Currahee!
If you search the internet or read any books on the subject, you will likely find many answers. These answers will likely include catchy phrases about getting other people to do something, or having influence on others, etc.
As we begin our discussion about leadership, I encourage you to ask yourself the question...
What does "Leadership" look like?
We have all experienced many forms of leadership throughout our life and career. As we watch Episode 1, Currahee, pay close attention to the styles demonstrated by Dick Winters (played by Damian Lewis) and Herbert Sobel (played by Ross from Friends, AKA David Schwimmer).
Discussion questions to consider...
- How would you describe the leadership style of Sobel vs. Winters?
- What are the positive attributes or results from each of these styles?
- Which leader would you rather follow?
- What kind of leader do you want to be...and why?
Deeper Dive...
While performing exercises in the field, Sobel fails repeatedly in the technical application of leadership. Specifically, he gets his people lost and "killed" in multiple drills. His technical abilities, or lack thereof, results in the loss of confidence of his subordinates. This results in the NCOs' (sergeants) votes of no confidence, and ultimately the reassignment of Sobel.
- How important is it for a leader to technically competent?
- In what other areas must an effective leader be "competent?"
- Do you have to be the person "in charge" to be a leader?
- What did the NCOs risk by taking the action they did?
Sadly, I have seen more than a few Sobels in my career. Often times folks with this leadership style (or should I say lack of leadership), thrive having all of the power and the more power they have, the bigger their ego gets. I don't consider Sobel to be a leader. Instead, I see him as ego maniac with positional authority. As with folks that I have encountered in the fire service that behave the same way, Sobel's reign eventually comes to an abrupt end.
ReplyDeleteGreat point about positional leadership. Anyone else have observations about positional leadership/authority as compared to other styles?
DeleteWhen the show began, I believed Sobel's approach was hard because he wanted to prepare his men for war. He wanted to push them to give them a better chance for survival. This turned out not to be his intent causing negative results.
DeletePositional authority comes with a high amount of responsibility. This authority needs to be focused on making the team and the organization better. Never for self-promotion.
Sobel is interesting in the fact that he doesn’t seem to bond with anybody. Normally with an individual that is power hungry, but not competent, there is usually an effort to deflect and turn the attention on to others to make themselves appear more capable. Maybe in real life he had a small supportive group, but that isn’t shown. One thing that he did well was to unify the group due to their hatred of him. Ultimately he gets a lot of credit for making Easy Company what they are by his treatment and training of his men.
ReplyDeleteWinters is a better example of a leader. He is extremely capable and tactically sound. He doesn’t fraternize with his subordinates and is even called a “Quaker” by some of them because he doesn’t drink with them. I feel he does that by choice because he knows that it will be a better example for the men. Anyway, thanks for giving me an opportunity to watch one of my favorite shows while at work.
Great points about Winters. What do you think about the comment he makes later "Never put yourself in a position where you can take from these men..."?
DeleteSobel definitely unified his personnel...the only problem is that they were unified against him.
ReplyDeleteWinters is definitely a great example of a servant leader IMHO. He runs with the company after the spaghetti lunch and later speaks of not putting himself in a position where he can "take" from his personnel, etc...
First, this looks like it's going to be a great series to watch.
ReplyDeleteSobel's leadership style began as very demanding of Easy company. He demonstrated high expectations and a strong desire to be the best company out there. This approach had success as the company performed well and received strong verbal approval from Sobel's commander. As the show went on, Sobel never showed the ability to listen to his company or his companies leaders. He pushed his company for self promotion, not to improve his company to make them better soldiers. He clearly lost respect from his members.
Winters demonstrated qualities that will make him a great future leader. He listened to Sobel and worked hard to support his methods. He also listened to his company and performed every task that was asked of them.
He made himself part of the team, unlike Sobel. Winters also demonstrated sound tactics on the field that will definitely gain the respect of his company.
In closing, there was a lot to this show that was interesting. The amount of negative conversations towards Sobel grew. Company leaders and the members all continued the negative conversation without bringing it to Sobel. I don't believe he would have been receptive but it needed to happen.
Sobel is an interesting character. He is self centered and will find a way to use you for his gain or steps on you if you are a threat. Many in higher positions who feel threatened are very insecure. Remember hurt men will try to hurt men and we haven’t found out why Sobel is hurt yet. A common theme around leaders like Sobel is their quest to rule over man instead of leading people. His ego is what will ultimately get him in trouble. Ego or pride has been the sin of man since the Garden of Eden story which got them both kicked out.
ReplyDeleteThe contrast leader is Winter, who is a man of integrity and good character. It is easier to follow someone who has your “6” than a Sorbel who will stab you. People who demonstrate good character will always be preferred even if their skills lack a bit. Winter has skill and shows others that he cares for them. Good leaders are “Others” centered and aren’t afraid to be bold in that.
Studies have shown that their are no bad teams just bad leaders.
I think most of us would strive to be like Winters and try to stay away from the Sobels. Leadership is about people, process then product. Put your crews first and take care of their needs, show them you care! I look forward to watch this organization grow as we Band closer and together as Brothers and Sisters!
