

_Development of the Men's Powers._--How natural it is to be impatient
with the man who is bungling his early efforts. How often the master
grabs the thing and does it himself rather than wait for inexperienced
hands to find the way. The parent says petulantly, "I'd rather do it
myself than see John struggling with it." The boss cares more to have
a certain thing done exactly as he would do it than he does for all
the good that might come from the developed skill and resourcefulness
of his men. Of course these are all wrong. Your way is not always
the best way. One way is often as good as another, and improvements
come out of the interested inventiveness of the worker. Your object
is to get the best efforts of your men, and good work is not done in
an atmosphere of humiliation and discouragement. You must avoid the
natural display of temper at awkwardness and the cutting remarks which
indicate that you think the man a hopeless idiot. If he really is
that you have a different problem and should avoid wasting your time
and that of the others in efforts to use him. You are developing men
and their powers. The constructive and inventive instincts thrive in
an atmosphere of encouragement, and opportunity to employ them keeps
the worker cheerfully at his task. You get a double reward from this
system of control--the satisfaction of seeing your subordinates grow in
ability under your hands, and the satisfaction of increased output or
accomplishment under your management.

_Popularity._--Should a leader strive for "popularity" with his men?
By all means, if he is man enough to win it on his merits, for it is
a large element in establishing their loyalty. But it is very easy
for the beginner to have the wrong idea as to how popularity is won.
He must clearly understand that it is not gained through easy-going
methods, overlooking faults and neglects, playing favorites, sympathy
with growling and kicking about the way things have to be done, nor
in any of those things which go to undermine discipline and morale.
Such popularity is properly called cheap. It takes no manliness to get
it, it has no value once you have it. Such leadership is worse than
worthless, it does actual damage. It will be exposed for the sham it is
by the first occasion for endurance, by the first thing that comes to
test the real grit and ability of the group. Then one of two things
must happen--failure, or some better man will jump out of the crowd,
take the leadership from these weak hands, and lead the men through the
emergency.

We have seen this illustrated often enough in the army, where authority
has held in his peacetime position of leadership some weakling who
faded into the ranks in the actual tests of service, while some strong
quiet character stepped to the front and successfully assumed the
responsibilities of leadership. It is the duty of all management to
discover and remove these weak leaders. It is equally the duty of
every leader to study himself and his methods, and to make sure that
both of them display the qualities which will justify his holding the
leadership and will give it such character as to make it proof against
any emergency demands.

The popularity that counts, that makes men say they would follow
so-and-so through anything, makes them brag about their chief and proud
to serve under him, is founded on admiration for his real ability,
confidence in his fairness and justice, and in the courage and strength
of his character. He has won this popularity by being absolutely fair
and square to all, by seeing that both privileges and extra hardships
are equitably divided among his men, by holding everyone to a strict
performance of duty, by reward of merit where due and recognition
of delinquency where it exists, by avoiding anything like deceit or
duplicity in his conduct of office, by never appearing to ignore any
of his men as of no consequence in the group, by showing a sincere
personal interest in the welfare of his men as individuals and above
all by such use of his own head in planning and forethought as to save
his men unnecessary work or trouble and yet increase their efficiency,
thus making them realize that he really has the ability to lead them.

_Appearance--As to Dignity._--The leader holds his position on the
assumption that out of the whole group he is the best all-around man
for the job. He must retain this reputation for excellence, and should
add to it by further performance. First of all in appearance--in how he
carries himself before his men. The nature of the work may determine
the amount of dignity which must go with the office, but in every case
there is a certain dignity which all men must find in their leaders to
which they may instinctively give their respect. This is just about the
amount of dignity that comes naturally from earnestness and sincerity
of purpose. It is not a virtue to be assumed, a superficial garment
to be put on for the work. It has nothing to do with haughtiness
or stiffness--unless it be an assumed dignity which is often thus
manifested. "It comes simply from seeing things in their right
proportion--big things big, small things small," and really has more
of humility than of pride. It forbids you to patronize your men, to
appear to condescend to them in your dealings, and it does admit your
sharing both their earnest concerns and their fun. Professor Hocking
says "To make a quick transition from fun to business, and carry your
men with you instantly, is the test of real dignity. The two opposites
of dignity are permanent solemnity and permanent triviality." Both have
a bad effect on humans.

_As to Example._--Remember also in the matter of appearance that you
are an example. Imitation is a great teacher--the sole teacher of our
infancy, not to be despised in our manhood. Your men are going to be
very much as you are--if you are really their leader. Your example of
cheerfulness, promptness, loyalty to superiors, cleanliness, courtesy,
energy and interest, will find response in that of the men. I have seen
this carried to the extent of copying the cut of the hair, the angle
of the hat and other personal peculiarities. The power of example is a
potent force, and very useful in establishing loyalty.

An important example for you to give is one of earnestness of purpose
and interest in the work. The accomplishment of the work must appear to
be a vital matter to you. Listlessness and indifference on your part
will be quickly reflected by the men, while they will equally respond
to a reasonable amount of smartness and earnestness on your part. You
can imagine the amount of earnestness we used to put into our English
lessons at West Point where we had an old instructor who closed his
eyes and dozed while each cadet recited. There was great keenness to
get into his classes but it stopped there. You should appear to care
so much for your work that you are indifferent to the little things
that affect your own comfort. If the men see you taking advantage of
your position to enjoy comforts denied to them it induces a state of
mind that interferes with good work. A good example of this was the
conduct of a captain of cavalry in the Philippines who, being required
to conduct drill during the heat of the day, took up his position under
the shade of a solitary tree on the plain and drilled his troop in a
circle around him. That drill did not add much to the excellence of the
troop or to their loyalty for the captain.

_As to Ability._--Again you want to impress the men as being one who
knows at once what is to be done in each case that arises, who makes
quick decisions, and who carries through what he has undertaken,
without changing his mind. We will discuss this more in detail later,
enough here to say that by figuring out ahead of time all the details
of a certain undertaking and carefully planning for it, you can carry
it through with an apparent readiness of decision and resource that
will be surprising; and a few such successes will establish your
reputation as an able leader.

_Knowledge of Details._--Your position presupposes that you know the
work better than does any other man in the group. Generally speaking
you should be able to do each man's part at least as well as the man,
able to know when he is working to best advantage, able to recognize
particularly good performance to commend it, able to correct improper
methods and point the way to improvement. This superior knowledge gives
you the self-confidence to appear before the men as their leader and to
give them instructions and orders which you know are reasonable. The
men instinctively feel and recognize this superiority, and naturally
give it respect and obedience.

Of course no one man may reasonably claim to know everything, nor to
be more skillful in every detail than certain specialists. This fact
is frankly recognized by all the group, and is used to stir the pride
of individuals in their particular superior performance, and also as a
reason for expecting all to make suggestions for any improvements they
may have thought out.

_Suggestions from the Men._--These suggestions are to be really
encouraged, and given fair consideration when made. If accepted, credit
is to be given to the man, if rejected, he is to be told why it is
not found good. It is a mistake to feel that the leader loses caste
in accepting or even listening to suggestions from his subordinates.
"Nobody can tell me how to run this job" is a narrow policy, destroying
individual initiative--and it is not true anyway. The very statement
shows that the leader does not fully know his job, for everyone is
capable of improvement, and any job is better done for the combined
interest and resourcefulness of everyone connected with it.

_Prestige._--The leader loses none of his prestige in hearing and
considering the thoughts of his subordinates. In the end the decision
is his and on that they all have to act. And it does not hurt his
leadership to have to say frankly "I don't know. I'll have to look
into that." If he finds that he has taken a wrong course, it does not
hurt even to admit frankly that he was mistaken, especially if his
action has happened to do an injustice to one of his men. Mistakes
are readily forgiven, but not meanness or injustice. Remember always
that the men admire manliness in their leader and demand justice from
him. These qualities are better than infallibility, for after all they
like to feel that you are human. And above all they will not respect a
bluffer. It is hopeless to try to bluff when you do not know. Someone
will know and expose you, and away goes the respect of your men.

_Asking Men's Opinions._--I have known successful leaders to make
it a rule to ask, whenever one of their men came to them with some
question or trouble, "What do you think about it? What would you advise
doing?" The man has generally been thinking about this for some time
before he presented it. If it is a question about the work he has
probably in mind some solution which he thinks an improvement and this
is his way of getting it considered. By thus asking his opinion you
encourage his personal interest in the general success, enlist his
co-operation, give opportunity for that self-expression which means so
much to every self-respecting man, and not least of all you gain time
for consideration of your own answer while he is presenting his. This
is often a particularly good way to handle the case of a man brought
before you for some dereliction of duty. Ask him what he would do,
if he were boss, with a man who had committed the same offense. It is
astonishing how this makes him realize the whole situation, which he
probably had not thought of before, and nine times out of ten he will
suggest a more severe punishment than you would give, and come out of
the experience a much more responsive member of the group than he was
before.

_A Representative of Authority._--In any business undertaking the
immediate leader of a group is to his men the direct representative
of the authority which holds them to their tasks; of the purpose and
policy which inspire their endeavors; and of the management which
directs the enterprise. These men will largely get their impressions
of the justice and fairness of this authority from that displayed by
their leader; they will judge the worthiness of its purpose and policy
from his enthusiasm and loyalty; and will estimate the efficiency of
its management by that which their leader daily displays. Management
considered all this when it selected you as a leader, it is now for
you to consider it constantly in dealing with your men. The more
ignorant the man, the more nearly are you his sole representative
of these elements, and the more important that you treat him fairly
and wisely. He may be a poor immigrant unable to understand our
language and wholly dependent on how your treatment impresses him for
his conceptions of the fairness of our management and the worth of
our industrial life and institutions. It is up to you to make him a
contented useful laborer and happy citizen--and not to drive him to the
ranks of revolution by making him believe that authority is unjust and
our institutions unworthy his loyalty.

_The Head of the Family._--A good leader is always a jealous guardian
of the personal rights of his men. It is only over his dead body that
an injustice is done to any of them or to his group as a whole. He
is their champion in every contact with the larger organization, and
they look up to him for it. The group instinct is one of the strong
self-protective instincts. In the multitudinous groupings of the modern
community, the individual chooses those groups which he believes offer
him the best protection and to them gives his loyalty. The leader
but takes advantage of this psychological fact when he makes his men
realize that he is constantly on the lookout for their interests. He
may row at them himself (in a fatherly way), but he allows no one else
to do so. He sees that they get what is coming to them. If hardship
has to be borne, he sees that it is borne justly, and shares it with
them. If food is short and shelter poor, as often happens on field and
engineering jobs, he does not rest until he has exhausted every effort
to improve them, and in sharing them is very careful to show himself no
favor. He fights for their fair name, and for full recognition of their
merit. If one of his men has a trouble, it becomes his trouble until
it is adjusted. He thus establishes the feeling that it is a family
matter, and that he is the head of the family. (Incidentally he is sure
to be rewarded, for the men will soon be taking a keen interest in the
welfare of the head of their family.) And in the end the men come to
speak of it as "_our_" group--not Smith's or Brown's but "our" gang,
for each realizes that his interests are equal in it with any others.
And until his men do thus speak of the outfit as ours rather than his,
the leader may know that he has not yet got the co-operative spirit
which he desires.

_The Group Spirit._--Any group of individuals working together for a
common purpose are going to establish unconsciously a group spirit
of some kind. This has got to happen. The leader knows that success
largely depends on what this spirit shall be, and takes pains to make
it a helpful one. By getting to know the men and "how they feel about
it," he keeps in close touch with the spirit that runs through them
all, and by suggestions here and there he does much to build it up in
the way it should go and make the men feel a membership in his team.
When he has got to know this spirit well, he can count on his men to
respond in a certain way to certain appeals or impulses, and he thus
makes this group spirit a tool in his hand for getting results. In time
of hardship or strain he plays on this spirit to arouse new energy
or endurance, and jaded muscles spring anew to life, just as martial
music will put renewed life and spring into the lagging steps of tired
soldiers. Thus always spirit may make men endure and dare and carry
through far beyond the normal accomplishment. Thus the thoroughbred
will run unfalteringly till his mighty heart breaks with the strain,
while there need be no fear of killing the ambitionless cold bred, who
slows down and quits at the early warnings of fatigue.

