Gates on Leadership and Irreverence

Defense Department Secretary Robert Gates gave a talk leadership to ROTC cadets at Duke University on Wednesday in which he said good leaders need both integrity and a sense of humor about themselves.

He passed on what he tells

all the new generals and civilian executives that I meet with at the Pentagon. It is a leadership quality that is really quite basic and quite simple, but it's so basic and so simple that too often it's forgotten. And that is the importance, as you lead, of doing so with common decency and respect towards your subordinates.

Harry Truman had it right when he observed that one of the surest ways to judge someone is how well or poorly he treats those who can't talk back.

Gates said the second fundamental quality of leadership

is doing the right thing when it's the hard thing. In other words, integrity. Too often we read about examples in business and government of leaders who start out with the best of intentions and, somehow, go astray.

I found that, more often than not, what gets people into trouble is not the obvious case of malfeasance, taking the big bribe or cheating on an exam. Often, it's the less direct but no less damaging temptation to look away or pretend something didn't happen or that certain things must be OK because other people are doing them.

Gates also told the students that as they rise through the ranks,

it's important to have irreverent people around you. People who aren't afraid to poke a little fun. People who can criticize.

I think it's very dangerous to surround yourself with people who tell you what a wonderful person you are because that -- I've seen too many people go down that road, and it's always disastrous because you're not, and, sooner or later, you're going to find that out.

Gates then told an irreverent anecdote about himself:

One of my lines is that when I was a brand-new [Air Force] second lieutenant, I did what my sergeant told me. And between the two of us, we did my job pretty well.