A discussion would come up, and Marshall’s aides would say, “Colonel So-and-So is the best trainer of people we have, but he has never gotten along with his boss. If he has to testify before Congress, he’ll be a disaster. He is so rude.” Marshall would then ask, “What is the assignment? To train a division? If he is first-rate as a trainer, put him in. The rest is my job.” As a result, he created the largest army the world had ever seen, thirteen million people, in the shortest possible time, with very few mistakes. The lesson is to focus on strengths.