So the good leader is constantly on the lookout for means to build up
this splendid spirit in his group. By word and deed, and particularly
by thoughtful conduct of the work in hand, he fosters the spirit
of putting things across and never being defeated, which is going
to carry them through to success when called upon. His men come to
realize that what he requires of them is always reasonable and that it
makes for efficiency; they find that he is always considering their
welfare before his own and taking the greater pride in their success
for the team; and they come to realize that while he so directs their
work as to make it as interesting for them as he can, he will never
accept failure for them or himself, but insist on carrying through to
successful accomplishment. It is possible thus to establish so strong
a group spirit for doing good work and generally winning out that the
men themselves will get after the laggards and expose the worthless for
elimination as unfit for membership in the team.

_This Spirit Requires Efficiency._--Such results are possible to the
leader in direct proportion to his knowledge of his job and his ability
to conduct the work with efficiency and without wasted time or energy.
Men naturally hate inefficiency. They become critical, caustic in their
remarks, and finally disgusted under a leader who wastes their time and
efforts, who hesitates over decisions and wonders whether to do this
or that and how to do either, who hasn't the tools and material right
at hand, who is always picking the wrong man for a piece of work, and
who holds up the work of all while he fusses with the clumsy efforts
of some "dub." Such a leader will never build up any good spirit. That
comes only from the reverse of this picture of incompetence.

_Work for the Leader._--But not all leaders may be gods to be always
right and sure in their management of affairs. True, but by looking
ahead, by planning and preparing for each new task, by headwork and
overtime work, they can so fit themselves for each task that they can
carry their men through it with such efficient direction that they
will seem to their men to be almost godlike. Of course this means work
for the leader. But the notion is foolish that work grows less as one
ascends the ladder of promotion. In reality the leader who is half as
good as he should be in his position is generally earning far more than
his pay. His task is no easy one. Ambition for accomplishment, pride in
success, joy of meeting manly responsibility, and not that enjoyment of
an easy berth which some assume it to be, are the motives which hold
the leader to his job.

_Where Leadership Really Shows._--As we watch a skillful boss directing
his men through a job, tools and material all at hand, every man moving
efficiently, all the parts working smoothly toward the result, how
natural it is to exclaim, "What teamwork!" and "What a leader!" But
out of years of experience I tell you that this leader seems so good,
not because God especially endowed him with skill, but because he has
previously sat down and planned out how he was going to handle this
especial job, and because he took pains to see to it ahead of time that
everything was prepared for the work. His superior leadership shows
not in the work he is here doing, but in the work he did beforehand
in building up the discipline and teamwork of his men and in making
preparation for handling this especial job efficiently. That is why he
may now appear so quietly sure of himself and his men, and that is the
real task for leadership--fitting self, men, and team ahead of time so
they may work smoothly to the best advantage without waste or friction.

_Assuring the Confidence of the Men._--It is a common fault of leaders
to take too much for granted and assume that men understand conditions
without bothering to explain them. Remember that a man cannot give good
work if his mind is harboring fear, distrust, or even questionings
as to his rights, his duties or his assurance of receiving impartial
justice and fair dealing. Confidence and a knowledge of the conditions
under which he works will keep his mind free from these disturbing
invaders. Instead of assuring this mental freedom, many leaders are so
poor as positively to inject fear and anxiety. Perhaps nothing can do
more to free his mind at once for useful impulses than to provide him
with printed rules and regulations which clearly define the policy
of the undertaking as regards administration and control; the rights,
duties and mutual relations of its members; and particularly the method
by which each may secure immediate consideration by superior authority
in case of real or fancied invasion of his right to justice and
impartial treatment. We all know that in industry the man's distrust
of the impartiality and honesty of his boss is often justified, and we
can see the advantages of letting the man know his rights and giving
him easy sure access to higher authority. The vastness of modern
organizations has too often made management forget its responsibility
in the matter of discipline and fair treatment among its employees.
These laborers find themselves to-day in a case not unlike that of
our forefathers who had to force from their tyrant king a written
acknowledgement of their rights--yet rights so simple and fundamental
as would seem to go without saying, and to require safeguarding only
from a selfish, unfeeling brute. _To none will we sell, to none will we
deny or delay, right or justice_ may well be borrowed from Magna Charta
and published as a fundamental rule for the interior administration of
many modern enterprises.

_Assuring Justice._--The possession of authority makes a wise man
consider the rights of others, lest he do a grave injustice. It is
likely to have a far different effect on a man of narrow soul and
intellect. He often becomes selfish, mean and arrogant, indifferent to
the feelings and rights of others, partial to favorites whom he chooses
for selfish reasons. He thus denies justice and forfeits his right
to leadership. Such men as bosses in industry are often the cause of
serious labor troubles, and are always the cause of reduced production.
By deceit and duplicity they may long conceal these qualities from
higher authority, while they continue to negative the most humane
policies of management. For this reason, when troubles show in any
group of men, first seek the source in the defective leadership of
their boss. It is for this same reason that successful management finds
means to check up the methods of its subordinates, and has it clearly
understood by all that every man has ready access to higher authority
for the presentation of any grievance.

_Joy of Doing Work Well._--A man naturally takes real delight in doing
a piece of work well, in the successful play of his constructive
instincts. He gets an actual pleasure from doing well whatever he puts
his hand to. This was another of Nature's wise endowments when she
determined that man should be her main instrument for progress in the
world. Whatever a man is doing in an agreeable frame of mind, he finds
himself naturally striving for perfection--the farmer looks back with
pleasurable reward to see that he has turned a clean, straight furrow,
the carpenter and mechanic get an inward glow from the perfect fitting
of a joint, and it was not poetic fancy which made David Grey take such
delight in digging that drainage ditch under a hot summer sun. These
joys from fine execution of work are the result of a natural instinct,
and form one of the best means for getting results if the leader knows
how to use them.

When you see a man taking no interest in his work and not trying to
get good results, perhaps even purposely doing poor work, you may be
sure that something is fundamentally wrong. Some stronger instinct
has been aroused whose force forbids the operation of this happy one
for construction. Our strongest instincts are those which regard our
self-protection, and one of these may be causing the trouble. If
conditions are such as to make the man fearful of his welfare, of his
livelihood or of injustice, contrary instincts are likely to overcome
or at least confuse the instinct to do well. So we may expect superior
results only under a system which assures fairness and justice, and
under a leader who honestly practices them.

_The Curse of Conscious Deadbeating._--A common complaint of labor is
that the end of work finds the man too tired to do anything else that
day. This is true, however, not because of the amount of work he has
done but because of the small amount of interest and ambition which
he has been allowed to put into it. Man is so designed that he is
happiest in doing hard work and good work if he may but take the right
spirit to it. This is the curse of the lack of trust between employer
and employees, and the consequent labor union policies which deny to
their members the privilege of giving full play to their constructive
instincts. These policies establish a standard of mediocrity, and thus
do daily violence to the character of those capable ambitious men who,
instead of being free to give their best, are thus forced to work
consciously as "deadbeats." No wonder that these men are tired at night
and that they have no heart for outside interests. They are working in
a spirit which saps their manhood and injures their self-respect as
members of the community. You may see this evidenced in their hang-dog
faces as they "soldier" on their jobs. Nothing but honest belief in the
necessity for this policy of loafing could hold them loyal to it. Even
this will not always do it; for men often become more interested in the
success of "their business," their undertaking, than they are for the
time being in the observance of union regulations. When no particular
danger threatens or issue is at stake, a clever boss may so appeal to
the constructive instincts as to make them dominate the self-protective
ones.

Public opinion is likely to play an important part in the above
question. The community is interested in anything which so materially
affects the character of its citizens and the output of its industries.
It may come to a decision; and demand certain action which it believes
will correct a situation it finds so injurious. And it may do this
without a true conception of the facts, so that its dictum is as likely
to offend the best interests of the laborer as of the employer. Far
better that the leaders of both should themselves solve their common
problem for their own common interest--and many have done this.

This question must be a serious consideration for leaders of labor. For
only that leadership can last which _makes for progress_. Its purpose
must be clear and honest, and must satisfy the constructive instincts.
Otherwise its following will fall away, to seek some other which offers
this satisfaction. Appeals to passion and prejudice will carry men
a long way in a short time, but sooner or later comes the time for
serious thinking. Then these men must be convinced that their course
makes for progress and greater ultimate good. And unless the leadership
has had a broad vision based on realities, they will discover its
fallacy or selfishness, and so abandon it.

_Depending on a Man._--You can make a man feel so strongly that you
are trusting him to play fair in a certain matter, "put it up to him"
in such a way, that his sense of manhood and good sportsmanship will
make him feel that he owes it to you to make good. This is a strong
influence on conduct--too strong to be used constantly. It may easily
become burdensome to ordinary mortals, who generally want more freedom
from the promptings of conscience. The point is to use it only in
special cases, and thus get its good effect both in results obtained
and on the man's character. When you do use it, do so quite naturally
and easily without too much fuss or talking, and certainly without
formally "putting him on his honor." There should be no apparent
question of your confidence being justified--it is so sure that you
do not have to talk about it. Here is an illustration: I found in my
command at Camp Grant a husky soldier who was a prisoner serving a
three months sentence, and considered a surly, insubordinate brute who
would never be disciplined. Soon thereafter his major brought him
to me with a most unusual request for authority to let the man go to
Chicago to be with his wife during a serious operation. The man stated
his case--too proud and obstinate to ask any favors. I discovered that
he felt that his first punishment had been a rank injustice, and that
he had thereafter been so sore as willfully to defy authority. I asked
how long he would need to be in Chicago--he did not know. I took the
chance and authorized the major to let him go in perfect freedom and
stay as long as the man found necessary. He was back long before we
expected him and in an entirely new frame of mind. He soon had the
remainder of his sentence remitted for good behavior, and before we
left for France he had become a non-commissioned officer and one of
the best subordinate leaders for arousing loyal service. Another good
citizen made--or at least saved from the hell he was driving into. If
he survived the war he is to-day proud of the service he once hated for
its injustice--and some day no doubt he will be championing his major
for mayor of the city.

_Proprietorship and Self-Expression._--Other strong instincts which
the leader should take advantage of are those of proprietorship and
of self-expression. To get the full benefit of his instinct to do
his work well, the man should be made to feel that he has a personal
interest in this job that he is doing, and that in actually doing it
he is using his own skill, resourcefulness and inventiveness. So the
leader watches for the chance, and drops a remark to show that he
sees how well the man has done some step he has taken, and no harm if
others overhear the remark! The leader is equally careful to speak of
it as Smith's job, to praise the way _Smith_ handled it, to commend the
excellent condition of Smith's tools, and thus by rewarding Smith's
little success and making it appear to be the result of his individual
work on his own job with _his own machine_ or tools, he encourages in
all the feeling that each is doing his own work in his own way and will
get credit accordingly.

It is also well to remember that these same constructive instincts in
the men have another meaning for you as their leader. They will cause
the men to resent it when they find themselves doing useless work,
wasting energy and even approaching failure as a result of your poor
judgment, hesitation in making decisions, and blundering through lack
of forethought. This makes you see the necessity for knowing your job,
and carefully preparing yourself to handle its details.

_Knowing the Purpose of Work._--Human nature demands that before men
can put their best efforts into work they must know the object of it.
Purpose is the big guiding motive in all life, and we are so made
that we seek for the purpose in all our efforts, and finding it and
believing in it, we naturally give it our best endeavors. It is stated
that one of the three greatest faults in handling labor to-day is the
fact that the men do not know what they are doing, or why. Yet it is
plain that a man must have some interest in his task before he can put
much heart or intelligence into it. It is quite possible in assigning
a task to make sure that the man understands the object of it, what
part it is and its importance in the general work of the team. Then
no matter how prosaic this part may be, as the man works he may build
a mental picture of the completed whole, see his part fitting into
it, and employ his constructive instincts in making his part perfect.
Meanwhile, the necessity of thus clearly defining the object of the
work to the man reacts advantageously on the leader. It requires him
to have a clear conception of this object, and thus enables him to hew
truer to the line in carrying on the work.

