Page 163 - Great Communication Secrets of Great Leaders

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CONNECTING WITH PEOPLE BEYOND WORDS
CHAPTER 9
as keeping in frequent contact with those he had promoted and developed. He
understood that he was mobilizing an army of civilians; the military would
mold them into soldiers, but they were nonetheless civilians and wanted
nothing more than to return home and resume their lives. Their sacrifice and
their service were “the essence of democracy” and “what the fighting was all
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about.”
SAYING NO TO YES 141
Another of Marshall’s traits was a willingness to listen. General Omar Bradley
tells of being called into Marshall’s office in 1939, a week after the outbreak
of the war in Europe. Marshall expressed his disappointment in Bradley and
his fellow officers: “You haven’t disagreed with a single thing I have done all
week.” The next day the officers returned with a recommendation that in
Bradley’s recollection seemed “questionable.” To which Marshall replied,
“Now that is what I want. Unless I hear all of the arguments against something
I am not sure whether I have made the right decision or not.” 33
After Pearl Harbor, Marshall called Ike to his office and told him to draft
a plan to save the Philippines. Ike took a few hours, then reported that it was
not possible but suggested alternatives. Marshall said, “Eisenhower, the
department is filled with able men who analyze their problems well but feel
compelled always to bring them to me for final solution. I must have assistants
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who will solve their own problems and tell me later what they have done.” To
General Marshall, leadership was not about pleasing the boss or saying the
right words; leadership was doing the right thing. This was the creed by which
he lived.

“GREATEST LIVING AMERICAN”
Anyone who came into contact with George Marshall respected him. His
sense of virtue was palpable. Throughout his long years in the military, often
doing jobs he did not particularly want, he did his duty. His greatest disap-
pointment was failing to obtain divisional command. He was a lifelong staff
officer, who served the army and the nation well, and he was worthy of Harry
Truman’s appellation: “the greatest living American.”

Leadership Communications Lessons

Communicate your conviction. People need to know where the leader
stands. Marshall was clear and forthright on the need for the
army to prepare for war, and he let Congress and the president
know where he stood.