In our change communication work, one tenant is that the sergeant should carry the message. Namely, the supervisor, not the executive should bring the message to the troops. I know we’re heavy on the military analogy here but the way of describing this comes from being intrigued by the World War II movies when I was a kid. They all seemed to have a formula.

Each movie had the spiffy lieutenant, just graduated from the military academy at West Point, all brassed up and shiny arriving at the battle front. The lieutenant encountered the platoon sergeant upon arrival. The sergeant was unshaven, his sleeves ripped off, and his helmet long missing. The lieutenant naturally disliked this and set upon fixing the sergeant.

This is where the formula kicks in. In each movie, the sergeant would save the life of the lieutenant three times. After the third time, the lieutenant would finally realize that he wasn’t really in charge. Only then, could he effectively lead the platoon.

On paper the leader is in charge. In reality it’s much more complicated than that. Are you capable of not being in charge, even if your position says you should be?

We see this same phenomenon in nature. My dog Callie has a boyfriend, Sam who belongs to a neighbor but seems to be at our house a lot. They met as puppies. We even have a hole cut in the fence. They’re like an old married couple.  Sam, (left) a german shepherd mix,  is the typical male tough guy. He’s certainly in charge of security. Callie, a border collie, let’s Sam think he’s in charge but you can watch the gentle manipulation so they always do what she wants. Order is maintained and Sam accepts his role as “leader” and Callie enjoys really being in charge.

Photo Credit The U.S. Army

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