To illustrate the value of knowing why, imagine two men each for a
different day carrying buckets of water from a stream to dump into a
tank on a near hilltop. One knows that every drop of this water is
precious for the necessary irrigation of a garden he can see beyond the
hill; the other has no idea why the water is carried--someone may be
trying to dry up the stream for all he knows. Not only would the former
carry more water, but he would take more pleasure in his work and be
trying to invent some means for increasing the amount transported; and
when night came he would be far less tired. This illustrates a truth
which applies to all human activities, and it is the leader's job to
take advantage of it for the good effect it will have on his men and on
the work to be accomplished.

In starting any new work, new undertaking, or new policy, the one most
efficient thing to do is to assemble the whole group of men concerned
and explain to them what you and they together are going to try to
do; how they are organized for it, and the part each is to take; and
finally such a picture of the whole to be accomplished as may serve as
an inspiration, or at least appeal to their reason. Do not let it ever
be said of your men that they are working in ignorance of what they are
trying to do, and thus debarred from putting intelligent interest and
co-operation into their respective parts.

_Relationship Between Leader and Men._--The relationship which
should exist between the leader and his men is a difficult thing to
explain accurately. It depends largely on the leader's personality,
and accordingly each must work this out for himself. This is almost
always a matter of difficulty and embarrassment for beginners, who
are apt to go to an unhappy extreme either in surrounding themselves
with an atmosphere of isolation and autocracy or in showing too much
familiarity and even frivolity. Let them first remember that the leader
is not an autocrat or dictator, but the foremost of his companions.
This position puts responsibility and authority in his hands, and a
certain restraint on the perfect freedom of his relations with the
others. He may still be called by his first name in perfect good
fellowship; may be even affectionately nick-named; may and should
be in relations of mutual and absolutely impartial friendship and
confidence with his men; yet there must remain in reserve a something
of superiority and true dignity which they recognize and which makes
it natural for them to respect him and obey his instructions. He may
be intimate, but must not be familiar. He should be courteous and
thoughtful for their interests, but must never be patronizing.

You will notice if you take pains to observe, that a real gentleman or
lady is always courteous to those in subordinate positions. The real
superior has no anxiety about his prestige and is quietly at ease in
dealing with subordinates. Those who bully them are thus showing that
they have not had long experience in exercising authority. The true
spirit of America believes in the dignity of labor. Our nation was
built in the actual sweat of our forebears, who hewed the forests and
tilled the soil with their own hands and did not attempt to enslave the
labor of the natives as did the pioneers who colonized the countries
further south. That spirit survives and makes it natural for us to
respect those who do their parts well in whatever activity fortune has
placed them. So the leader and his men, the employer and the laborer,
are all companions in labor, and each shows respect for the ability and
accomplishment of the other.

That is the spirit of the relationship between leader and men by which
he is to regulate his conduct. You can see how this spirit is sure
to be offended by anything like patronizing or exhibitions of either
pompous authority or childish familiarity. Both men and leader are each
entitled to the serious consideration of the other, and to respect in
direct proportion to the ability each shows in performing his own part
on the team; and each will be judged by this test. As an officer in
one of the new war organizations put it to his men in explaining the
spirit he sought in training, "We are all on the same team. It happens
that I am in the pitcher's box now, but some day each one of us will
have to come to the bat."

_Reception of New Men._--The ultimate success of a new man joining an
outfit depends of course on the real stuff that is in him. But much can
be done to hasten this success. It has been the practice of the ages to
haze the newcomer, and thus bring out this real stuff if it is there.
But this is not approved in modern practice, which aims to get good
results quicker through encouragement and by showing him how rather
than baffing him on the head with a marlin spike for not knowing.
Both schools of training have their adherents, and youth--excepting
the hazee--is generally in favor of hazing. There is something to be
said in favor of enough judicious hazing to remove any tendencies
toward "freshness" which might interfere with the new man's progress,
and enough to implant in him an appreciation of the seriousness of
life where that is lacking. But the difficulty is to make the hazing
judicious--to avoid overdoing it, or doing it where not needed.

So this becomes another care for the leader, who must see that each new
man gets the right start if possible. You can be sure that most new men
want to make good. Encourage them along that line and try to prevent
the occurrence of anything which will switch them to the other track.
To most of them an early exhibition of your friendly personal interest
in how they are coming on will be a great help and incentive to better
work. There will be many things that they do not understand, and some
real or fancied troubles. This is your chance to establish a relation
of confidence in which they form the habit of bringing these troubles
to you for solution, instead of letting them rankle in their minds and
act as deterrents to the good impulses for work. This gives you many
opportunities for improving the group spirit and may some day be the
means of clearing up real grievances which might otherwise lead to
serious trouble.

The man's future depends largely on the start he gets, on his first
impressions of the spirit and policies of the outfit, and on the habits
he personally forms. The smarter he finds the outfit to be, the more
pride he will take in belonging to it. The closer attention he is
forced to give to the exact performance of little details the sooner
he will get the habit of doing things exactly right, and the sooner he
will become a helpful member of the team. You can teach new tricks to
new men much more easily than you can to old ones, whose well-formed
habits you must break before you can implant the new ones. New men are
a valuable asset to a live leader, for he can come nearer making them
the kind of men he wants.

_Take Time to Hear Men._--The leader must have time to listen to his
men. He must not be too busy to take up this matter or that which
anyone of them may properly bring to him for consideration. It is
easy to look important and say "I haven't got time," but each time
the leader does it he drives one more nail in the coffin of the team
spirit whose life he should really be cherishing. The chances are that
he declines the interview because he fears that he does not know the
answer. But it is far better to take that chance, make the man feel
that he was right in coming to you, and listen to his proposition,
even if in the end you have to admit that you do not know. You must
"have time," if you want the loyal co-operation of your subordinates.
I know an officer who took charge of and straightened out a tangled
organization in Paris, and the first thing he did was to tack outside
his office door, "I have got time to hear you." It is much harder to
get your subordinates to give you the frank timely expressions you
need, than it is to avoid being bothered by too many of them.

The busiest leader can and should so arrange his affairs and his
policy that every subordinate may know that he may personally see
the chief if the occasion warrants. In the midst of all the cares of
building the Panama Canal, General Goethals still set aside one morning
each week for his men; and among all those thousands of employees every
Jamaican and Hottentot had the comfort during the week of knowing he
could see the big boss in person on Sunday. His gang boss also knew
that the Hottentot could go to see the general, which had a salutary
effect on his methods--so in the end not so many actually went after
all. Let everyone know that anyone having troubles is to bring them
direct to you and the troubles will rapidly diminish, and your time be
well repaid in added efficiency.

_Talking to Men._--There is much for the leader to consider in the
matter of talking to his subordinates. He may not talk enough, or he
may talk too much. He must explain to all the object, organization,
and policy of any new undertaking. He thus gets better results and
saves a lot of talking later. On the other hand a reputation for
constantly "sounding off" as they say on the street and especially for
preaching, would practically ruin him. A leader should observe the rule
not to talk unless he has something worth saying, and that _nothing
is worth saying unless it is worth being listened to_. The habit of
talking without demanding the close attention of those supposed to be
interested is bad business, and makes trouble and misunderstandings
later. Yet many leaders are guilty of it, and expect to repeat their
instructions over and over before they are understood. This is partly
their fault and partly that of the listeners--but the leaders are
responsible for both. In the first place the leader must talk directly
to the point. If he has not this ability, he must self train in it,
which he may daily do to advantage, both at home and abroad. Let him
first think what he has to say, even exactly how he is going to say
it--then say it _and stop_. He will not talk as much, but it will go
farther. There are many men so unaccustomed to saying things which
really count, that they become embarrassed and confused when they find
themselves the object of close attention. Yet the leader must meet
this, for holding the close attention of the men is the second and
equally important part of his responsibility in talking successfully.

_Demanding Attention of All._--When you have anything to say, to one
man or to many, get full attention first, and insist on having it
while you are talking. We so often see the impossible situation of
a leader making remarks which he considers important and the men of
his group plainly giving attention to other matters, even engaging
in side conversations. When you have to talk to a number of men,
call them all about you, in front of you where you can see all their
faces, and as near you as practicable so you may speak if possible in
a conversational tone. You will have to give this constant attention,
for the devil prompts some men always to slip around behind you, while
others always take the most distant seats and await the Biblical
invitation to come forward. With the men thus before you, you can now
make sure that your points tell. If an interruption occurs, immediately
stop talking until all can give attention again. If your remarks are
for everybody, everybody should hear them, and _you_ are responsible
that they do. Make that a rule, stick to it yourself, and you should
have no trouble.

_Talking to Individuals._--In talking to an individual, try to be so
clear and definite that you will not have to repeat, and let it be
understood that you expect such attention from him that repetition will
not be necessary. Of course, you sometimes have to deal with a mind so
untrained in concentration that it cannot take things in and retain
them, and you will have to be patient in making yourself understood.
The meanest type of mind is that which keeps thinking, while you are
talking, of what it is going to say when it gets a chance, and gives
your remarks just enough attention to note when a pause comes so it may
begin to talk. This kind of man is a curse in any walk of life, and not
to be tolerated in business. The art of listening is a valuable one.
Everyone should cultivate the habit of concentrated attention to what
is being said, if it means anything to him. It is particularly valuable
in receiving instructions, and promotion is more likely to come to one
of whom his superior can report that "He gives his full attention when
you tell him anything, and you never have to repeat."

_Example Better Than Talk._--In the line of not talking too much, it
is well to remember that American spirit is not aroused by Napoleonic
addresses before the fight. If the leader wants keenness and enthusiasm
in doing a piece of work, he arouses them rather by example than by
words. It is here that actions speak louder than words. You cannot put
your men "on their toes" by telling them that you want them there. You
must bring the "follow me" spirit to the work, and put so much cheerful
energy and vitality into it that your spirit is contagious. By keen
direction, happy suggestion, possibly a bit of competition, and most of
all by example you put your men on their toes unconsciously, and hold
them there till the task is done. Then you may all talk about how good
it was, and share the credit.

_Proper Subjects for Talk._--On the other hand there are things that
you must talk about. Your subordinates must understand your methods
and policies, for you want their co-operation in carrying them out.
Remember that while you are dealing with intelligent men, they still
are not wizards to be able to divine your thoughts. So do not assume a
manner of aloofness and superiority, or wrap yourself and the work in
an atmosphere of mystery. Explain in frank, homely, man-to-man talks
what you are getting at and how you intend to get at it. The atmosphere
you want is one of mutual understanding and confidence. You get it,
however, not by saying you have it, but by showing that you have it in
the way you treat the men.

Another subject for you to explain is the spirit of discipline, its
objects and its necessity. Many men have never thought about it, never
realized the necessity for obedience and the advantages of cheerful
obedience, never heard of teamwork or thought of loyalty to comrades.
As occasions arise you can explain these things in a way to make them
interesting and very real influences on the men's conduct. In this
way you may do much toward building up the group spirit you want.
In a given case of violation of rules or dereliction of duty it is
often possible to explain to all your men how this offense damages the
discipline and reputation of the group, and thus get better results
than you would from inflicting punishment.

You should also take occasion from time to time to explain the affairs
of the larger organization, to tell the men what it is trying to do
and how it is getting on with it. Tell them anything to increase their
knowledge of the whole scheme and their interest in its success, for
both these add to loyalty and morale. You want the men to have the
stimulation that comes from a live interest in the general result, so
keep "the cards on the table," and make the men participants with you
in the developments of the work. We Americans are all "from Missouri,"
and need to be shown. But when we once understand what is wanted, we
jump in heartily and put it over.

