12 Most Heart-stopping Leadership Lessons from a Black Hawk Down Army Ranger

Posted by Lisa Petrilli on Nov 1, 2011 in Blog, Business, Character & Ethics, Leadership & Management, Professional & Personal Development, Talent & Professional Development, Vision & Strategy | 42 comments

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Being the Co-Founder and Co-Host of Leadership Chaton Twitter certainly has its perks. One of them is the continuous flow of offers from PR firms to read the latest leadership books and interview their authors. Although I’d love to be able to say “yes” to all the requests, I simply don’t have the time and am therefore very selective about what I choose to read.

One day in September I received an offer to read the book, “Get It On!” by Army Ranger and Country Music Artist Keni Thomas. Keni’s book is about the leadership lessons gleaned through his experience fighting in the 18-hour urban Battle of Mogadishu that took place on October 3-4, 1993, better known to all of us as “Black Hawk Down.”

I can’t tell you how grateful I am that I chose to read this book. It moved me and affected me in a way I never expected and continues to stay with me long after I finished it.

Keni’s story depicts a truly classic Hero’s Journey. Such stories are always full of life-altering tragedy, personal tests, soul-filling revelations and the return to try to live life from its newly-altered state. What’s unique about Keni’s story, as I described on myVisionary Leadership Blog, is that his is replete with heroes on every page: Task Force Ranger members including Ranger teams, Delta Force and Navy SEALs who risked their lives – and 19 who gave their lives – defending freedom.

You are with Keni as he hovers above the city of Mogadishu in Gunslinger, the Black Hawk in which he rides into battle and from which he ropes down into the city, he and his fellow soldiers unknowingly outnumbered 10 to 1. You are with him as he is shot.  You are with him as he is forced to run out of the city to a Malaysian BTR carrier in what would later be famously referred to as the Mogadishu Mile. And you are with him in the stark moments when he realizes his best friend has been killed, and when he watches a man die for the very first time. His soulful words are riveting.

I was honored when Keni agreed to Guest Host Leadership Chat, sharing his experience and insights with the Leadership Chat Community. What follows is a brief overview of the 12 lessons learned in the heart-stopping 18-hour battle that were shared in his book and through his tweets during Leadership Chat:

1.The people on your right and on your left make all the difference

In business we rely on our team members to execute their roles brilliantly, just as they rely on us. In war, this is life or death.

Keni’s Leadership Chat Tweets: the choice to lead is more than just a choice. It is an obligation. there are people to your left and to your right counting on you. please remember that the difference you make in this world begins with the person on your left and on your right.

2. Lead by example

You will make a difference, and you will change lives.
Keni’s Leadership Chat Tweets:  Leadership has never been about the rank you hold or the position you have. It’s all about the example you set. your positivity will set the exp for others to follow and you will have made a difference! be that your family, your work, your community, your church, or your country

3. Be willing to carry the burden of leadership when you are given the gifts of a leader; know when to be a good follower

Keni had to take over when least expected at the start of the battle, and he had an epiphany about the importance of being a good follower 18 hours later on the Mogadishu Mile out of the city.

Keni’s Leadership Chat Tweet: Read the book of Romans tonight about the gifts you’ve been given. use those gifts to set the exp for others to follow

4. Be prepared for the call that is destined to come

This is a lesson of character and faith as well as one of everyday reality. For Keni, the call to “Get It On!” came in an ordinary moment while writing a letter back home to his mom, and forever changed the course of his life.

5. It is better to have and not need, than to need and not have

This lesson was never clearer than when Les Aspin, President Clinton’s Secretary of Defense, chose not to fulfill requests for tanks and armored vehicles in support of this mission, and later stepped down from his position as a result. Men died because of this decision. Think about how this lesson applies to you in your leadership role.

6. It’s critical for leaders to understand Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

In a country devoid of food and hope, food becomes power. This was the root of the evil Keni faced. We in business have the luxury of focusing on the higher realms of the hierarchy: belonging, esteem and self-actualization. Great leaders set their followers up for success by empowering them in ways that address these needs.

Keni’s Leadership Chat Tweet:  Poor leadership is a catastrophe. And great leadership is a privilege

 

7. Each one of us is a piece of the puzzle that makes everything work.

Great leaders understand that it is not about them, rather it is about something much greater than self. Everyone must be counted on to fulfill their individual role for the good of the unit and cause.

Keni’s Leadership Chat Tweets:  The best thing I know to tell you is to impress upon them that they are being counted on. You are only as good as your weakest link. and i know that it’s not an easy thing to do to pull someone aside and say “hey we are counting on you. And we noticed you may need help. How can we help you?”

8. Be a person that can be counted on

In the same way Rangers never leave a fallen soldier, never leave the people who are counting on you.

Keni’s Leadership Chat Tweets:  This is tough because it puts the burden on you to help. We have a tendency to want to distance ourselves from those who dont pull their load and aren’t as “squared away” as we’d like them to be. But as people who set the exp for others to follow it is our duty to make the attempt to get those folks up to standard

9. Train as you fight, fight as you train

This is one of the most critical leadership lessons of the book. Be prepared in every way possible. For business leaders this means providing your teams the training and tools needed to be successful, knowing your objective and strategies inside and out, and having contingency plans that are just as defined and well-rehearsed.

In Keni’s words:

Because when it comes down to it, you will only be as good as you prepared yourself to be. The people around you will only be as good as you trained them to be. So the idea is to make everyone an absolute expert at their job. This is your best chance to ensure the mission is successfully accomplished and everyone makes it back alive.

10. You, as the leader, must be the source of vision, purpose, expectation and hope

Keni’s Leadership Chat Tweets: You can hold every soul to a higher standard. you can give every soul some purpose, direction and motivation. give every soul an example to follow. and you can give them the realization that they are part of something much larger than themselves. It may not always work. But it is our obligation to try.

11. We are all human

Profoundly obvious through the book, and from Keni’s humble tweets.

Keni’s Leadership Chat Tweets: The biggest challenge I’ve found in writing the book is living up to it. you write a book on leading by example and it starts affecting everything you do

12. “The world needs leaders… The world needs people of character. The world needs you.”

Keni’s Leadership Chat Tweets: You are extraordinary. You can go around this planet and there is only one you. So go out there, Ranger up. Get it On and Lead the WAY. all the way! Rltw. Godspeed

Buy and read this book, its power is undeniable.

When you buy Keni’s book  directly and choose to purchase 2 or more copies, a free copy is donated to our troops serving overseas for Christmas!

I also encourage you to listen to Keni’s music (“In God’s Hands” has become a genuine favorite of mine), check out his website, and allow his inspiring experience to affect you as a person and as a leader. I hope you will be as moved and inspired as I have been.

Picture courtesy of the U.S. Army.