Leadership Starts with…Love?

Lead to Serve, Serve to Lead

A military leader’s first encounter with leadership is rarely through the military lens. Our early leadership experiences with parents, teachers, coaches, church leaders, etc., are often the most influential. These relationships help develop the men and women of character who will later lead our nation’s Armed Forces. Perhaps the family bonds of service in combat inspired Sun Tzu’s emphasis on parental love in leading an Army. No one thinks it is crazy to consider love an integral part of leading a child, spouse, student, or athlete – but when we discuss military leadership it is rarely part of the conversation. Rather than ignore the leadership examples set by those who positively influenced us as children, let’s embrace the example set by these monumental personalities who shaped us along the way.