From the Battlefield to the Boardroom: 6 Leadership Lessons That Drive Success Through Empowerment, Discipline, and Communication

During my professional career, I have encountered one of the most important puzzles in business environments: where people work together, communication is crucial for success. I mean, this is a no-brainer for most of us. The reality is, however, that not all people are willing to collaborate. For instance, a researcher might prefer to stay in their lab, doing what they do best—innovating, right? Others, like engineers and physicists, often prefer to spend time building things rather than discussing them with others. The wish of “just tell me what to build and I’ll wait until it’s done” works only in an ideal world.

Why? Well, as far as I have observed over the years in academic research, patents, predevelopment, production, development management, and leadership—including C-level management—nothing is more important than impact. You might ask, what do I mean by impact? Well, it depends on whom you work for. But in most cases, the impact the organization wants to achieve is for the market or customers by aligning their resources toward these goals. That might seem easy if you just tell people to do what they should do and, as the CEO, wait until it’s done. Let me tell you, good luck with that. You know why? Because situations change, and they change quickly. You might have the greatest direction ever, but unless you continuously adapt to changing situations, the target you initially wanted may become obsolete.

First: Crystal Clear Objectives

It is incredible how many so-called managers lack the ability to communicate a clear direction. It is disappointing and, for many of my colleagues—and perhaps yours too—demotivating. Yes, we might hear from managers who call themselves "leaders" that we have groundbreaking technology coming up or phrases like, “We will be doing this new stuff or the other.” This is a symptom of a lack of clear vision and a lack of objectives. In the army, the first lesson I learned was, “Why am I here?” My captain never told me I was there to fire a gun; he told me I was there because we have the honor to protect our families, friends, and neighbors. This is a reason that directly connects and resonates with you. I mean, who wouldn’t be willing to follow that objective, that “why”? Formulating such an objective in the business world requires you, as a leader, to connect with people, understand why they do what they do, where they want to go, and how you, as a leader, can align the company’s objectives with their motivations.

Second: Empowerment

Yes, you are hearing me right. You might think that the army is about giving orders and following them to the letter. Maybe that’s the impression from a Halloween movie. In real life—at least in the army I was part of—it was different. In my case, I led a group of 30 and occasionally up to six hundred. Starting with a group of seven, you quickly realize the need to divide groups due to psychological constraints for efficiency. However, when it comes to autonomy, each group was given full control and resources to achieve their objectives; we were empowered. No discussions. Authority was delegated to the groups, and my officers took the risk of potentially not achieving their objectives. That alone was a sign of trust and motivation to get the job done.

In the business world, we often see a manager giving a vague target, then finance comes in and commands a budget cut, while another manager or customer wants results even sooner. When things aren’t achieved, who gets held accountable? The ones actually doing the work—the employees. This occurs when the management of an organization retains authority at the upper levels while pushing risks down to the front lines.

Third: Common Goals

The bigger your objective, the less likely it is that you or your small team will get there alone. Eventually, your organization becomes a team of teams, and as a unit, you will depend on the specialties of other teams, making communication crucial. For effective communication, groups need to have a common target to follow. This principle is understood in organizations, but in my observations, the so-called “leaders” or managers often lack a greater objective that relates the groups working together. This can lead to people who are supposed to collaborate running in different directions, resulting in delays, increased costs, and other issues. A situation like that would mean disaster on the battlefield. You might say, “Yes, but business is not the army where things are a matter of life or death.” Yes, you are right, but it’s not a matter of life and death; it’s a matter of discipline, which brings me to the fourth point.

Fourth: Discipline

For most of us, it is clear that discipline is inherent in any military organization. Let me paint a picture for you: We got up at 5 AM, had 30 minutes to make our beds, get dressed, and be ready for sports at 5:30 AM. Then we took a shower, cleaned the barracks, and put on our uniforms. At 6 AM, we lined up for inspection, and so on. Every repetitive task had its order and time; even punishment had its structure. And everyone was aware of that. In the business world, processes are the closest equivalent to discipline. I remember a major once recognizing that our battalion was 10 seconds late. In front of all the subordinates, he called my captain over and punished him with respect, making him do 100 push-ups in front of us. We were late, but our captain accepted the punishment.

At the end of the day, discipline begins with leadership. If you are a manager reading this, do not do what I write, because it probably does not apply to you, right? But if it does, who would you rather follow: someone who shows you how to follow a process by doing it with you, or someone who requires you to do things they don’t even do themselves? So, going back to common goals, creating them is just part of a bigger process that requires discipline from leaders.

Fifth: Communication

This one is particularly challenging in business. Why? Because unless you have common goals or objectives, communication alone will get you nowhere. If you need the cooperation of your counterparts for your objectives, this is when politics starts infecting an organization like a pandemic. Communication is vital because when things go wrong, you need people around you who will have your back in situations where you are already in trouble. Having common goals with your counterparts and maintaining constant communication about what is required from both parties will help you navigate difficult situations. If, however, you lack common goals, it becomes a recipe for a career in politics. In this case, you will have to understand what your counterpart needs to achieve and how you can assist them in getting there in order for you to obtain what you need from them. A give-and-take. Do I recommend it? No. But it is a reality for the majority of companies. So, can you change this within your organization? My answer is: not by yourself. What I’m sharing is not the whole truth; my guess is that there are other approaches in the world that might also work. I am simply sharing what I know works.

If I count on you, we are now two. Forward this article to your network, and then we will be more. See, it always starts with you. I don’t know who told me that back in my early years in business, but it stuck with me: “Does it bother you? Then change it.” To me, this means taking ownership. You now understand that communication is crucial for your success. It is up to you which road you take. Just remember that as you go down these paths, your tracks are left behind, and the people who follow you will do as you did. You will move faster toward higher objectives if you have common goals within the organization, making communication easier.

Sixth: Constant Improvement

Daily, if not hourly. Let me put it this way: when I entered the army, I was running 100 meters in around 11.5 seconds. By the time I left, I was doing it in almost 10 seconds, and I could complete 400 meters in 56 seconds. This was a matter of daily practice and review—doing and checking every day, whenever we didn’t have other mandatory activities. We were constantly measuring ourselves with the purpose of improvement. How could we really become better physically and mentally without a system to measure our progress toward a greater objective, right? The same applies to business: the systems and processes we use in organizations have become transparent through digitalization, but for what purpose?

In most cases, organizations must at least break even to survive, ensuring that you receive your monthly wages to support your family. Unless you are working for a monopoly, competition will be seeking to profit from the same business your company operates in. The more competitors there are, the smaller the slice of the pie your company receives. If your organization is unaware of phantom processes and cannot anticipate problems proactively while measuring them in real-time, it is more likely to fall behind the competition. A common consequence of this is the sacrifice of certain parts of the business to ensure the survival of the rest if no other source of capital is found. But, as I mentioned earlier, this all ties back to one thing: constant improvement—doing and measuring. Part of this is also doing new things because the old ways got us to where we are, but they will not get us to where we want to be. Constant improvement involves constant innovation.