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