Leadership Lessons from ‘Band of Brothers’

 

IMDB’s 4th on the list of Top Rated TV Shows, Band of Brothers follows the story of 101st Airborne Division’s Easy Company through war-torn Europe, from landing in Normandy to drinking Hitler’s wine.

First time I watched the series, I was a young student in Romania’s Air Force Academy; during the initial bootcamp, our CO (commanding officer) would organize a “movie night” every evening after the mandatory roll call and dinner, where we got to watch an episode of BoB. He knew this show was filled with lessons each one of us would understand and need, and he also knew it would make us feel more like real soldiers and comrades.

I really have to say that watching this masterpiece so early on my road to becoming an officer made a huge difference, not only in its impact on my decision-making abilities, but on the relationships I developed with my colleagues. I felt we had a special connection, doing all these hard things together, being there for each other and showing genuine respect. It almost felt like duty — your duty to take care of your team so that they’ll take care of you.

As the saying goes: “hard times create strong men”, but it’s not just men. Hard times help people develop stronger connections and enhance their bonding abilities. It’s easier to see the person next to you as a brother or sister when your common task is survival, when you know your life may depend on them at some point.

That’s why Band of Brothers is such a great story — it shows us the better parts of war; the (only) good meaning this experience has for us, humans.

War brings out the worst and the best in people. Wars do not make men great, but they do bring out the greatness in good men.

— Richard Winters

The series portrays Richard Winters, who starts off as Easy Company’s CO, as a true example of leadership, a man who puts his company’s needs above his fear and would even sacrifice his reputation for the safety and wellbeing of his men. His portrayal by Damian Lewis plays a central part in how the story develops, this fact being reflected mostly in Easy Company’s behaviour and how it was influenced by Winters’ lessons and training.

Lead from the front, lead by example

As all leaders should do.

If you watch all the battle scenes, he’s always close to his men, either in the trenches or in the fields. He shows them what to do, instead of barking orders.

• in their attempt to disable the guns at Brécourt Manor, we get to see Winters leading his company in full splendor: everyone knows what they have to do, he’s always moving between his troops on the frontline, giving instructions and making sure everything goes according to plan;
• in several instances, he chooses to execute reconnaisssance firsthand, elaborating plans so as to involve his troops efficiently by reducing the risk of loss and getting the job done safely and swiftly;
• in one instance, he even puts himself at risk by exiting the trenches and firing upon the enemies, just so one of his privates will get the courage he needs to shoot his weapon. This is called leading by example.

 

Winters knows that his men are not going to respect him just because he outranks them. He’s always trying to earn it, to show them that he’s there, aware of their problems, watching over like a hawk. If there’s something to do, he goes there and shows his men how to do it, instead of issuing orders and expecting them to be completed. He is not only their CO, or a shadow with authority — he is one of them.

Sometimes, you may need to make sacrifices

If you’re leading people, they are your responsibility. Their safety depends on you and your decisions. It doesn’t matter if you were chosen or the burden landed on your shoulders; you must accomplish your duty.

Throughout the series, there are certain characters that actively choose to endanger themselves in order to save someone or accomplish the mission:

• Richard Winters, now battalion commander, seeing his company ill-led by an incompetent lieutenant, is ready to go out in the middle of the battle and take charge of the situation, refusing to let his men die worthlessly. He is stopped by his CO and, instead of accepting defeat, he orders the next officer in charge, Cpt. Speirs, to “relieve the lieutenant and lead that attack on end”.
• Speirs immediately takes charge and the situation starts to progress. Now, the only thing left to do is link up the two companies that are fighting the Germans, and are simultaneously separated by them. In a moment that’s made history, Speirs runs through the Germans AND BACK, linking the two companies and putting an end to the fight. The entire scene can be watched here.
• “Bull” Randleman, an NCO squad leader, is the only one to try to carry a wounded soldier to safety after he’s been shot by a sniper — in plain sight, while bullets rain down on him.

 

These selfless acts are all meaningful: they either try to show the great lengths the performers are trying to go to in order to complete the mission and relieve their comrades, because they believe they should sacrifice themselves instead of sacrificing their troops; or they try to illustrate the actions a leader must take in order to deserve the respect they want to receive from their peers — and to lead by example.

You would not sacrifice someone else if you could do it yourself.

What kind of leader puts himself first?

In our lives, hopefully, we are never in a position to make a choice that would put us or someone else at a capital risk. It may involve a sacrifice of our time, money or ego, but nothing comes close to what those soldiers had to endure.