_Talks by the Big Chief._--The head of any organization will get
far better results if he will make occasions for assembling all his
subordinate leaders in a body and talking to them of his policies, his
plans, and of how things are going in general. The day has passed when
the source of authority is supposed to be clothed in awe-inspiring
majesty, whence issue commands for servile obedience. That chief who
denies close relationship to his subordinate leaders, who does not
take them into his confidence and let them know his plans and how he
proposes to carry them out, creates to-day the suspicion either that
he is not sure of himself in his job or that his plans and purposes
will not bear the light. The big man does not fear close scrutiny and
does seek co-operation and suggestion. The successful business head
to-day makes himself the captain of a team whose members co-operate
intelligently for the team's success. For this purpose he brings
them together in a body where shoulder to shoulder they feel their
comradeship in a common cause; where they all get the inspiration of
their captain's personal leadership, and absorb enthusiasm from his
personal presentation of his hopes and plans. All are thus filled with
a common purpose and return to their tasks each better fitted and
more highly determined to play his part to the best advantage of the
larger organization. Thus the most successful American commanders,
like General Summerall, took time and pains to go about before a
battle and explain in person to assembled groups of their commands the
general plan of the coming action and the exact part this particular
group was to play. There was no effort at oratorical appeal to passion
or patriotism, simply a recognition of the American's ability and
willingness to do his full part if he only knows what it is. It never
failed to work, and it will work as well in civil affairs.

_Mutual Acquaintance Among Subordinates._--Another important thing is
to get these subordinates together in such a way that they will get
to know each other personally. They are really partners in the same
enterprise, and a knowledge of each other's personal equations is quite
indispensable to their successful teamwork. Personal acquaintance and
even better, friendship, will add tremendously to their efficiency. The
various departments of an organization are more or less interdependent,
and Smith will give quicker and better attention to the needs of Jones
if he knows him and especially if he thinks him a good fellow. Thus
in battle the covering fire of the artillery is far more efficient
when its commander knows that his friend Bill is out there commanding
the infantry. Therefore army control takes pains to bring those two
commanders into personal relationship before the battle. So in business
the head should make occasions for getting his subordinates together in
friendly personal relations. They will be pleased to find that they all
speak pretty much the same language, though some may not have thought
so before. This closer association removes the affectation of some and
the extreme humility of others, and exposes them all for what they
really are, fellow members of the same purpose; equally sincere in
striving for its success, and equally to be judged on their sole merits
of performance. This has been tried out successfully in many industrial
enterprises, with happy surprise for the holier-than-thou skeptics.
It is sure to be of advantage if the management goes into it with
sincerity of purpose.

_Supervision of Workers._--It is plain that the leader's job is one
of supervision and direction. It is his business to see that each
member of the team does his part to the best advantage for the general
result, and so to know the individual capacities of his men that he
can assign the right man to each task. This, as in fact do all the
other duties of leadership, requires him to be continually watching
the individual performances of his men, commending, correcting, and
co-ordinating their efforts. This forbids his actually taking part in
the work himself, not because to do so would be beneath his dignity,
but because to become involved in doing the actual work would distract
his attention from the duties of supervision, and many things would be
going on without his knowledge. If the boss shows himself anxious to
use the pick or shovel, there is always some man willing to lend him
the tools and watch his efforts with assumed interest. I recall the
case of an officer charged with building a piece of government road in
the mountains of California. No one could have been more faithful, he
set a wonderful example of energy, but expended it all on personally
working the road plow. Meantime the contractor was putting in blind
culverts and otherwise so slighting his work that most of the road slid
down the mountain that winter.

There are always some members of the team who need to be held up to
their work. For the leader to allow them to "get away with it" in
shirking their parts of the task, would naturally cause chagrin to
the others. The leader is responsible for the spirit of teamwork,
which requires that each man may feel sure that all the others are
equally faithful in doing each his part, and he must therefore see to
it that they are. Of course conditions may arise, as when the task is
unfamiliar or peculiarly difficult, when the leader may jump in for a
minute to show the men how or to set the pace--but he should never put
himself in as an actual performer of the work.

_Choosing Men for Tasks._--The duties of a leader constantly require
him to be picking some man to do this task or that. In the minds of his
men this is always a test of both his ability and fairness--and he
wants to prove that he has both. He does this by picking the right man
for the job--the right man not alone because he is the best qualified
but because everything considered it is best for the team that he be
chosen. This requires that the leader know their capacities and their
spirit, and that he shall have kept general track of their conduct and
work. Each group generally has certain cheerful, willing souls who seem
almost to invite the task. The leader who is not sure his orders will
be obeyed will always pick one of these men to avoid the possibility
of disobedience. The shiftless leader will pick one because it is the
easiest course. Both would be wrong. They would thus fail in fairness,
and, by putting extra work on the more willing, put a premium on being
mean spirited and so injure the group discipline. They would do better
to choose the lazy or sullen ones for the extra work, thus putting the
premium on cheerfulness, and showing that they had a sense of justice
and an ability to run the team.

_Cheerfulness, a Responsibility._--It is plain that men cannot do good
work in an atmosphere of gloom. In fact in happy Burma, "The Land of
Mandalay," the people refuse to work at all unless things are cheerful;
and the best labor boss there is he who can crack the most jokes and
keep his men chuckling. That has its application even in handling
stoical Anglo-Saxons--"Angry Saxons" as one of our colored soldiers
called it. Elastic muscles, alert minds, superior energy and endurance
come from cheerful spirits and happy hearts. That group is unfortunate
which does not contain at least one indomitable soul (generally
Irish) who will joke and jolly the crowd along through hardships and
to far greater accomplishment. You know why the bo's'n always leads
the sailors in a swinging song or in cheering as they haul the heavy
sheet. He puts this spirit into them for the greater exertions they
will make. One group of marching soldiers will sing and joke themselves
happily into camp, when other grim and silent ones will barely drag
themselves in for their fatigue. Yet true as all this is there are
leaders who sacrifice it by such surly, inconsiderate, dominating
control as to keep their men sore and heavy-hearted, discouraged with
themselves and the work, and indifferent to results. These leaders
create an atmosphere of impenetrable gloom, and then expect the
impossible in demanding good work. Cheerfulness and hopefulness must
always emanate from the leader--no possible hardship or obstacle may
justify his failing to radiate these helpful qualities. They shine out
from a character too strong and resourceful to be overcome by any
obstacle, too confident of the excellence of his men and their ability
to overcome it to be other than cheerful in meeting it. You will find
occasions when it will test your own courage, physical fitness and
vitality to do this; for you must give of your spirit to put spirit
into the men, and by the sheer force of your cheerful dominance over
the adversity, _lead_ them through to a happy conclusion.

_Growling Permissible._--As to growling and "kicking agin the
government," it all depends on who does it and how he does it. A
certain amount of thus letting off steam seems good for the soul of
man--and so far should not be denied to your men. You may ignore
it, make light of it, and even sometimes get a good laugh out of it
and so clear the atmosphere. It is doubtful if you may ever indulge
yourself in it in the hearing of the men. And if it smack of real
disloyalty, then you may not tolerate it, for it will undermine their
morale, and injure that determined spirit of putting things over at all
costs. You must know your men so you may use good sense about taking
their vaporings too seriously, and still prevent anything like real
disloyalty. As members of a group men lose much of their individual
responsibility and become more or less like children. You consider this
in judging their real feelings as they talk together.

I recall the case of a French lieutenant whose platoon, just out of a
severe fight, was ordered to go back into it in fifteen minutes. He sat
complacently smoking while his resting men audibly growled about it and
told each other the dire things that would take place before they would
go in again. He knew his men and let them growl it out, and when the
time was up not one of them hesitated to obey his order to fall in and
swing back into the fight. In his place a hot-headed youngster could
easily have started a mutiny. And equally true, a few vicious disloyal
spirits among those men would have made it wrong for the lieutenant
to have allowed them to growl and threaten. Such situations require
a level head and a knowledge of the true spirit of the men--and are
interesting tests of one's qualifications as a leader.

_Loyalty by Example._--One of the basic things the leader has to
develop in his men is loyalty--and loyalty not alone to him and to the
team, but to the larger organization. To this end he may do much by the
power of his own example in cheerfully carrying out the instructions
from higher authority. If you are told to do some disagreeable
thing, do not try for cheap popularity by saying to the men "so and
so has ordered this, and we have got to do it." Accept the full
responsibility of your subordinate office, and take your men loyally
and unquestioningly through the work. Your team is a member of the
larger team, and should play its part therein as loyally and keenly as
you want the individuals to play their parts in your team. You should
try to arouse their pride in having their team do its part well, their
interest in the success of the larger team, and their belief in the
ability of its leader.

_When to Question Instructions._--Any questioning before your men
of the wisdom of instructions from higher authority, any grumbling
from you about their unfairness, would injure this fine spirit of
loyalty and of co-operation in the larger team. It would show you up
as unworthy of your responsible position in the organization and thus
hurt the men's respect for you. If you have an honest question of the
fairness or wisdom of the instructions go to higher authority first
and fight it out yourself in the interests of your men, without any
question of loyalty. That is part of your business both as guardian of
your men's welfare, and as a loyal member of the larger organization.
It is a delicate matter, involving your own sense of subordination,
and your judgment as to what is really best. It can never be done in
a spirit of brag or bluster, but only quietly in a spirit of loyalty,
true subordination, and desire for the best interests of the whole.
Occasions for such action are happily very rare--if your larger
organization is in reasonably good hands.

_Receiving Instructions._--When you receive instructions from higher
authority be sure you get their true meaning before you begin to act.
The subordinate with the quick, cheerful, "Yes, sir," and away to the
task, leaves a pleasant sensation until we discover that he has bungled
the job because he did not half understand what we wanted. Take time
to understand, but do not quibble about little details nor fuss about
the way in which the instructions are expressed. You are expected to
use your own sense and ingenuity in executing these instructions, so
be sure that you have grasped their spirit and purpose, and then go to
their execution with an enthusiasm and loyalty which will carry the
same spirit to the men.

_How to Encourage Suggestions._--We have spoken of the value of
encouraging subordinates to make suggestions for improvements, etc.,
of how they may add to the general efficiency, and how they certainly
increase the man's pleasure in his work and thus his personal
efficiency through giving play to his constructive instincts and
his natural desire for self-expression. The point now is how these
suggestions are to be encouraged. Certainly not by superficial
methods. For example, an organization which had accepted the idea
of the value of suggestions from the men tried simply to buy them
off-hand by inaugurating a bi-weekly prize rewarding contest in giving
suggestions. It was their notion that for a prize of five dollars some
employee was going to tell them how to make two blades of grass grow in
place of one. This method missed all appreciation of the fundamental
principles involved and of course ended in a farce.

These suggestions we want spring naturally from the interest and
partnership you have made the men feel in the organization; from the
ideas for improvement which they then evolve as they carry on at their
work, thinking how it might be done better or how the team might
get bigger results. The only encouragement they need is first this
atmosphere of partnership; and second, a boss who has sense enough
to give their suggestions fair consideration. The leader who has not
the time or patience to listen to suggestions can never get the best
efforts of the men, and is doing the enterprise real damage.

Every man should feel sure that his suggestion will be fairly
considered and, if his idea has real value, that he will be given
full credit all the way up the line to the big chief. And the way to
do this is to take the man in person to higher authority and have
him personally explain his idea. This makes very real to him and his
fellows his importance as a member of the team. If in a big business
concern the man were actually called before the board of directors to
explain the details of some improvement he had thought out, nothing
could do more to establish a sense of partnership in the undertaking.
Appreciating their value, you can make as much as you will of every
opportunity thus to increase the men's interest in the work and their
sense of co-operation.

_Advantage of Ambition._--Ambition for advancement is another of the
human instincts to be considered by the leader both in connection with
his own career and in handling his subordinates. Every one should feel
that he may progress as far as his actual ability warrants--and he
certainly may, for good leaders are still rare and to be desired and
the truest saying of life is that there is plenty of room at the top.
But subordinates must realize that selfish ambition cannot win, that
it is only by playing for the team and working for the best interests
of the whole outfit that one can win his superior's recommendation
for promotion. The unselfish ambition of an individual thus improves
both his chances for promotion and the work of the team. Industrial
progress and individual promotion both spring from individual effort to
increase output or to decrease expenditure of energy. It is generally
true throughout industry that "the great stream of intelligence,
inventiveness and adaptation flows from the bottom up and not from the
top down, and that the top is continually being recruited from the
bottom," as employers daily graduate from the classes of laborers. This
latter is so common a fact that it is frequently overlooked. It is so
wholesome a fact, so characteristic of our democratic institutions and
so helpful a thought in times of unrest and discouragement, that it
should be emphasized and frequently brought to mind.