First of all...What an awesome show! I love this series and watch it every time its on cable. So Sobel is an interesting Character. I do see that he has both good and bad leadership skills with the bad being the overall. I believe he is strong in bringing a group together to make them stronger. They obviously became a close group through the "suck" part of his leadership. But he definitely lacked the personnel side. By that I mean taking the time to actually getting to know his crew, there strengths, there weaknesses ect. He lacked major confidence and took it out on the group for sure. His arrogance and his ability to stab others in the back to make himself look good is his defeat in showing no integrity. But karma comes around for everyone! If he was assigned to me as a leader, I would do my best of what he asked just like easy company did, but he would definitely not be my number 1 choice.
ReplyDeleteNow Winters, theres a man who can call himself a true leader! A person who gets into the trenches with his subordinates and takes the time to get to know his mates. He reminds me of the Navy Captain in the book "Its your ship" where a brand new ship captain takes the time to get to know every crew member on the boat to help motivate them to be the best they can. Just doing that and allowing accountability turned the ship from one of the worst to the best ships on the fleet. Winters won the respect from every guy on easy company and each one of them had his back.
I definitely want to be a leader someday like Winters. This organization and the Fire Service as a whole deserved leaders like that. Ones who will go the distance to become personable with their crews and instead of just pointing the finger and says "do this and do that."I believe being a good leader is knowing what your peoples needs are, their strengths, their weaknesses, and being that support that turns those weaknesses into strengths. I think another strong attribute is taking accountability on yourself and knowing your weaknesses and using those around you to make you stronger. I look forward to seeing our organization become like easy company and make all of us strong leaders.
We tried to watch this episode as a crew, but duty called. I think we saw enough of the episode to glean some insights on leadership styles. I've learned that I don't have to like, agree with or want to emulate my leaders in order for me to be a good follower. I believe it's very important to know how to be a good follower (subordinate) as a leader. Every position in life, business, civil service, military service or politics has a boss. Being a good follower helped me to take my eyes off of myself, my desires, my opinions as my main motivations. It gave me the opportunity to serve others in a different way than was my custom.
ReplyDeleteI can see past the example of Captain Sobel's self-centered motivations and see that how he treated his subordinates truly prepared them for what was ahead. However, he did not win over any hearts. Winters example of choosing to run with the men punished by Sobel did win the hearts of the men.
This dichotomy in leadership styles can show how one leader can have men follow out of duty or adherence to the chain of command while another leader can motivate men to follow out of trust or respect. My desire is to inspire people to follow out of trust/respect/love.
There is a difference between fear and reverence that is spoken of in the Bible. While my son was a teenager, he and I had many struggles in our communication. PRAISE JESUS for my wife Tami and her wisdom. She would often encourage me that I could either teach my son Christian to fear me, as my father did, or teach him to revere me. Because of Tami's persistence to help me, Christian and I communicate easily, with depth, trust and love.
I don’t consider Sobel to be a leader at all. When you learn about leadership styles and skills you learn about the difference between a boss and a leader. Sobel was a boss and people followed him because of his positional rank and the fear of being reprimanded. That will only take you so far, though. While I do buy-in to the belief that you can learn from each situation (sometimes it is as important to learn what NOT to do as it is to learn what to do) I do not believe this leadership style will develop future leaders. The one positive that did come out of his leadership style, though, was that it seemed to create a camaraderie between the group. There was a portion during the run up the hill when the others would get together to encourage and support each other. I was hoping that was Sobel’s goal all along, to get the unit to support each other and “band” together. (see what I did there)
ReplyDeleteCompetence of leaders is a big part, especially in times of war. You can be the nicest guy in the world but if people don’t have confidence in your ability to get them home alive and safe they will question each decision and ultimately lose faith in your leadership. There are multiple steps to leadership, competence being one of them. As leaders we need each step to build upon and strengthen us as a whole. If we are lacking and deficient in one particular area we will be lacking overall as well.
Great insights everyone! Next episode we will follow along with Lt. Winters as Easy Company takes action on D-Day.
ReplyDeleteSobel vs Winters. Sobel is very stern and demands excellence. He is a manager who tends to flex his power and authority that causes people to demotivate, create problems amongst the team when someone makes a mistake and causes people to hate him. Winters is a leader who motivates his team. He won’t reprimand the men for no reason. He maintains a positive attitude that his men see. He’s a leader you want to follow, who motivates and supports his men.
ReplyDeleteI would much rather follow Winters than Sobel. I am more willing to work hard for someone who cares than someone always looking for faults.
I strive to be the type of leader that leads from the front. Willing to do the worst jobs with the team. Lead by empowerment and motivations. I phrase Ive heard most recently that helps is, “Say what you mean, mean what you say and don’t say it mean”.
The importance for a leader to be technically competent allows for safe methodical direction on the fire ground. A certain operational confidence that has ap positive effect.
ReplyDeleteOther areas a leader must be competent is people. A leader has to be able to read people well enough to know a change in behavior, attitude and work performance to avoid potential mental health issues. A leader must know how to communicate well during tough conversations. A leader must know and love there people enough to know how to empower them and motivate them positively.
You certainly do not need to be in charge to be a leader. People can lead with different skill sets than others though teaching from passion. Others can lead through positive influence in stressful times.
The NCO’s risked demotion, reprimand that could affect there position in the Army and possibly removal from the battalion.