Page 216 - The extraordinary leader
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A Case Study in Leadership Development–The U.S. Marine Corps • 193


        long experience and seeing what worked, rather than coming at it primarily
        from any scientific research study. We feel that our findings, primarily from
        an empirical research perspective, are solidly confirmed by the Marines’ expe-
        rience. And in addition to the fundamental principles, the Marines have
        developed practical methods through which to apply these concepts. The
        confirmation of the underlying truths may not be half as important as their
        practical experience in making them work.



        Two Leadership Groups

        There are two distinct groups of Marine leaders to be considered.

           1. The Marines recruit young men and women to join the Corps, and
             their development path generally takes them to becoming
             noncommissioned officers. A small percentage is later sent to college,
             often to the U.S. Naval Academy, to become officer candidates, but
             they are the exceptions.
           2. Most officer candidates are recruited from colleges, and the Corps
             recruits the brightest and most qualified people they can obtain.


        The Talent Base for Noncommissioned Officers

        The Marines do a good job of recruiting, maybe the best of all the military
        services. They assign some of their best people to staff local recruiting offices.
        Nine out of 10 applicants are rejected, and they will not accept high school
        dropouts or someone with a GED certificate. The recruiters contact more
        than 250 young people to find one qualified candidate.
           However, the Marines make no pretense of getting the best and brightest
        young people coming out of our finest high schools and colleges as recruits.
        The reality is that their recruits, for whatever reason, have usually decided not
        to go on to college. Seldom was the recruit the student body president or the
        class valedictorian. Only in rare cases have the recruits distinguished them-
        selves through some remarkable achievement in their schooling or extracur-
        ricular activities. Many recruits have had minor convictions (most often traffic
        violations), and casual use of alcohol and drugs is common. A large percent-
        age comes from troubled homes. Female recruits have often been subjected
        to some form of abuse in their homes. Approximately 50 percent of the
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