The Leadership Code

Do you live by a code of leadership that guides your every step?

The army have one and that’s worth sharing – thanks again to Major General Paul Nanson’s inspiring book Stand Up Straight.

Again, we can take this beyond the military and plant it within other systems such as a school.

He says,

The army has developed a way of ensuring that leaders can translate the values they stand for – their moral compass – into leadership behaviours….It is a sort of codified ‘checklist’ to help you navigate your way.

The leadership code is a list of 7 behaviours:

L ead by Example

E ncourage Thinking

A pply Reward & Discipline

D emand High Performance

E ncouarge Confidence in the Team

R ecognise Individual Strengths & Weaknesses

S trive for Team Goals

The army leadership code is based on the values of courage, discipline, respect for others, integrity, loyalty and selfless commitment.

Does your Senior Leadership Team have a code to live by? If it does then you will be in a minority as I have seen very few examples of this type of thinking yet it’s something we could all adopt and live by. Importantly, these leadership behaviours govern all apsects of life, professional and private.

There are of course other leadership codes to live by that might be more appropriate to you and your team but I think the army code is one that could easily work for any leader in any field.