As a leader, you are going to have to make lots of sacrifices. Transferring the burden to someone else’s shoulders is not a choice. You have to be a leader to the end. Carry your responsibilities with pride and dignity, for you and for those who follow your lead.

What are you going to do for them?

There is a certain scene I find really powerful and so full of meaning.

After a failed night mission in which they’ve lost a man, several others got injured, and the captured enemy barely gave them any useful information, Easy Company’s men are ordered to do it all over again the next night (by higher command).

What Maj. Winters does is brief the troops of what the mission is going to involve, what details have changed and the fact that it’s going to be harder than last time, and then orders them all to get a full night’s sleep and report to him back in the morning that they were unable to secure any live prisoners.

What can we learn from here?

Putting the lives of others in danger because someone else said so is unnacceptable. You have be fully aware of the risks you are exposing your team to when making a decision.

Allowing his men to not obey orders is something that, if found out, could have got Winters in big trouble. But is reputation really more important than the integrity of the people you lead? You are there to protect them from unnecessary and risky situations like these, because no one else will. For you, they may be real people; for others, they’re just statistics.

The other thing to notice in this scene is the young lieutenant’s reaction to his CO’s decision, at 1:40 and 2:12 — you can definitely see he understands what Winters just did; his eyes may seem surprised, but they’re full of respect and the lesson he got from this event will stay with him forever.

The leader’s not always the one upfront

Because Winters gets promoted and he’s leaving big shoes to fill, sometimes other soldiers step in and, with not much authority, they still try to keep everything together at an internal, “local” level.

One of the underdogs of leadership is 1st Sgt. Lipton, who can be oftenly seen taking charge when no one else would, being on the frontline, making sure his comrades are all safe and capable to execute their missions and speaking frankly to his superiors about his observations, all in Company’s interest.

When Company leadership is faulty, he goes to report it, plain and simple.

When he observes something to be off, he intervenes before it becomes a problem.

When a certain Lieutenant takes charge of Easy Company, the soldiers’ morale goes down significantly, due to their leader’s lack of leadership skills. Everyone, including Lipton, is aware of his incompetence. Lipton is fully aware that this person is a danger to his men, but when he hears his peers talking bad about him, he does not entertain them. Instead, he tries to limit this behaviour because he knows it won’t do good for anyone — the Lieutant can sustain a bad image by himself, adding sticks to the fire will only make it worse.

Everything Lipton does is to ensure the wellbeing of his companions, with no other interest. The leadership (Winters, this time) takes notice of his actions and, as a reward, Lipton becomes an officer.

Leadership is not always made in the frontlines. Sometimes, it can be micromanaged by capable people from all places.

You don’t have to be the most powerful, extroverted person in the room to be leadership material — you just have to prove yourself.

And the world would really benefit from some good leaders right now.

Be smart, kind and observant — some small, but thoughtful actions will take you further than you’ve ever imagined. But your intentions must be good.

Some other actions you can take in order to maximize your leadership potential:

• try to figure out problems before they emerge;
• try to anticipate conflicts in your inner circle and either prevent them or understand their causes;
• try to pay attention to what your people need from you and constantly read the room — the key’s usually in the words not spoken.

 

A final note

I don’t really think leaders are always born. Some of them are, yes, and Winters may have been one of them. But others are forged. They are being created in the heat of battle, conflict or critical situations. They may be like gold not yet found — dormant and awaiting someone or something to let them shine in the light.

You’ll never know if you’re leadership material or not if you don’t get the chance to prove yourself. Don’t just assume people have always been good at leading others; they may just had more opportunities for exercise than you.

The leaders you find: cherish them. Follow them and try to learn everything you can from their thoughts and actions. Heck, even help them improve. An investment in your leadership is an investment in yourself. Don’t make their life harder.

The leaders who are not yet “leaders”: polish them. Let them shine. Bring them out. As I’ve already said, the world needs them. You need them. Don’t let their potential go to waste.

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I hope you found these lessons useful. If you’re a leader, you may learn something from them. If you’re not a leader, you may learn something from them.

Leadership is an art. It requires skill, as well as hard work. Don’t treat it superficially, because it won’t work. It’s something you train even when you don’t want to; even if you realize or not.

Now, I will leave you with a scene from an interview with the real Richard D. Winters that brings me tears everytime I watch it.

Thank you for reading my article.

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

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