Don't be a Douche....

Great advice at Military 1, from a former Platoon Leader to all current, or future Platoon Leaders:

We've received more than a handful of emails from people asking us to post our thoughts on leadership – mostly from seasoned NCOs who want us to use our powers for good instead of evil (at least every once in a while).

This is a tough one for us to write, because in some ways it starts with the position that we are qualified to teach leadership.  I mean you can go to the store and literally buy hundreds of books on the topic of leadership from real war heroes that should be dead a hundred times over, general officers or sergeants major who have a lifetime of service to the nation, or even business leaders, coaches, or politicians who have made a real difference in the world.  Hell, a lot of the guys that read this site have been to combat four times or more by now!  Candidly, we felt that posting an article on leadership would be more than a little presumptuous.

Nevertheless, the emails have continued coming in – as a result, I posed this dilemma to one the NCOs in the Ranger Up Militia.  "Why should we tread on ground that so many great leaders have already covered," I asked.  "Simple," he replied, "You won’t write it with the intent of making yourself look like a big deal, which means someone might actually listen."

His logic was hard to argue with, so we drew straws and for this one you're stuck with me.  I've decided to write it from a platoon leader's perspective, because no one needs more help than a 2LT, but hopefully most of my comments transcend all levels of leadership.  So here goes:

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