Life Lessons - Conclusion

By Mojo Rider


The last installment of Lt. Col. Guy LoFaro's speech:


LEADERSHIP

And then it's months later and you're still recovering. Most of the tubes are gone but it's time for another round of major surgeries. And you go into one of the last, this one about 9 hours long. And they put you back together. And you wake up in the ICU one more time. Only one IV this time. And when you open your eyes, there's a huge figure standing over your bed. BDUs. Green beret in his hand. Bigger than God. And he's smiling. "It's about damn time you woke up you lazy bastard" he says. And you know it's your friend and former commander and you've got to come back with something quick - something good. He's the deputy Delta Force commander, soon to be the commander. And you say "Don't you have someplace else to be? Don't you have something more important to do?" And without skipping a beat, without losing that smile he says "Right now, I am doing what I consider the most important thing in the world." And you learn about leadership.

So there you have them. Some stories. I've tried to let you see the world as I've seen it a various points in time these 18 years. I hope you've learned something. I certainly have. "Rangers, lead the way!"

I posted this speech as food for thought. There's a saying that goes, "Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid." If you're smart, have a sense of awareness, I hope the dear reader gets something out of this and can maybe apply some of this to his or her life or workplace. At the very least, I hope it gives pause, that the reader stops to reflect and ask, "what kind of life am I leading? what kind of person do I want to be?"

All these things talked about by LoFaro, they all blend together: leadership, friendship and camaraderie, loyalty, compassion. You can't provide leadership if there is no camaraderie; there is no camaraderie if there is no friendship; there is no friendship if there is no loyalty or compassion.

You can't change people a lot of the times; you have to change your response to them, how you deal with them. You might not even change the workplace environment you're in if you're a middle manager, but if you lead by example and exhibit the qualities of friendship and teamwork to your co-workers, it might make the culture a little bit better. Not everyone will be on your side or reciprocate the loyalty; but those you do get on your side, if you know how to motivate them and keep morale up, they'll run thru a brick wall for you.