_Never Deny an Earned Promotion._--An earned promotion should never
be denied a man when his opportunity does come, simply because his
superior feels that he cannot spare this man's services. As unjust
as that is, it is often done, and always to the cost of the group
spirit. In reality there are very few men in life so important to
their positions that they cannot be replaced--and often to surprising
advantage. No matter what pains are necessary to train the man's
replacement, it is far better to let him go than it is to keep him
and thus lower the morale of all by showing that your selfishness or
laziness is going to stand in the way of a deserved promotion. This
situation is often avoided by the excellent rule that each man in the
organization shall always have at least one other who has qualified to
take his place.

_How to Win Promotion._--It is not practical here to detail the
ways to win advancement,--magazine articles are always giving happy
suggestions in this field,--but these are general hints: A man does
not win by bragging about his abilities, or by anything that smacks
of "freshness." The way to get the superior's attention to your merit
is to make the merit conspicuous. You may be sure that management is
always seeking the man who can produce, and that superior results will
soon catch its eye. So go at each task cheerfully, and above all make
it clear that your one big interest is the success of the outfit. One
thing that so often denies promotion to a keen man is the statement of
his superior that "Jones is keen all right, but he thinks nine times
for Jones and once for the company." This is too bad, when the same
amount of work and ability unselfishly directed might so easily have
carried him ahead.

_Value of True Merit._--But the saddest thing is to see a man get
sore at heart and quit trying because he thinks that his merit is not
recognized. Make the merit big enough, and it is sure to win. Someone
will find it out, and buy your superior services. Ralph Parlette well
explains this in his so human pamphlet, "It's Up to You," in which
he illustrates human experience by what happens when you shake a jar
containing a mixture of beans and nuts: The little beans rattle down,
the smallest to the very bottom, and the larger nuts shake up, the
largest to the very top. Thus we find our place and hold it in life's
struggle according not to our wishes but to our actual size. Friendly
influence may elevate the little bean to high position, but the jolts
of experience soon rattle him back to the place he fits without
rattling; adversity may have crowded the big nut to the bottom, but the
same jolts will see him shaking up again to the top. It is not luck
that takes one up or down, it is size--and the answer to ambition is
_grow bigger_. There is so much true human nature in them that a few
sentences are quoted: "Everybody wants to go up. But everybody is not
willing to pay the price by first growing bigger so that he can shake
higher. So many want to be boosted up. Everybody is doing one of three
things: holding his place, rattling down, or shaking up. Whatever place
we shake into, if we want to hold our place, we must hold our size. We
must fill the place, for if we shrink up smaller than the place, we
rattle. Nobody can stay long where he rattles. And you observe that in
order to hold our size, we must keep on growing enough to supply the
loss by evaporation. Evaporation is going on all the time, in lives as
well as in liquids. A plum becomes a prune by evaporation. I wish human
plums became as valuable when they become prunes."

_Joy of Accomplishment._--Akin to man's natural delight in doing things
well is the motive for accomplishment, and the pleasure he gets from
seeing a thing completed. We all know people who are more or less
ruled by this passion, who "get their teeth set" as we say in doing
something, and can be interested in nothing else until they have done
it. One of America's most successful business men recently replied when
asked what he considered the best thing in life, "The satisfaction that
comes from accomplishment." This may be enjoyed by every individual no
matter in what walk of life, for it means the satisfaction to be had
from the accomplishment of the tasks in our own daily life and work.
The housewife has it from the contemplation of her glistening shelf of
preserves, the farmer gets it from his crops and the schoolboy from his
work and play--when he completes a set task, or first swims across the
river.

The leader may often appeal to this instinct to increase
accomplishment. It helps explain the advantage of letting the men
know what they are doing as they work, and especially of letting them
know from time to time what they have accomplished toward the general
result. This is the reason that the posting of progress charts does so
much to arouse interest in factory and shop work, and is another reason
for including the workman in a knowledge of the general progress of the
whole organization.

Everyone is supposed to have some underlying purpose, some goal in
life--as Bishop Brent says, "even the loafer may be supposed to have
the purpose to live as easily as possible." But we do not have to await
the satisfaction of having attained this distant goal. We get more
satisfaction en route from the successful completion of each of the
small steps that bring us a bit nearer the goal, and count that day
good in which we have taken one. So the leader may encourage the faith
and assure the continued efforts of his subordinates by showing them
from time to time where they have made successful progress toward the
desired end.

_Indifference and Discouragement_ are the natural enemies of this
instinct for accomplishment, which may invade our minds and prevent the
operation of this instinct. They come from failure, or what seems like
failure when long-continued efforts show no results; and from getting
stale through the constant repetition of the same task, without variety
or the stimulation of new ideas. The leader must combat these enemies
by introducing other thoughts to replace them. He must encourage the
discouraged and interest those who are bored. He may often stimulate
interest in even monotonous work by commenting on the perfection of its
execution and the amount of its daily output. It is possible to relieve
the monotony of long hours at the same tedious machine by letting two
men alternate tasks, if it can be done without offending the instinct
of proprietorship which makes a man resent having another touch "his
machine." Here is the leader's chance for ingenuity--he knows what is
needed, it is up to him to supply it. Learning other jobs in fitting
himself for promotion, brief opportunities for supervising the work of
others, getting better acquainted with the general work of the whole
outfit--are possible suggestions.

_Justice and Fairness._--Justice and fairness are generally considered
the first essentials for handling men successfully, and yet how often
we see leaders who give them no consideration. Human nature demands
fair play, and gives its best response only in that atmosphere. No
matter what our religious beliefs, we have to recognize that our best
advances in civilization and community living have been based on the
philosophy of life taught by the Son of the carpenter of Nazareth; a
philosophy which recognizes how the natural impulses of mankind react
to fair dealing and decent treatment.

The eminently successful Endicott Johnson corporation is run on the
basic proposition that ninety per cent of mankind are good and will
make good when confidence is shown in their good intentions. The
working rules for their organization are accordingly made to fit the
big majority rather than the ten per cent minority. And this policy
works--though it be revolutionary. Rules are generally made to fit the
few weaklings who are not man enough to play fair in the team--and
the big majority have accordingly had to be cramped in their freedom
because of the meanness or ignorance of these few. This has been a
common fault in army administration. One ignorant trooper injures a
horse by running him on a hard road, and an indifferent commander
at once forbids all soldiers ever to ride at a gallop. One man is
disorderly in town, and all men are forbidden to visit the town. This
may be an easy way to avoid trouble, but it is distinctly arbitrary and
unjust--and indicative of unfitness for leadership.

This same spirit of indifference to the well being of the good men
in making efforts to control the shiftless is to be found in every
business and walk of life. The point is that better results may
often be obtained by showing confidence in good intentions, allowing
more freedom of action, and controlling the meaner spirits through
education, elimination, and the spirit and example of their comrades.
The leader should remember that fitness for command is proven by
ability to arouse a spirit that makes the men want to give one hundred
per cent results. It is not shown by control through arbitrary
methods--any "dub" can make rules which practically reduce his men to a
state of serfdom.

This is but one phase of showing fairness. The leader will have all
kinds of situations to meet in which he must show it. It is impossible
to anticipate them with rules, but you may meet them successfully
by a continuing determination not to act in passion or impatience,
and to judge each case fairly with thought for the effect on all.
In doing this, you will arrive at the best solutions by giving full
consideration to the Golden Rule about "doing unto others"; and by
remembering that your final decisions must have for their object the
development of the individual's character and the group's discipline.

_Surplus Spirit._--There are now and then men of so much virility of
body and spirit that they are unable to expend enough of it on the
ordinary day's affairs--and the surplus often gets them into trouble.
A good leader tries to accommodate them with enough hard work and play
to keep them comfortably steady, while the poor leader, blind to human
nature, punishes their derelictions without effort at remedy, and gives
them a reputation for deviltry, and even for worthlessness. Yet these
very men were capable of tremendous exertions for good had they been
properly directed. War always astonishes the community by bringing
such cases of reputed worthlessness to the fore in often brilliant
performance. These men found in the demands of war enough to engage
all their surplus energies; and because of this very store of surplus
energy they were able to outdo their fellows. Giving men work to "keep
them out of trouble" is as wise a saying as it is homely--and is well
worth remembering when you find some man looking for trouble. It is a
well known trick in the army to call up some wild lad who is always
getting into mischief, arouse his pride by finding some element of
his personality to praise and rely on, and then put him in charge of
a squad of men or even appoint him a corporal. Nine times out of ten
he will react to this responsibility by giving unusual service. The
difficulty is to find opportunity so to promote a seemingly bad man as
not to establish an unfortunate standard of performance for winning
promotion. Such are the interesting things in leadership.

_Self-Respect Essential._--The leader has to guard his own self-respect
and that of his men. Self-respect is absolutely essential to having
self-confidence, and self-confidence is absolutely essential for either
leader or man to play his part successfully. If work is to progress
efficiently each will be constantly called upon to make decisions as
to what is best to be done, and to act upon them definitely. Each
must therefore have enough self-confidence to do this without running
to someone to ask what to do in an effort "to pass the buck" of
responsibility.

_In the Leader._--First, then, the leader must maintain his own
self-respect--in his daily contact with life and men, and in the
conduct of his office. His relations with his superiors and co-ordinate
leaders; his knowledge of his job; his self-control of temper,
frivolity, pettiness, etc.; his methods of directing work and handling
men--all these are to influence and to evidence his self-respect, and
are thus matters for his consideration. He must realize that he stands
before his men as a better man on the job than any one of them--and in
this light he wants to be an inspiration, not an apology. It need not
lessen his self-respect if he lacks either physical stature, or age and
long experience--though both these may be helpful. Superior knowledge
and moral qualities determine one's fitness for leadership, and enlist
the men's loyalty and obedience. How often in the war, especially
in the French army, we saw grizzled old fighters loyally following
youngsters just out of the training schools because they had confidence
in the knowledge these boys had gained. In our draft army training it
was not uncommon to see a squad of big Northwestern lumbermen following
a keen-eyed little corporal as though they thought him a second
Napoleon. It is not the size or age of the body but what emanates from
the soul within it, that makes the leader of men.

_In the Men._--And second, the leader has to cherish the self-respect
of his individual subordinates, be they leaders of smaller groups or
the men themselves. He needs their intelligent co-operation and must
often depend on their individual judgment and their willingness to
carry on without specific instructions. And unless these men believe
in themselves and feel that he believes in them they will be afraid
to decide what to do, and afraid to do it, for fear of failure and
its consequences. So by showing confidence in them, by never ignoring
them as individuals, by encouraging and commending good as well as
correcting error, the leader develops the self-respect of his men as a
sure basis for the self-confidence and strength of character they need
in order to meet his requirements.

_Courage, Fear and Self-Control._--In many fields of activity a
leader is likely to be called upon to meet emergencies requiring
a cool head and a stout heart. Some men shrink from assuming the
responsibilities of leadership in these fields lest they lack the
nerve and show fear when the test comes. It should be helpful to
them to understand something about these emotions, why they come and
how they are controlled. We may assume that everyone feels fear, for
the self-protective instincts are perhaps the strongest, and fear
is Nature's instinctive warning of the imminence of danger or of
consequences which threaten our well being. The purpose of this warning
is to make us take steps to meet the danger, and it thus leads us
to action. Then we forget the fear, as it generally disappears when
we have gotten into action. A developed mind and character, bodily
health, and a determined purpose, all combine to enable one to avoid
showing fear or letting it improperly influence his actions. No one
would willingly follow a leader who lacked a courageous character, nor
could a leader hope to carry on successfully if he was self-conscious
of his own moral weakness. So we say that both the leader and his men
must have confidence that the leader possesses courage and force of
character, so he will be self-controlled and capable of calm reasonable
judgments in the crises of his work. The leader establishes this mutual
confidence by the self-control and good judgment with which he meets
the smaller emergencies of daily administration. If he becomes excited
over little things, bellows and shouts because something goes wrong,
he is not only failing in self-control, but is making his men question
his force of character and his ability to meet a real situation.
A new leader should therefore make a point of training himself in
self-control under trying circumstances; he should even seek situations
which try his nerve and judgment, rather than avoid trouble as the weak
man does by quietly slipping around it.

