During a February 13 AUSA press gathering in Washington, DC, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and retired US Army General Mark Milley discussed the key principles of leadership, whether it is in the military or the private sector. He emphasized the importance of commitment to the country and the greater good, as well as the oath to the Constitution, the need for courage, both physical and moral and the testing of these qualities in challenging times. General Milley also mentions the importance of compassion and taking care of the people under one's leadership and the need for competency and confidence in leadership, as well as maintaining integrity and character.Many people have offered opinion on how to succeed in life, whether it's a job, making investments or other important things that come up for us.Retired four-star US General Mark Milley, whose stellar career spanned 44 years, had a lot to offer in that way, when he sat down for an Association of the United States Army (AUSA) interview in Washington DC, on February 13.Asked to offer some advice to young recruits and officers, based on his lengthy experience, he was remarkably candid."Leadership lessons often come from lots of mistakes and things that you've learned over the years," he began. "You get good leadership lessons from those that you want to emulate and you get bad leadership lessons from those you'd never want to emulate.""I've got thousands of leadership lessons, but sometimes I've learned more from bad leadership."Milley, who played hockey at Princeton, studied politics and got into the military through the ROTC, added a few key things."First, for the Army or the Navy Air Force Marines, any form of public service, it's commitment," he said."And what are you committed to? You're committed to the country, you're committed to the men and women of this country that don't have the privilege of serving. You're committed to the greater good.""And at the end of the day, what we in uniform are committed to is wrapped up in our oath. We are committed to the Constitution." "It's a form of government that we have and we're very, very lucky to have that government. So we're very lucky to have the Constitution as a very flexible document, with 27 amendments now.""We're committed to preserving and protecting that document, the idea of this America, the Constitution of the United States and protect that against all enemies, foreign and domestic."Ah yes, domestic. While Milley did not discuss Trump, the January 6 Capitol attack or any current military or political issues, he did talk about the sacred oath all military men make, to a grand idea.Stalin once said, "Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas."He was right. They are.Most armies swear allegiance to the state, or a person, but that is not the case with the United States of America."No, we swear an oath, really to an idea. To a document. The Constitution."."And we swear an oath to an idea of a form of government, of we the people, for the people, by the people ... and where people have a voice in how they're governed. That was a novel idea in the 1700s.""The countries of those days were all kings and queens and monarchies, and so on and so forth. The idea that people would have a voice in their own form of government was novel. It was radical. That's why it's called the American Revolution.""So that document's been modified, like I said, 27 times over the course of history. But that document's what we in the military are committed to," said Milley, who surprisingly has no interest in writing a memoir."So I would say, your first principle of leadership is whatever line of work you're going to do, be committed to that line. And that becomes your north star."Milley, who is 65, also urged young officers and men to read everything they can get their hands on. Everything from Clausewitz, to Sun Tzu, to Napoleon.Milley's second point had to do with the courage of your convictions and the courage of your commitments. You need both."You've got to be able to stand there, in times of intense discussion or stress, lean forward and realize that one of the, the logo that's above our head right now is from point to heart. And realize that almost 2,000 guys gave their lives at Normandy, to defeat Nazi Germany, and fascism and Nazism, etcetera.""My dad hit the beach of Iwo Jima to defeat Imperial Japan. And tens of thousands of millions of American soldiers, sailors, everyone else, have given their lives, or have been seriously wounded and sacrificed enormous amounts to preserve that Constitution.""So you got to have the physical courage to do that and the moral courage to stand there in the breach and to do that."According to the bio listed on the DOD website, Milley served three tours in Afghanistan and holds many awards, badges and decorations, including the Meritorious Unit Commendation award.He has also held command positions in eight divisions and Special Forces, including as deputy commanding general and commanding general. His combat experience saw him deployed in support of numerous operational assignments as well:Multinational Force and Observers Sinai in Egypt; Operation Just Cause in Panama; Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti; Operation Joint Endeavor in Bosnia-Herzegovina; Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq and; Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.The key to withstanding such tests of moral courage is quite simple he said."Commitment is your inner north star," he said, "and then you (will) have to have the moral and physical courage to go with it.""I would also tie-in, the old adage of mission to men sort of thing, and mission to men and women. The idea that you have to not only accomplish the mission, but you have to take care of the people.""So compassion, literally a form of leader's love for their troops, you have to have that. You have to believe, and feel and internalize the fact that your soldiers are in so many ways part of your actual family.""You've got to take care of them. And taking care of doesn't mean being soft on them or being easy on them."In fact, said Milley, it means maintaining standards so that they are being taken care of "in times of intense stress.""When the thing most precious to anybody, that of a human life, is on the line ... and that brings me to confidence."No one is going to want to follow a leader who is constantly lost and navigates poorly or calls indirect fire on their position, he said."What the troops are looking for is a degree of competency in leadership. You don't have to be perfect. No one expects perfection.""But you've got to be reasonably confident."The man who stood up to Trump and feared a "Reichstag moment" in America's history, had a few more points to add."The last one I'd throw in there is integrity. You've got to maintain your integrity. Character matters. Integrity matters.""And you've got to be true to yourself, true to your inner core, and true to the Constitution.""You're never going to get it right," he added, "All you can do is get it less wrong."
