3 Long-Term Ways to Successfully Fulfill Your Duty as an Honorable Leader
By Lee Ellis
When sharing about my past experience as a former Vietnam POW, people often ask me, “How did you survive more than five years in a communist prison camp?” There were many contributing factors, but none more important than our courageous leaders. They put their lives on the line, suffered often, set the example and showed us how to resist, bounce back from torture, and return with honor. Foremost in their behaviors was an unwavering commitment to live out Article 5 of the Honor Code –
“Act responsibly; do your duty, and be accountable. Own your mistakes, and work to do better in the future.”
Short-Term Challenge – Long-Term Benefit
Regardless of your role or situation, acting responsibly, doing your duty, being accountable, and owning your mistakes can be a scary proposition. As was so clearly demonstrated in the POW camps, you have to be willing to suffer in the short run to live, grow, and lead with honor. Unfortunately, some people don’t have that commitment to fulfill their duty and the courage to be responsible.
Even when people are having authentic success and achievement in their life and work, they still end up cutting corners to get what they want, acting as though their ends justified their means.
In the government sector, we seem to hear far too many examples of such conduct by senior officials who abuse their power and operate as though there will never be any accountability. GSA executive Jeff Neeley, was just sentenced to three months in jail for fraudulently claiming extravagant personal expenditures as government expenses.
A Department of Justice news release stated, “Mr. Neely has acknowledged that he violated the special trust that was placed in him as a public servant,” said U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag. “His position with the government required that he be a good steward of government funds. Instead, he has admitted he abused his position and obstructed the investigation into his wrongdoing. He is being held accountable for his decision to violate the law.”
This is a good example of accountability in action, but he would not be facing jail time if he had held himself accountable to his responsibilities.
The Military Model of Duty and Accountability
Not surprisingly, the military is a good place to learn the right lessons about doing your duty, being responsible, and being accountable. Almost every person who enters the armed services goes through some sort of boot camp experience. It’s intended to be humiliating at times by making candidates accountable for the smallest and most innocuous of details like having one’s shoes shined and perfectly aligned, beds made so tight that you can bounce a quarter on them, uniforms perfectly pressed and clean from any untrimmed “cables” (stray threads), and never being late to a formation.
Everyone comes up short in some area and when there is a problem, there are only three acceptable responses: “Yes Sir” (or Ma’am), “No Sir”, or “No excuse Sir.” It’s all designed to instill a sense of responsibility and accountability as the standard. Regardless of rank or position, this commitment to accountability never goes away, as seen in recent examples of generals and flag officers that were relieved of duty and disciplined for not acting responsibly and operating in ways unbecoming of their office.
Personal and National Accountability
I’m convinced that doing your duty, being responsible, and being accountable are crucial not only to teamwork and achieving the mission, but ultimately those attributes are essential to our freedom and the many economic benefits of a market economy.
Perhaps like me you wish you could fix many of these broad national problems, but the first and most important step is for each one of us to be personally accountable and set the example.
Here are some of my personal motivators:
Doing my duty and fulfilling my responsibility because it’s the right thing to do. It works for self and others.
Knowing that there’s a reward for my reputation and character when fulfilling my duty—both of which enhance my long-term success.
Maintaining my personal pride. For me, it’s part of my identity and what I hope will be my legacy.
How Do We Do It?
Three clear attributes summarize how to grow and fulfill Article 5 of the Honor Code:
Commitment. Be intentional about doing your duty. It’s the essence of servant leadership, and others are depending on you. Whatever your responsibility, just decide to do it and make it a non-negotiable.
Ownership. Care about what you’re doing. Act as though you were the owner. Someone said that no one washes a rental car before turning it in because they don’t own it.
Courage. Fulfilling your duty isn’t easy. You’ll have to pay the price, take risks, and walk the hard road to do your duty. Temptation will come to cut corners and rationalize your actions to avoid accountability. Courage provides the confidence and energy to keep you focused on your goal of living and leading with honor.
My Surprising Reward for Fulfilling a Duty
I was a first lieutenant when captured in Vietnam and was usually the junior ranking and youngest POW in my cell with no formal leadership role or power. Yet something motivated me to volunteer and take responsibility for whatever tasks that needed to be done, even undesirable or humiliating acts such as cleaning the latrine.
Six months after we returned home, I got a phone call from a colonel friend from the camps telling me that I had been promoted two years early (ahead of my peer group) to the rank of major. To put it mildly, I was very surprised.
In reflection years later, I concluded that the difference was my positive attitude about being responsible and owning even the most menial tasks.
In both a metaphor and in this situation, you could say that emptying the “honey” bucket has its rewards. Keep fulfilling your duty as you move forward, and it will pay off someday.
LE
Download your free copy of The Honor Code – 7 Core Behaviors for Honorable Leadership. Use them with your team in motivating strong, honorable leadership values.
Join the thousands of other leaders that receive monthly coaching clips from Lee Ellis. There is a coaching clip on this month’s leadership topic. Sign up free, and begin to receive them in your inbox.
Related Articles:
– Honor Code Article 1 – Four Lies that All Leaders Are Tempted to Use, and How to Tell the Truth
– Honor Code Article 2 – Treating Others with Dignity and Respect Even When It’s Difficult: Four Leadership Traps to Avoid
– Honor Code Article 3 – 7 Leadership Steps That You Need to Know on Keeping Your Promises
– Honor Code Article 4 – Feel the Temptation to Stretch the Truth? 3 Ethical Guardrails to Keep You in the Right Lane
