Presence

A Case Study of Great Leadership

Presence.

Just by luck, I’ve worked for some of the best modern Army leaders.

One of them was Colonel Clarke. He was later promoted to General. COL Clarke was my Battalion Commander, my Regimental Commander, my Task Force Commander, he was the West Point Commandant of Cadets, he Commanded the 82d Airborne Division, and later he was the Commander for all joint special operations forces (SOCOM).

As our Ranger Regimental Commander, COL Clarke had a Battalion in Savannah, two at Fort Benning, one at Fort Lewis, and a separate Joint Task Force Headquarters in Baghdad. We were spread out all over the place; he was in charge of two Brigade size elements on two different continents, crushing combat operations. We did this for years.

As best I can remember, COL Clarke was always present. Obviously, he wasn’t, but it sure seemed like he was.

I remember doing physical training with him, a killer kettle bell work out, in the 1^st Ranger Battalion gym. I remember him at platoon live fires on Galahad drop zone, I remember him walking out of the darkness to inspect us while doing airfield seizure exercise on Runway 28 on Hunter Army Airfield, and I remember him running a quarterly ‘book club’ with all his company commanders – normally over a VTC. It didn’t matter what else was happening, we never canceled book club. Similarly, I remember him walking up to the back of a Stryker before a night raid and asking to be manifested (as a Colonel), I remember him drinking a few beers (responsibly) with the young (but of age) Rangers at the formal ball. When my wife and I had our 3^rd son, we got a card in the mail from COL Clarke. He had mailed it from Germany. Specifically, he had gotten off a C17 at a refueling stop enroute to Iraq, walked up to the PX, bought a card, wrote us a note, and mailed it….and got back on the plane to Iraq. That’s how my Regimental Commander spent his 90 minutes of ground refuel time. And, I also remember, very distinctly, after one particularly sporty night raid that didn’t go especially well, COL Clarke called me into his office and made his disappointment clear; perfectly, and professionally.

Here's the thing. Leadership isn’t about rank, position, or authority. In real life, those things become pretty fragile. People will listen, sort of, but they won’t really follow. Our best leaders are present when they need to be. They lead by example. They share hardship and they share risk and do hard things. “Building trust” isn’t some checklist thing, it happens in the back of a Styker, in the gym, or on the fields of friendly strife; it takes work. They never abdicate their responsibilities. They take care of their people, sometimes they send cards…. sometimes they close the door and let ‘em know that they are jacked up. Great leaders know how to do both.