I had recently just finished the Band Of Brothers series on DVD. For those unfamiliar with the series it is basically a portrayal of the Army airborne paratroopers during World War II – specifically “Easy” Company of 101st Airborne. The series is based on the exploits of Easy Company during World War II – from basic training to the fall of Germany, with some modification. During one particular episode, entitled “Crossroads” there is a focus on leadership, with emphasis being placed on the battalion commander – Major Richard Winters. The beginning of the episode has men who had served under Major Winters discussing what distinguished him as a great leader. A common theme was that Major Winters “led from the front”. I will discuss in this article what it means to lead from the front and why as an entrepreneur it is wise to embody this leadership trait.

Get Your Hands Dirty
Leading from the front essentially means that as a leader, you will not ask someone to do something that you are not willing to do yourself. It is not enough to merely talk about your willingness to accomplish a dangerous, or undesirable task, but you must go out and actually accomplish the task in the company of the men or women you are leading. This means “getting your hands dirty” – one must be intimately familiar with an activity in order to lead others in accomplishing it. This means not only taking the easy activities but the most difficult as well.

Getting your hands dirty and leading from the front may be, and is often times, dangerous. In the beginning of each “Band Of Brothers” episode there are a few real life counterparts of the characters making statements about their experience. At the beginning of “Crossroads” one individual made a statement to the effect of how a good leader never follows and leads the way and that Major Winters embodied this attribute. He further discussed that he did not know how Major Winters survived due to his constantly leading from the front in dangerous situations time and time again.

Major Winters embodied the ideal leader who led from the front and got his hands dirty. He gained the respect of his men by his consistent actions – generally putting their welfare ahead of his own. A wide variety of leaders were portrayed in “Band Of Brothers”, Major Winters was essentially the cream who rose to the top on every occasion. I will further discuss the advantages and challenges of this approach.

Advantages Of Leading From The Front
There are many advantages of leading from the front – here are a few:

1. Increased Competence – Each time that you have the opportunity to lead from the front you will increase your skill in a given activity. You will become accustomed to volunteering and pressing forward and it will become second nature. Pretty soon there will be nothing that you cannot accomplish!
2. Gain Respect - People notice and respect true leaders. People follow those they respect. Continually leading from the front will increase others’ respect in you as your competence and visibility grows.
3. Increased Agility - As competence and respect increases you will become more agile in your decision-making and ability to carry out even the most challenging tasks. As fear decreases, strength and agility increases, you will become effective and fast!

With each instance of leading from the front you will further strengthen your self-confidence and the confidence that others possess in you.

Challenges Of Leading From The Front
To every up-side there is a down-side. I truly believe that there are no disadvantages to leading from the front, however there are challenges.

1. Fear - In my opinion fear is the only inhibitor to achieving greatness. Two of the most common, serious fears are the fear of losing one’s life or financial position. What many do not realize is that conquering fear allows one to strengthen their own position and readies them to face the next challenge of higher order. Action decreases fear, inaction increases it.
2. Hardship – Leading from the front may, and usually does, correspond with great hardship, either physically, financially, or both. This usually equates to minor if not great discomfort, at least for a time. If it was easy more would do it. Hardships may be great, but the rewards are even greater! Persist through the hardship – there is light on the other side!
3. Uncertainty - It has been said that the only guarantees in life are death and taxes – so it goes with leading from the front. Great leaders have no idea what their decisions will result in – it is the path least taken. However they are confident in their competence, agility, and decision-making ability which has been honed over time by leading from the front. There are few guarantees in life, however weathering each storm strengthens your resistance and position in nearly every regard.

Entrepreneurial Applications
All of the advantages and challenges listed in this article may be applied to either an entrepreneurial or general business environment. Military leadership and strategy are great sources for study in the business world – for one such example see my article titled – “The Entrepreneurial Battlefield”. In business, especially entrepreneurship one must gain competence, respect, and agility in order to effectively compete and increase profits. The more one hones these abilities and the resultant rewards the better off the entrepreneur will be.

Entrepreneurship is rife with fear, hardship, and uncertainty. Learning to conquer these challenges, especially early on, will well position you for success. The faster you overcome these challenges the faster you will rise to the next challenge until it becomes second nature. For those who have not viewed the “Band Of Brothers” series I highly recommend watching the series in it’s entirety. There are great lessons to be learned as well examples of good, bad, and indifferent leadership – check it out, it is well worth your time!

An Uncommon Virtue
This leadership trait of leading from the front sounds fairly straightforward and simple – however it is very uncommon. How many leaders do you know who lead from the front? When I say leaders – it may be in a community, corporate, private business, or government sense. Leadership applies to nearly all situations regardless of position or environment. If you truly think about this you will likely come to the realization that this is a rare attribute and the few truly great leaders lead from the front.

I challenge you to be on the lookout for this rare breed of leader and commend their style. I further challenge you to adopt this style yourself. Like any difficult task, practice makes perfect, and the difficult will come with ease over time. The challenges are great, but the rewards are greater and are worth your short term discomfort!

Leading from the front is difficult but sets you apart from the rank and file!

-John R. Sedivy of Cape Cod Branding