_Control by Power of Example._--It is the leader's function to be calm
in emergency; unruffled, even sardonic if he has it in him, in the face
of hardships; unperturbed and even casual in the face of danger. The
psychological power of mental suggestion is now well understood, and
accepted as one of the sure means for controlling men. If you are a
real leader your men will take their mental attitude from what yours
appears to be. In danger they will watch your movements, even facial
expression, for reassurance. It is then that you drop some casual
remark, "borrow the makings" and roll a cigarette, do any simple thing
naturally, showing that you are at ease and confident in these abnormal
circumstances; and your men regain their wavering confidence, feeling
that you are not afraid. So, in time of unavoidable hardship, you
must avoid showing annoyance or impatience. Your sardonic acceptance
of necessary conditions will unconsciously lead to theirs, and save
the nerve strain and damage to _esprit_ which result from grumbling,
and bucking, and cursing out everything in general. And in emergency
you must show perfect self-control. Remember that your conduct will
determine that of your men. If you are excited, they will be more so.
The emergency will call for perhaps the most accurate, determined,
self-controlled work, and if your heart has jumped into your throat
and made your voice quaver and your ideas confused (and this will
happen to the best of men), nothing but disaster can result if you
communicate this to your men. You will gain time and success in the
end, if you take time now to swallow your heart, and regain perfect
self-control, before you say one word to betray your perturbation. Then
with calm self-assured demeanor give your directions as becomes a real
leader. Directions so given are a great comfort to the men, and assure
steady intelligent execution. To begin shouting excited ill-advised
instructions in an emergency is one of the most characteristic failures
of inexperienced leadership. Try to train yourself so that you will be
one of the exceptions, by acquiring the habit in any given situation of
being first sure of yourself, and then calmly giving directions to your
men.

You have opportunity to train for this in the ordinary affairs of life,
and may thus acquire a facility for knowing what to do in an emergency
and doing it with calm assurance. In any public accident or emergency
there is generally some "admirable bystander" whose mind has acted
instantaneously, who has jumped in and done the right thing. Question
your mental processes to learn why you were not the man, and try to
qualify next time.

_Decision._--It is characteristic of a successful leader to make good
decisions that do not have to be changed and to stick to them, and it
is characteristic of the valor of ignorance to make quick ones that
are generally wrong. Of course quick decisions are preferable if they
are right. They are necessary in the army, though not so as a rule
in civil life, where the leader may generally take time to weigh his
subject before deciding. In many cases it is even best that he first
take time to consult his subordinates. But in every case he must
come ultimately to a definite decision as to his course, announce it
clearly as his decision, and have the force of character to carry it
out without showing hesitation or vacillation. The impossible man as a
leader is one who cannot make up his mind; the next better is he who
is influenced by the last man who talks to him; and still too poor for
his job is he who having come to a decision allows himself to waver
and change in the face of each new thought or development which the
future presents. If you have any of those tendencies, eliminate them by
watching yourself in making decisions. By practice in the small affairs
of your daily life cultivate your power to grasp the essential facts of
a situation, to arrive promptly at a decision, and to stick to it in
spite of unessentials which may come along to make a change seem better.

_Value of Thinking._--The more you think about the details and
possibilities of your job, the more you keep your mind on your work,
the better you will be prepared to make good decisions quickly.
"Because I am always thinking about it" was Napoleon's answer when
asked how he was able to make such prompt accurate decisions in the
art of war. We teach the advance guard commander as he marches to be
_thinking constantly_ what he will do if the enemy appears in any of
the various situations he meets, and thus to keep his mind prepared to
make his decision quickly. So in civil affairs that leader will do best
who is a thinker, who thinks of the business in hand and is mentally
prepared to meet its demands for direction. It is the unexpected
thing catching a man off his guard which causes his uncertainty and
indecision. It is the element of surprise in an ambuscade which makes
it so advantageous.

A leader should be found so resourceful and sure of his judgment that
he can successfully meet these occasions for quick decision. He can get
a reputation for this ability by carefully planning ahead of time for
certain tasks and thus being able to make quick decisions during their
execution. But to maintain this reputation he must acquire the habit
of giving thought to his work, not only in anticipation of certain
jobs, but continually as the work progresses. The mind which does not
have to be recalled from a fishing excursion will grasp the essential
details of a new situation more quickly and accurately than one that
was far afield when the unexpected happened.

_Personal Pride._--Pride is another quality of human nature that is
very useful to the leader in controlling his men. Just as he guards
each individual's self-respect and cherishes it as the necessary
basis of that manly and intelligent response he expects them to give
to the demands of service, so he builds up their personal pride--in
themselves, in what they are doing, and in the organization. This
pride is largely established through seeking out cases of superior
accomplishment and commending them. Once fairly developed, pride
becomes an influence to which the leader may appeal successfully for
better conduct, better results, and for patient endurance of hardship.
He will not get it in a day, any more than he will get discipline
or morale. It comes from the performance of good work that has been
recognized as such, and rests in a justified feeling of ability and
worth. So do not expect to get it by simply announcing to your men that
they are the finest. Bring them to an honest belief in their worth
through your recognition of it by praising their good work, and by
making suitable remarks to outsiders which some of them may overhear.
Find something in which they excel, and brag about it moderately. If
possible make an occasion to show their ability publicly. If your
outfit can once get a reputation for excellence, it matters little for
what, it will become more excellent--good men will seek to join it, its
personnel will thus improve, and it will continue to grow better.

_Pride in Organization._--Pride in the organization is a tremendous
influence for keeping men up to the mark. It makes them keep each other
up--and you begin to reap the rewards for having established it. You
see them developing the spirit of discipline you have hoped for, and
the co-operation in that teamwork which means so much. Every leader
should always strive to arouse this pride. While we may not prescribe
the exact steps for arousing it to fit the various conditions, your
ingenuity will suggest the ways if you will make practical use of your
knowledge that men take delight in doing things well and in having
their excellence recognized; that the excellence of the individual
should be reflected in the reputation of the team; that out of the
bodily and mental development which comes from consciously doing
things well, grow self-respect, laudable pride, and an assurance which
strengthens the individual character; and that these are the elements
of the organization spirit which you should seek to establish in your
men.

_Competition affecting Individuals._--The instinct of rivalry or
competition, which makes a man strive to excel among his companions, is
another of the leader's instruments. This is so powerful a motive that
it has to be used with judgment. Once launched in a real contest most
men are likely to sacrifice anything to win. I remember discovering
one of my young soldiers cheating in calling the hits at the target
he was marking. He was perfectly frank in admitting to me that he had
called many hits improperly, and when I asked him why, he ingenuously
replied, "I heard the captain say we must beat H troop, and I was
trying to help." He was so honest that I had to admit that the fault
was half mine, and did not punish him. As a general rule what we want
from our men is a high average of performance which may be maintained
without any impairment of their powers, so you must judge the case
fairly before introducing the spirit of contest. You must not be
using it eternally to keep the men on the jump, but only on occasions
that are worth while. There are moderate things for which it may be
used regularly to stimulate effort, as in making the best record for
punctuality, etc. But you would not want a man to be driving himself
constantly to capacity--and so you use judgment to guard against
individual injury as well as to keep the spirit fresh for use on real
occasions.

_Team Competitions._--Competition between teams engaged in like
undertakings will not only increase results, but its great advantage
is that it brings the individuals of each team into close co-operation
in order that their team may win, and thus gives them a better
comprehension of the spirit of teamwork. As every leader is constantly
trying to develop his teamwork, these rivalries are very common. But
where your team competes with another _in the same organization_ it
must play fair as a member of the larger team. The same rules of
co-operation and loyalty apply to the conduct of your team here, as
to the individual members of your own team at home. You may not do
anything for your team here which injures the other team, or lowers it
in the estimation of your men. Building up peacetime infantry spirit
by slurs at the artillery, and artillery spirit at the expense of the
infantry, was found to have been expensive business when war linked
them together in the same team and each found himself dependent for
success in battle on the co-operation of the other. "Sure he's good,
but we can beat him," is the true mental attitude for contests within
an organization.

_Care of Your Men._--Looking after your men's bodily welfare is an
interesting and important part of the leader's direct responsibilities.
I remember during the construction of one of the war training
cantonments asking a bright-looking mechanic, who was pretending
to be working at a steam heater at eleven o'clock one night, if he
thought he could do good work in such long hours as he was keeping.
"Certainly not, but I can make good pay." He was a decent-looking
American, so I asked him how he justified such a spirit in this time
of government need. "Because I am fed like a dog and lodged like one."
It was true--and the ignorance or worthlessness of that contractor
was thus squandering thousands of government dollars a day through
needlessly disaffected labor, and delaying the completion of necessary
accommodations for the soldiers. Such cases are common in every
activity.

Each job presents its own problems to be solved according to the
conditions. The big thing here is to realize that the welfare of his
men is an important consideration for the leader who expects them to
do good work. It would seem unnecessary to state that a man's mental
and physical fitness have so much to do with his accomplishment, and
yet so many bosses seem absolutely indifferent to a man's condition so
long as he is able to drag himself to his work. In reality it should
always be the first cause to investigate whenever any man shows a let
down in his performance. A man cannot keep up good work on an empty
or sour stomach, nor give continued careful attention to details if
some trouble is constantly obtruding on his field of consciousness.
This latter fact has cost many a good man an accident at his machine,
and the intelligent foreman, knowing that sore feelings, grievances
and mental troubles interfere with good performance, does all he can
to eliminate them. In not keeping your workers in the best possible
physical and mental condition, you are throwing away all kinds of
potential energy--running a six-cylinder engine that is skipping many
of the cylinders. How quickly the superintendent would get after a
foreman who did that with a machine, yet possibly never notice that
many of the human machines were as badly out of kilter.

In this question of looking after the welfare of your men there are
two opposing considerations to be kept in mind. You are to build
up in them self-respect, initiative, individual responsibility and
self-determination, and therefore must not patronize them, coddle
them, or treat them like children. On the other hand you have
to recognize the characteristic of an individual in a group--he
immediately shifts individual responsibility to the shoulders of the
group. That is the reason why every man of a company in camp will
continue to wade through the mud to reach a spring where five minutes'
work by anyone would arrange stepping stones, or to dip water with
difficulty from a shallow stream where a few minutes' work would dam it
into a comfortable pool--and no one of them would do either of these
helpful things until some leader came along and ordered it. This need
for oversight is true in every activity, and the leader has to be on
the lookout to see that his men do the things that are necessary for
their comfort and welfare.

This is particularly necessary in out-of-doors jobs, as in engineering
and construction. The man may be too tired or inexperienced to see to
it himself that he has a comfortable place to sleep. The boss knows
that the man's work of the morrow will depend on the restfulness of
his sleep, and therefore requires him to make himself reasonably
comfortable. Above all he gives constant attention to how his men are
fed, especially at their breakfasts. He sees that they have the best
available shelter and comfort for the noon rest. All this is simply
part of his job of grooming and stoking the human engine which he is
using on the work. To keep the men fit and to work them hard is his
job--and the beauty of it is that the more thoroughly he does both the
happier and more contented they are. For the hard play of tough muscles
and the stern conquest of serious obstacles both bring pleasurable
satisfaction to natural instincts in a healthy man; instincts designed
to make him a cheerful and determined actor in the struggle to conquer
nature and advance civilization. These instincts of pugnacity and of
joy in a fight, of winning out no matter what the obstacle, are readily
responsive to appeal, and most helpful to the leader who knows how to
use them.

