April 30, 2024
by Stephen T. Messenger
The best organizations stand on legacy and heritage. They’re proud of their origins, which drives them to desire more success and creates an innate desire to continue adding to their history.
As a member of the U.S. Army, I have four favorite songs: the National Anthem, the Army Song, the All-American Soldier, and the Army Transportation Song. Each song is not only catchy, but also a history lesson of our Nation, the Army, and one of my former units and branches, respectively. Hearing each one evicts memories, emotions, and pride in my organization and culture.
I’ve studied these four organizations over decades of service, and love to talk about how all four have shaped my life. For soldiers, the history of our units and culture deeply matter to us—they’ve lived it! This knowledge of our history creates a mindset of inclusion in the unit we belong to instead of focusing on ourselves. Organizations win as a team and fight for each other.
It’s critical we speak about the history of our organizations and teach our heritage.
History Matters
History is a lens to the past, helping us understand our origins, reflect on who we are, and draw a connection to the future. It’s always with us and doesn’t go away. Having knowledge of our past enables us make sense of our current situation and move on to the next chapter.
The culture of an organization is what makes up their social behaviors, institutions, and norms. It is why they act a certain way or have specific values. Their present was shaped by their past. The founders and carriers of the cultural torch have deeply embedded certain characteristics within the group.
When new members join, it’s important to teach them the history of the organization and introduce them into the culture. A quality onboarding process contains deeply rooted knowledge of why a company does what it does.
Those groups who know their history and live their culture develop long-lasting legacies and imbued pride in their organization.
Organizational Examples
Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903 on the tenets of mass production, assembly lines, and job creation, resulting in today’s culture of technical excellence, teamwork, and results.
Google started in two Stanford University dorm rooms, upgraded to a garage, and continues to innovate in many groundbreaking ways.
NASCAR was born in Daytona Beach when race promoter Bill France saw the corruption in non-organized racing and wanted to establish a standardized competition where, decades later, the culture he developed of fairness and equity in racing equipment remains. The first race of the year continues to be held in Daytona Beach to this day.
Finally, any member of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division can tell you the unit lineage and heritage. Originally the 82nd Division, it was constituted on August 5, 1917 for deployment to Europe in World War I. Nicknamed the “All American” Division thanks to having members from all 48 states, in Europe they fought in the St-Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne campaigns and deactivated in 1919.
Reactivated in 1942, it was redesignated the 82nd Airborne Division and saw action jumping into Europe multiple times from Sicily, Salerno, Holland, and Normandy during D-Day, fighting through the fall of Germany, and occupying the defeated nation.
They have fought in nearly every U.S. campaign since, including Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Desert Shield, Afghanistan, and Iraq. This rich history comes with a historic legacy and culture. They have their own unit song, band, airborne red beret, patches, jump boots, and rituals. The shared experiences of jumping out of airplanes, difficult training, and combat have cemented members together regardless of when they served.
Each year the Division hosts All-American Week, inviting current and former paratroopers back home to participate in jumps, Division runs, competitions, breakfasts, memorials, reviews, and comradery. This exceptional mix of history and culture has cemented a brother and sisterhood across time and space.
When two 82nd paratroopers meet, they are instantly linked and bonded by a shared experience. They have worked for over 100 years to perpetuate their history through events, education, rituals, and memorization. They induct members into the Hall of Fame, conduct ceremonies, host events, and induct new soldiers into their group through a process called “Propblast.” Everything they culturally do is about knowing history and living culture.
These four companies above—Ford, Google, NASCAR, and the 82d Airborne Division—understand their histories and stay true to their culture. It is what defines them and drives them forward.
Shaping Operations
This type of understanding history and cementing culture does not come naturally. We must teach the beginnings of the organization to others, tell stories of the great tales of achievement, and remind others of the legacy before us. The intent is to move people from thinking about themselves to thinking collectively. It’s not about one person; it’s about us.
History matters. To generate pride in an organization, we must have a messaging plan. We have to continuously remind our people of the greatness of the organization. We must get our minds off ourselves and onto our team.
This can come in the form of emails, speeches, informal stories, newsletters, word-of-mouth, videos, or many other messaging techniques to highlight organizational beginnings, successes, and future plans. Our messaging must be overt and covert. Take every chance to educate our people on the story of our team, whatever it may be.
I just did this at our last town hall. After the open discussion period, we took the entire group on a field trip out of the building and to our commemorative area. Here, we have the history of the unit with World War II barracks filled with stories of the rich history of what we do. After walking through 100-plus display vehicles of army equipment from the early 1900s to today, we stopped at a war memorial to our soldiers.
Here I spoke to the group about the history of our unit, how we got here, and what those before us had done. Next, I talked about the great effort everyone here has done and the progress made. Finally, I referenced the future and how we get to write the next chapter in our history–and it’s up to us to do it well.
Our job as leaders is to help others understand the past, succeed in the present, and set conditions for a fruitful future. We are responsible for telling that story.
Communicate Our Story
Our organization has a history—telling this story will help others understand the “why” behind what we do and help others to want to carry on that legacy. We know we’re winning when others tell the same stories without us, when they reflect fondly on the hard times and the great wins, and they use the word “we” instead of “I.”
Teaching history and developing culture is a lost art. The benefits of developing and telling our narrative creates a team others want to join.
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This website is a personal blog and all writings, podcasts, opinions, and posts are the authors’ own and do not represent the views of the United States Army nor any other organization.
Podcast music credit in this audio file is to: “Alex Productions – Legends” is under a Creative Commons license (CC BY 3.0). / @alexproductionsnocopyright
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The All-American Soldier · 82nd Airborne All-American Chorus The All-American Chorus ℗ 2007 82nd Airborne Historical Society Released on: 2007-11-12 Auto-generated by YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IoCJxoCNqQ
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