October 22, 2024
by Stephen T. Messenger
The past 42 weeks we’ve been talking about the BRAG+1 leadership framework and five characteristics to lead well. Each time we’ve shared a practical story, leadership case study, and tangible ways to improve our practices.
We covered why it’s essential to use these five qualities to put boots on the ground, place service over self, be resilient to life’s attacks, close with and destroy the enemy, and not have a hint, sniff, or whiff of impropriety about us.
The next six weeks we’re going to see what applying these skills look like in real life. There have been so many exceptional leaders in the United States Army who exemplified the characteristic of BRAG+1. We’ll examine six of them and their application of leadership through the lens of our framework.
What we’ll see are natural uses of leadership to gain great victories on the battlefield, inspire others to follow, and create teams that achieve their maximum standard.
At the same time, we’re all a work in progress, and we’ll see flawed leaders just like ourselves that struggle at times to fully apply all principles. For some, they fought through their demons and continued to successfully lead. For others, their shortcomings were their downfall, and they ended a still incredible career on someone else’s terms.
Six Exceptional Leaders
Ulysses S. Grant. Young Grant put boots on the ground in the Mexican-American War in 1846. He was assigned as a regimental quartermaster in a background role but still performed commendably in the position he was given. Later in the Civil War, Grant personified closing with and destroying the enemy, receiving successive assignments of increasing importance.
Eventually, he rose to the senior position in the Union Army, leading the North to victory over the Confederacy. His career was full of aggressive leadership to accomplish the mission, but it was also a battle of alcoholism and struggle.
William Sherman. Grant’s Civil War partner in crime, Sherman became known by showing early aggressiveness to engage Southern forces in the First Battle of Bull Run. He had to put on his armor and demonstrate resilience when he was ridiculed by the press and relieved in 1861. He suffered from depression, regained command but was routed at the Battle of Shiloh in 1862 thanks to his own mistakes, and was criticized by the media at the Battle of Chattanooga.
Sherman stood strong against personal attacks and is best known for his March to the Sea. This move was strategically brilliant yet criticized for unfair treatment of civilians by burning everything in his path.
Theodore Roosevelt. Best known for his presidency, Teddy Roosevelt personified the BRAG+1 framework in his short stint in the Army. He began the Spanish-American War as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, but arguably placed service over self to take a commission as an Army Lieutenant Colonel with the Rough Riders. This high-ranking American civilian leader took a demotion to lace his boots up and personally stand on San Juan Hill after closing with and engaging the enemy face-to-face.
From a slightly different perspective, Roosevelt was personally (and selfishly) interested in an Army experience to enhance his career and even bullied his way onto a deployment ship at the Port of Tampa to secure his personal legacy.
George S. Patton. No discussion on exceptional leadership would be complete without General Patton. He personified aggressive leadership, personally being at the front of the action, and resilience when attacked by the enemy, the media, and his peers. Often noted as the best combat general in World War II, Patton drove the entire Allied force to be better.
As a counterpoint, Patton also allowed his ego to drive his actions. Often putting himself over others, Patton lost credibility from senior American leaders by constantly stating his mind and slapping two soldiers for perceived weakness.
Douglas MacArthur. Another outstanding military strategist, MacArthur was the quintessential American leader from World War I to Korea. He exemplified boots on the ground in WWI Europe, twice earning the Army Distinguished Service Cross for raiding across no-man’s land. He was the Army Chief of Staff in the 1930’s, Supreme Commander of Allied Powers in the Pacific in WWII, and Commander of the Far East Command for the Korean War until 1951.
While personifying military leadership across five decades, he was also subject to a massive ego, poorly communicated with authority figures, and was removed from command by President Truman.
Stanley McCrystal. Finally, General McCrystal has been noted as one of the military’s modern quintessential leaders. In the Post-9/11 era, McCrystal’s legacy is in reshaping modern warfare to deal with the terrorist threats against America. His ability to speak the truth when others were afraid rose him to key positions in the 2000’s to close with the enemy by putting boots on the ground.
His one mistake was criticizing Presidential leadership, which was widely circulated by Rolling Stones Magazine and led to his resignation.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Reviewing these tales of great leaders, it is easy to see what makes them successful. They are fearless to put themselves at the front of the fight and gain battlefield successes by attacking. They have great service to the Nation, three serving for multiple decades and some like Grant, Sherman, and Roosevelt joining the military during it’s greatest time of need.
They all experienced personal hardships and demonstrated resilience through trying times, as we’ll learn in the next few weeks. And none of them were perfect.
If there was a theme of struggle in the BRAG+1 framework, I would argue it’s to not have a hint, a sniff, or a whiff of impropriety and to place service over egos. While all our case studies were exceptional military phenoms, these two qualities seemed to trip people up. This is a great lesson for our own personal journey.
Make no mistake, it’s impossible to be perfect. These leaders struggled with alcoholism, depression, ego-centric thoughts, and disobedience of leadership. These seemingly innocuous actions often turned the tide on an otherwise exceptional career. You and I struggle with so many things every day.
But it’s our job to strive for excellence in all five leadership qualities, not just four of them. The best of the best not only gain significant ground in their jobs, but also do so as team players and with the highest ethics.
At the end of reviewing these six leaders, we’ll examine one more: General George C. Marshall. He excelled in every quality. He was the ultimate soldier-statesman and universally respected. He put boots on the ground, placed service over self, was resilient to life’s attacks, closed with and destroyed the enemy, and did not have a hint of impropriety about him.
He is the example we should emulate.
Subscribe at the link above to The Maximum Standard. This platform is a free, no-ad site designed to help others live up to their full potential as a leader. Thank you for committing to something greater than yourself. Your leadership matters.
We are also looking for authors. You will reap the benefits by having an idea, putting it down on paper, wrestling with it a little, and publishing it for others to see. I encourage you to take this bold journey with us. We have editors standing by to help you.
This series is part of our BRAG+1 Leadership Philosophy. If you’re just joining us, start from the beginning on 16 January: A Team to BRAG about and continue from there:
Boots: Put Boots on the Ground
Regimentals: Place Service over Self
Armor: Be Resilient to Life’s Attacks
Gun: Close with and Destroy the Enemy
+1 (Belt): Not a Hint, Sniff, nor Whiff of Impropriety
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
Music promoted by BreakingCopyright: • 🌆 Royalty Free Epic Cinematic Music -…
The Maximum Standard 