In some industries the physical and mental condition of the workers
is made the care of a welfare department, which provides proper
environment, sanitation, athletics, hospitals, kitchens, libraries,
saving banks, country clubs, etc.--a background for successful
management. But there still remains the necessity for the personal
touch of the foreman in direct contact with the men. He understands all
the facilities offered, their advantages, and what management intends
them to do for the men--and he is there in close touch to see that the
men get the right ideas and make the most of them. But beyond all that,
incapable of general control, and properly in the sole hands of the
immediate leader for the sake of their effect on his leadership, there
are the thousand little homely things of the daily work and play in
which the thoughtful foreman makes his men feel his interest in their
welfare, success and happy living.

_Creating and Maintaining Discipline._--The inexperienced man is likely
to have more apprehension about his ability to maintain discipline
than about anything else in connection with taking charge of a group
of men. He wonders if they will obey him and is not sure of himself
as a disciplinarian. It will help him if he gets a fair idea of how
discipline is maintained. It is often said that discipline is the
result of the leader's administration of rewards and punishments. This
is too narrow a view. In reality the spirit we call discipline is the
result of the leader's whole conduct of himself and his job, of his
personality and methods, of everything he does for his men, to his
men and with them. Among all these, rewards and punishments play an
important part. But rewards have a great deal more to do with building
up discipline than have punishments, and are given much more easily
and pleasantly. In fact if the leader has established at all the spirit
of leadership herein pictured he will have but rare occasions to use
any punishments. This has been proven over and over again, and with all
kinds of men. In every phase of human endeavor, fair treatment and the
encouragement that comes from judicious appreciation of good intentions
and from praise of good work soon establish a spirit which makes
punishment quite out of place and unnecessary.

A concrete example of the highest type of rigid discipline based on
purely democratic principles is that of a highly trained college
football team. Here we have individual manliness and initiative highly
developed, together with a sense of subordination, teamwork, and the
requirements of leadership and discipline. Here we find instant,
unquestioning, cheerful obedience to commands given in action, and an
_esprit_ and morale which make the team cheerfully tackle the toughest
opponents. Where any leader may need in his group a discipline of
quick implicit obedience to orders, let him consider the spirit of the
football team as his model, rather than the spirit of whipped obedience
which was found in the galleys of old.

_Discipline from Rewards._--Probably the most effective reward is
the slight word of recognition of individual effort or excellence,
sometimes even a nod and smile are enough. The main thing is to show
this man and the others that you see and appreciate what he is doing.
So as you supervise the work of your men be on the lookout for chances
to commend individuals. Do not overdo it, fulsome or unmerited praise
does more harm than good. Keep it what nature intended it to be, a
reward for excellence which every man likes to receive, and for which
he naturally strives so long as he feels sure that he will get it when
merited.

One leader will go about inspecting his workers and look only for
faults and speak only to criticize something as wrong; while another
will seek good work to commend it, and correct mistakes in a spirit
of showing how it could be done better. The first may by tremendous
effort hold his men to a certain level of accomplishment, the second
will soon have them all going in a spirit of emulation. Smith does not
see why he cannot do as well as Jones next door, whom he heard the boss
complimenting. Appreciation of a man's excellence appeals directly
to one of his strong instincts, and never fails to inspire continued
effort to win further praise.

_Influence of Good and Poor Men._--There are always to be found in
every group certain men of stronger more cheerful characters than the
average, men who make the best of things, who jolly the rest along
through the hard tasks, and whose influence is thus a great asset.
The leader must note these men, and do what he can to increase their
influence with the others. If he has to show favor to some individual,
he should pick one of these men to receive it, thus letting everyone
see his appreciation of their cheerful willing spirit.

On the other hand there are often certain men of the meaner sort. They
do the growling and grumbling for all, and their influence is in the
direction of lowering the morale of the group. You must know these
individuals also, and do what you can to convert them to cheerfulness
and a will to win. Where a man's influence is bad, be sure you do
nothing to strengthen his standing with his fellows. If someone must
draw a disagreeable task, it is often well to let such a man have it
as a reward for being a "kicker." A leader who did not think of this
and made the mistake of handing the reward to such a one would hurt
the morale of the whole by making the men feel that virtue was not
recognized, and that their leader lacked good judgment.

You must therefore know your men and watch their work and their spirit,
so you may reward the deserving, and never appear to support the
undeserving. In time of hardship or strain, when the morale of your
outfit is being tested, it will win through or break down depending
largely on which type of men have the stronger influence. It will be
well for you then if you have strengthened the hands of the strong
cheerful ones and made them subordinate leaders of sentiment and
opinion in your group.

_Leader a Maker of Men._--The finest thing about being a leader is the
chance it gives to build up the characters of the men--to take hold of
the personal equation of a weaker brother, discover his difficulties
and weaknesses and also his strong points and possibilities, and so
to handle him as to make a man of him. This not only brings you great
satisfaction and the personal reward of feeling that you are making the
world some better by living in it, but it brings actual material gain
to the community and to your work, in that you have made this man able
to give more as a citizen and as a laborer. Many an army officer has
found his one relief from the tedium of peacetime duties in thus taking
a keen interest in the personalities of his men, and in making it his
business to build up a reasonably strong useful character out of what
may have appeared an almost hopeless wreck of humanity.

Every leader is constantly affecting the future of his men, consciously
or unconsciously. His power to reward and punish makes this necessarily
true. His decisions and acts of authority each tend to build up or
to discourage the character of the man affected. This is what makes
us shudder to see this power of leadership in the hands of ignorant,
unscrupulous, brutal or even thoughtless men. The good leader realizes
how by strict fairness, encouragement and guidance he may develop the
powers of his men; and how by continued injustice he may break a man's
spirit, destroy his manliness, and leave him a worse member of the
community than he found him. He accepts this responsibility, and takes
pleasure in trying to use his power for the better good of the men,
the community, and the work in hand. He is in some measure a "maker
of men," and with that thought in the back of his mind he studies his
problem in a desire to act to the best advantage.

_Discipline by Punishment._--"Punishment" is a severe word to use in
connection with ordinary daily affairs, but there is no milder one
whose meaning quite fits the case. It has little place in our ideas of
handling ordinary situations. In fact it stands only in the background
as a last resort. Thus in community life the penalties of the law stand
in the background as matters of no personal interest to law-abiding
citizens. Yet the existence of those penalties and of the means for
administering them are essential elements of community organization,
and they must be intelligently understood by the officers responsible
for community welfare. In this respect the leader has the same
responsibility, and it is necessary to discuss frankly how he shall use
this power of punishment, in order that he may meet this responsibility
successfully.

Punishment is intended to be a corrective. It must be administered for
the sole good of the man and of the group, and never in a spirit of
vindictiveness or revenge. By punishment we mean all the corrective
measures commonly used as means of disciplining men--reprimand,
docking pay, deprivation of privilege, suspension, discharge, etc. The
severity of any given punishment is largely a matter of the spirit and
infrequency with which it is given. It is in every case a matter of
prayerful consideration for the leader, until long experience has made
him quite infallible in his judgment.

It is possible to fix a set standard of punishments, such a punishment
to follow such an offense, but this standard cannot be followed
arbitrarily. That would ignore the big human factor and all manner of
extenuating circumstances. Every case of an offense must in fairness
be judged on its own merits. The leader must judge the peculiar
circumstances attending it, consider the personality of the offender,
and above all discover the underlying motive. It is unquestionably
true that most men naturally prefer to do right, and go wrong only for
some reason. Very often some sense of offended justice is behind it.
In any case the punishment cannot be reasonable unless founded on a
true understanding of the facts. And it must be both reasonable and
just, for its one big object is the effect it will have on the man's
character and the group discipline. This effect is the determining
factor. It is most important that both leader and men shall always
realize that whatever punishment is given, it is done for the good of
all as well as for that of the individual.

_Investigation of Offense._--To be able to get at the actual truth
of the matter takes tact and knowledge of human nature. You will be
interested in developing this ability in yourself. It will often be
difficult to get the man to be frank, he cannot quite believe in your
desire to be fair, and his instincts of secretiveness, pugnacity, being
a good sport, etc., all stand in your way. Put yourself in his place
is a good rule during the investigation. It is going to take time
and patience and skill, until you have established the tradition of
cards on the table and a square deal for all. By avoiding ever acting
in passion and by always showing a determination to get the facts and
judge fairly, you will soon be able to get at the real truth about each
offense, and to learn what it really means in your organization that
this man has done as he did. Then you may decide what steps to take for
the best interests of all.

Do not think that this is Utopian, or that it takes too much time.
It is a leader's business to have time for just such things--and you
really save time by it. Do it thoroughly a few times, and you will thus
discover and root out the cause for soreness and trouble and establish
a spirit of fairness and decency which will soon reward you by freedom
from having any offenses to handle at all.

_Actual Punishment Unnecessary._--A pleasant fact is that while every
offense must be taken cognizance of, it does not have to be always
actually punished. It may often be made the subject of a plain talk to
all of the men, explaining what such an offense means to the success of
the undertaking and put so strongly that a better result may be thus
obtained without giving any punishment at all. I recall an instance in
one of the inexperienced war organizations, where a senior officer,
detailed to handle the case of a man actually guilty of the serious
offense of sleeping on post as a sentinel, made it so strong an object
lesson in his talk to the company that he put the whole outfit,
officers and men, on their feet in discipline, and did not punish the
sentinel at all. So do not feel that "punishment must always follow and
fit the crime." Use your common sense judgment, and do the thing which
you believe will best promote the discipline you are trying to inspire
in all. A reprimand, with an explanation of what the offense means to
discipline, is generally punishment enough.

_The Leader's Responsibility._--If in the end you decide that
punishment must be given, give it yourself. Be very jealous of the
authority over your own men. Do not let anyone interfere with it or
exercise it for you if you can help it. You want them to look to you
for justice and see in you the seat of authority under which they act
and to which they are responsible. This means that you personally
handle every case, and make it clear that the decision as to the
punishment is the result of your own judgment. If the offense must be
punished with more severity than you are empowered to administer, then
only send it to higher authority, and with your own recommendation. It
is a poor officer who lets a court martial run the discipline of his
command. The good one sends a man to court for punishment only in the
rarest cases, and then because he is dealing with a recalcitrant who
will not respond to decent treatment, and is therefore a candidate for
discharge. The same general rule should be true in administering any
office in civil affairs.

_Prompt Action Necessary._--As the object of both rewards and
punishments is the effect they are to have on the individual and
particularly on the group, action in both cases should be taken
immediately following the occasion, while it is fresh in the minds of
all. Let your men realize that you are right on the job of bossing, and
that the conduct of each is a matter of real interest to you and to
all. To overlook offenses and neglects that appear willful, causes them
to multiply, and discourages the faithful workers. The word or nod of
recognition of good work is immediate, and has its effect, so also does
the first step in recognition or correction of an offense. This first
step may be an admonition, or even a reprimand where you are sure it is
justified. But the first step is generally to call the man up and ask
his reason--and to ask him in a tone that assumes that he has a reason,
and that you intend to give it fair consideration. You may have to
defer action for further investigation, but you have taken the first
step and gotten the immediate effect. It only remains to carry on to a
decision as circumstances determine.

_Symptoms of Poor Leadership._--We have all seen men in positions of
authority who are awful examples of what a leader ought not to be. A
little authority in their hands seems to upset the balance in their
heads. They lose all sense of how to deal with men, become ridiculously
arbitrary and loudmouthed and blustering. They try to rule by "putting
the fear of God into them," by main strength and brute force. They are
the boss because they have been named the boss, and "they will show
them." Their first step when they see anything going wrong is to bellow
"what the h---- are you doing?" in a tone that implies that the man
is not only a fool but a criminal. They outrage every sensibility of
manliness he may have, assume his motives are those of a thief and a
liar--and then expect him to respond with good work and loyal service.
Of course that is ridiculous. Such methods of control bring only sullen
obedience, and even invite open rebellion. Swagger and bluster are but
a thin camouflage for incompetence, and it would be a wholesome thing
for these leaders to be able to realize the scorn and disgust they are
implanting in the hearts of their men. Some do not know any better,
and may be made good by training, others lack native strength of
character and are hopeless. Neither should be left in authority as they
are.

