VOL. VII FEBRUARY, 1918 No. 1 C EDITORIAL CHAT Sentiment in Business ONTINUED success in business depends upon the loyalty and zeal of everyone connected with it, not merely on the part of the employed, but the employer as well, for it is he who must inspire and foster the feeling that the welfare of all rests upon the personal interest taken by each in his individual task. Employees are human, their actions governed by mood, physical condition and circumstances, but in the main they are honest, sincere and willing, quickly responding to the treatment and consideration accorded them. Every establishment must have its workers. No mechanical device can ever be invented to entirely displace or control them, for, being mechanical, its results are limited, but who can place a limit on the achievements of a resourceful corps of employees, satisfied, contented and thoughtful by reason of known appreciation of effort which is simply the outcome of sentiment applied and expressed. A business without sentiment surely is one without life. Quality The "Crucible," with this issue, enters the Seventh Year of its life. Leadership T HE following article appeared in the Sunday Magazine of The Philadelphia Press, and while the address was made by Major C. A. Bach, U. S. A., to the men commissioned as officers in his battalion, it is the best composition on "Leadership" ever recorded and its spirit applies equally as well to civilians in their daily occupations: When you join your organization you will find there a willing body of men who ask from you nothing more than the qualities that will command their respect, their loyalty and their obedience. They are perfectly ready and eager to follow you so long as you can convince them that you have these qualities. When the time comes that they are satisfied you do not possess them you might as well kiss yourself good-by. Your usefulness in that organization is at an end. From the standpoint of society, the world may be divided into leaders and followers. The professions have their leaders, the financial world has its leaders. We have religious leaders, and political leaders, and society leaders. In all this leadership it is difficult, if not impossible, to separate from the element of pure leadership that selfish element of personal gain or advantage to the individual, without which such leadership would lose its value. It is in the military service only, where men are willing to suffer and die for the right or the prevention of a great wrong, that we can hope to realize leadership in its most exalted Such men obey the letter of their orders, but no more. Of devotion to their commander, of exalted enthusiasm which scorns personal risk, of their self-sacrifice to insure his personal safety, they know nothing. Their legs carry them forward because their brain and their training tell them they must go. Their spirit does not go with them. Great results are not achieved by cold, passive, unresponsive soldiers. They don't go very far and they stop as soon as they can. Leadership not only demands but receives the willing, unhesitating, unfaltering obedience and loyalty of other men; and a devotion that will cause them, when the time comes, to follow their uncrowned king to hell and back again if necessary. You will ask yourselves: "Of just what, then, does leadership consist? What must I do to become a leader? What are the attributes of leadership, and how can I cultivate them?" Leadership is a composite of a number of qualities. Among the most important I would list selfconfidence, moral ascendency, selfsacrifice, paternalism, fairness, initiative, decision, dignity, courage. Let me discuss these with you in detail. Self-confidence results, first, from exact knowledge; second, the ability to impart that knowledge; and, third, the feeling of superiority over others that naturally follows. All these give the officer poise. To lead, you must know-you may bluff all your men some of the time, but you can't do it all the time. Men will not have confidence in an officer unless he knows his business, and he must know it from the ground up. The officer should know more about paper work than his first sergeant and company clerk put together; he should know more about messing than his mess sergeant; more about diseases of the horse than his troop farrier. He should be at least as good a shot as any man in his company. If the officer does not know, and demonstrates the fact that he does not know, it is entirely human for the soldier to say to himself, "To hell with him. He doesn't know as much about this as I do," and calmly disregard the instructions received. There is no substitute for accurate knowledge. Become so well informed that men will hunt you up to ask questions; that your brother officers will say to one another, "Ask Smith -he knows." issuance of orders and join more intelligently in their execution. Not only must the officer know but he must be able to put what he knows into grammatical, interesting, forceful English. He must learn to stand on his feet and speak without embarrassment. I am told that in British training camps student officers are required to deliver ten-minute talks on any subject they may choose. That is excellent practice. For to speak clearly one must think clearly, and clear, logical thinking expresses itself in definite, positive orders. While self-confidence is the result of knowing more than your men, moral ascendency over them is based upon your belief that you are the better man. To gain and maintain this ascendency you must have selfcontrol, physical vitality and endurance and moral force. You must have yourself so well in hand that, even though in battle you be scared stiff, you will never show fear. For if you by so much as a hurried movement or a trembling of the hands or a change of expression, or a hasty order hastily revoked, indicate your mental condition, it will be reflected in your men in far greater degree. In garrison or camp many instances will arise to try your temper and wreck the sweetness of your disposition. If at such time you "Fly off the handle" you have no business to be in charge of men, for men in anger say and do things that they almost invariably regret afterward. An officer should never apologize to his men; also an officer should never be guilty of an act for which his sense of justice tells him he should apologize. Another element in gaining moral ascendency lies in the possession of enough physical vitality and endurance to withstand the hardships to which you and your men are subjected, and a dauntless spirit that enables you to not only accept them their cheerfully but to minimize a magnitude. And not only should each officer know thoroughly the duties of his own grade, but he should study those of the two grades next above him. A twofold benefit attaches to this. He prepares himself for duties which may fall to his lot at any time during battle; he further gains broader viewpoint which enables him to appreciate the necessity for the (To be continued) |