Try Out These Military Leadership Principles with Your Students

Cleaning out my workshop tonight, I laid hands on a 12 year old notebook from my summer in Marine Corps Officer Candidate School (OCS). I flipped to the back, found a itinerary for one of our days on training, and then found a list I remember from one of our leadership discussions.

I think I traced around my thumb...?

These 11 leadership principles are used to train commissioned and non-commissioned officers in all of the U.S. armed services, but there is a lot crossover and truth that resonates with me as I lead my students in learning. Anywhere I included "students" or "class", the military's text says "subordinates," or "unit" but it works because you're the sergeant/captain/admiral/general/etc of your classroom - you set the tone, good or bad.

11 Leadership Principles

1. Know yourself and seek improvement.
2. Be technically and tactically proficient.
3. Know your [students] and look out for their welfare.
4. Keep your [students] informed.
5. Set the example.
6. Ensure the task is understood, supervised, and accomplished.
7. Train your [class] as a team.
8. Make sound and timely decisions.
9. Develop a sense of responsibility among your [students].
10. Employ your [class] in accordance with its capabilities.
11. Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions.

Notice, these have nothing to do with fighting war or handling weapons - they're principles to develop your own growth, to develop and enable discipline in your students, and to empower them to do the same by giving them responsibility and modeling (as the "leader") how that looks.