_Misconduct--Fault of Leader._--Where you find recurring cases of
insubordination, or indifference to good work, you will generally find
that the cause for it lies in the presence of a leader who is not
good enough for his job. This is true in the army, and must be true
in any organization. For it is true that men generally start out on
any job with the intention to make good on it, and if many go wrong
in an outfit, the answer is pretty sure to be that there is something
wrong with its leader. Likewise where a leader finds himself unable to
maintain discipline, he may well seek for the cause within himself.
We often hear the statement "I've got the worst bunch of anarchists
on earth. No one could do anything with them." This is an admission
of the leader's own unfitness. Men run about the same, are subject to
about the same instincts and controlled by the same general principles.
I have seen the same group of men who were all but mutinous under a
hard-headed, narrow-minded officer become one of the best disciplined
groups of the whole command under a few weeks of a new leadership which
embodied principles of fairness and decency in handling men. The
lesson is plain, both to the man who wants to be a good leader, and to
the employer who wants his subordinates to get good results.

_Giving Orders._--Many a beginner questions in his heart whether he
can get the men to obey him or not. Perhaps this will be the first
time in his life he has ever been in a position of authority to give
orders. He has been the servant rather than the master, in the ranks
of his boyhood gang rather than its captain. He has never enjoyed
the habit of command, and, unless carried along by some dominating
influence, is ill at ease in giving orders. This is very common on
the part of young corporals in the army, and calls for experience and
training before they can make good. If the youngster by tone or manner
in giving the order betray that there is any doubt in his heart that
it will be obeyed, he simply invites disobedience out of the Adam
that is in everyone. Common exhibitions of this uncertainty are--the
sickening apologetic tone and even words, high-pitched shouting of the
order, accompanying profanity, repeating the order again and again,
and threats as to what will happen if it is not obeyed. These are all
sad exhibitions of inexperience or incompetence, and are sure to lead
to trouble. See to it that you avoid every one of them, and school
yourself in the correct methods. Here are some suggestions.

_How to Give an Order._--In the first place do not give too many
orders, give as few as possible. Remember the requirements of the
modern theory of command. Here is where they apply directly. Therefore
you first make sure that the order is necessary, and that the thing to
be done is reasonable. Then pick a suitable man to do this particular
thing, call this man by name and thus get his attention, and then in a
quiet tone tell him to do so and so, just as a baseball captain tells
a member of the team to cover third base. There is no question of
obedience, no thought of it. Your quiet tone does not assume that the
man is deaf, or a surly dog, or a criminal, but does assume that he is
an intelligent, loyal member of the team of which you are captain. It
will not occur to him to disobey such an order.

_How Not to Give Orders._--On the other hand you will yourself
stimulate his disobedience if by tone or words you insult his
manliness, question his loyalty and obedience, or by threats dare him
to disobey. We see this often illustrated in the affairs of daily life,
where men untrained in authority are required to exercise it, and
generally give orders in such a manner as to stir up trouble rather
than to get cheerful obedience. This is certainly true with most
street car conductors and similar holders of a brief authority. By
observation you may get a dozen lessons daily in giving orders--ten how
not to give them, and two how to do it to get results without friction.

I once visited as their first regular army instructor a rather new
troop of National Guard cavalry that had somewhere gotten the idea
that obedience to orders would result in proportion to noise. Every
order was roared at the men, and generally accompanied by a volley
of profanity, in a pathetic effort to exercise authority. It was an
astonishing exhibition of not knowing how to handle men, and naturally
did not command the respect or obedience of the meanest man in the
troop. It was a pleasure to watch the keenness with which they grasped
the correct doctrine of command, and to see the discipline of the
whole organization develop under the change. Those same men were fast
becoming real leaders and no doubt carried through to success.

It is clear then that disobedience may often be the direct result of
the way in which the order was given, and you should remember this
when investigating a case. While that may not justify your overlooking
this particular offense, it should enable you to correct the cause of
trouble and thus avoid continued offenses. You may be able to teach
the subordinate to give orders correctly, or you may have to take away
his authority.

_The Why of an Order._--It is a good thing where possible to give
the reason for doing a thing at the same time that you give the
instructions. This not only enlists the man's intelligent interest
in carrying them out, but often gives him a chance to do better work
because he understands what the desired result is. There are of course
occasions for quick action and for simple action when this would not be
reasonable. So in using this idea of telling why, there are two things
which you must carefully look out for: first, it must never appear that
you are apologizing for giving the order. It must be clear that you are
explaining what is to be done, not why it is being ordered. And second,
avoid cultivating a spirit or habit which would make a man feel free to
stop and ask why when simply told to do a thing, as in an emergency.
So you give the reason for the action only when it is clear that the
circumstances warrant it, and when it will lead to better results.

_Necessity for Following up Instructions._--Equally important with
giving instructions is to see that they are executed. This does not
mean that you are to stand glowering at your man until he has moved.
Go about your business in absolute assurance that he is carrying on;
but if he does fail, be sure to note it and take action. Too many
leaders feel that they have done their full part when they have given
the order. To overlook even slight neglects is likely to lead to more
serious ones; and for a man to be guilty of direct willful disobedience
is a very serious thing in any organization, as it threatens the
discipline of all and demands drastic action. Do not let it be true
that you have gradually led a man into this through your shiftless
leadership, whether due to your laziness, ignorance, or lack of nerve
to enforce your authority.

In the matter of how instructions are carried out, a most helpful thing
is to make it a rule of the organization that whenever a man is given
a special task to do he is expected to report the fact as soon as it
is done. You can see the advantages of this compared to the method of
telling a man to do something and then letting him feel that you have
no further interest in it. The man realizes that you will know how much
time he takes to do it, and you realize that your duty is not fully
done when the instructions are given. It gives you a chance to check
up on his execution and to praise his expedition or excellence; and
it gives the man a chance to try to win this praise. It is as though
a father said, when giving his son a certain task, "let me know when
you are through." He would get better results than he would if he left
the lad alone with the feeling that his father would take no further
interest in it.

_Willful Disobedience._--But with all regard for everything on your
part, it may yet happen that you will meet a case of direct willful
disobedience in some certain matter. Some condition quite outside your
knowledge or control may have caused it. If you want to handle this
case wisely and save the man to the organization, you must realize
how his mind is working and act accordingly. He is concentrating his
faculties in opposition to this particular thing--forcing them from the
normal easier channels of obedience, he has to concentrate them to the
task of breaking out this new channel of disobedience. As the phrase
goes, he has "his mind set on it." To win him over to obedience you
must first divert his faculties from this concentration by requiring
him quietly to do some simple thing like handing you some article or
adjusting his clothing, anything that you are quite sure that he will
do for you. Then by easy stages you may develop a state of mind which
will make it possible to discuss the original trouble reasonably, thus
regaining your control and saving him from grave consequences. We have
a like case in horse training. Where the trainer persists in making him
do some one movement a horse often becomes stubborn and refuses to move
at all. The trainer then changes absolutely to some simple thing which
the horse will do at command--perhaps to walk and halt and walk again.
He thus re-establishes control, and then through steps that the horse
will perform returns gradually to the first test of obedience and finds
him tractable. It takes patience and a high order of leadership to save
a man in such serious cases as this, but you will joy in having done
it. "Any dub can fire a man"--you want to do better than that.

_Orders Rarely Necessary._--But after all the best thing about giving
orders is not to have to give them. In the general case, the better
the leadership the fewer the orders given. Teamwork, co-operation,
initiative and loyalty of subordinates, all these developments of
intelligent leadership make orders largely unnecessary--and things are
done in response to suggestions and in carrying out instructions as to
what is to be done. We may envy the leader whose men jump in response
to his quiet firm tone of command. But do not imagine that he picked
this ability ripe for the eating from any tree of knowledge or life. He
has developed a strong character and a knowledge of human nature in
some practical school, learned that self-control is the first step in
controlling others, and that men respond in kind to the treatment they
receive.

_The Tone of Voice._--Not only in giving orders but in all your verbal
intercourse, the tone of your voice plays a part quite worthy of your
consideration. It is a potent element of your personality in its effect
on others, and easily within your control. It may interest you to the
point of regarding your tones hereafter to realize the important part
that human speech has played in our development from pure animalism.
Centuries no doubt passed before primitive man learned the use of
language. It was the one big step by which he proved his superiority
over the other animals of creation and assured his progress. For
language is the foundation, as it is the agent, of all knowledge; and
alone made possible the mental processes necessary for our present
accomplishment. Yet we see men to-day so blind to this, so indifferent
to this fundamental difference between themselves and the beasts, that
they allow themselves to roar and growl and whine and chatter in close
similarity to certain well-known species. Others bungle the use of
their voice deplorably; so one may barely catch their fading tones,
or must shrink inwardly from their rasping one. Men actually attempt
to win the minds of others and yet speak in tones so repellent that
convention alone makes us stay to listen to them. It is a pity they do
not think to hear themselves as others hear them, and thus learn not to
sacrifice longer this natural asset. For half the power of speech is in
the tone.

We can all recall cases where it was the tone of voice that caused the
trouble. "It wasn't so much the thing he said, as the nasty way he
said it" has caused many a man to go to the mat. But it is not alone
in making trouble that the tone of voice can accomplish so much. We
have also seen the cool, quiet tone of a leader bringing order out of
chaos and re-establishing control and confidence among excited men;
the virile animated tone putting "pep" into men's work; and the firm,
confident tone winning obedient following through danger and hardship.
The power of speech is thus seen to be tremendous--let us use it to
advantage, and as becomes members of the human race.

_The Mob Spirit._--As any man may have occasion to deal with the
"crowd spirit" and even with the "mob spirit," it is well to have some
idea of how these things come about and are controlled. In normal
circumstances the members of a community as individuals are law-abiding
and self-restrained in deference to public opinion and their own sense
of responsibility. Some sense of common wrong may unite certain ones
into a group for the common purpose of obtaining redress or instituting
improvement. This group may start with no intention of committing any
overt act or even of actually doing any particular thing, and yet end
by being led into most unfortunate excesses.

_Individuals in Crowds._--The individuals who compose the group have to
a degree lost their identity and have passed much of their individual
responsibility to the shoulders of the group. They thus come to find
themselves feeling free to do things they would never consider doing
as individuals, and being controlled by statements and suggestions
which they would know to be absurd in ordinary circumstances. Thus they
approach a point where they do not respond to sound reason and logical
argument, but rather react to impulses which are aroused by passionate
appeals, daring suggestions, almost anything that has a catching sound
and is often enough repeated. And thus they may end by becoming a mob,
susceptible to blind impulses and ruled by unreason.

In its beginnings this group is easily amenable to control, for the
"mob will" has not yet taken form, and the individuals still retain
some sense of reason, personal responsibility and fear of consequences.
But the longer they remain together, the greater their numbers,
the more they are harangued as a body having a common purpose, the
more surely does this crowd-will take form and make possible their
transformation into a mob. Therefore by temporizing with the crowd
you strengthen its unity and encourage the growth of its concerted
will. Action to control the situation must be prompt and decisive, and
directed to an immediate dispersal of the crowd. Let the mob spirit
once get really under way, feel its unity and find its peerless leader,
and it may be controlled only by similar tactics to those of the
demagogue who now leads it, or by the use of the armed forces of the
law. These are points well worth the consideration of every citizen,
whether he contemplates joining a mob or trying to prevent one.

_Conclusion._--As you note that this discussion is ended, it is
possible that you are wondering how I could have failed to mention
so-and-so as one of the most important elements in leadership. I hope
you are, for in so doing you have taken a big step in leadership in
that you have yourself considered and weighed its requirements. I
repeat in closing that it is only by giving personal thought to these
questions and deciding upon your own personal methods and conduct
that you will acquire success in handling men. Let your purpose
be clear and worthy, and your policy based on square dealing; be
yourself genuine, unselfish and just; make your men partners with
you in the enterprise, and your personality such as to admit their
loyal co-operation and following; keep in mind that your object is to
increase their manpower through their developed individual manliness
and character; and then work out the details as your own experience and
judgment dictate.




      *      *      *      *      *      *




Transcriber's note:

Obvious printer's errors have been corrected.

Inconsistent spellings and inconsistent use of hyphens have been
preserved.





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