“We wrote this so that the leadership lessons can continue to impact teams beyond the battlefield in all leadership situations—any company, team, or organization in which a group of people strives to achieve a goal and accomplish a mission.”

The goal of leadership seems simple: to get people to do what they need to do to support the mission and the team.

Remember: the enemy gets a vote.

Trust is not blindly given. It must be built over time.

The leader must own everything in his or her world.

Good leaders are rare; bad leaders are common.

A leader must care about the troops, but at the same time the leader must complete the mission, and in doing so there will be risk and sometimes unavoidable consequences to the troops.

Waiting for the 100 percent right and certain solution leads to delay, indecision, and an inability to execute.

Decisively engaged?

Even the most competent of leaders can be overwhelmed if they try to tackle multiple problems or a number of tasks simultaneously.

Relax. Look around. Make a call.

Don’t fight stress. Embrace it. Turn it on itself. Use it to make yourself sharper and more alert. Use it to make you think and learn and get better and smarter and more effective. Use the stress to make you a better you.

For leaders, the humility to admit and own mistakes and develop a plan to overcome them is essential to success. The best leaders are not driven by ego or personal agendas. They are simply focused on the mission and how best to accomplish it.

In the business world, and in life, there are inherent complexities. It is critical to keep plans and communication simple.

When it comes to standards, as a leader, it’s not what you preach, it’s what you tolerate. When setting expectations, no matter what has been said or written, if substandard performance is accepted and no one is held accountable.

The only meaningful measure for a leader is whether the team succeeds or fails.

As a leader, it is up to you to explain the bigger picture to him—and to all your front line leaders. That is a critical component of leadership

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.

No one can sum up all God is able to accomplish through one solitary life, wholly yielded, adjusted, and obedient to Him.

The essence of strategy is that you must set limits on what you’re trying to accomplish.

There is nothing that God has judged good for us that He has not given us the means to accomplish, both in the natural and the moral world.

Fit no stereotypes. Don’t chase the latest management fads. The situation dictates which approach best accomplishes the team’s mission.

Those who have accomplished the greatest results are those who never grow excited or lose self-control, but are always calm, self-possessed, patient and polite.

You measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles you have to overcome to reach your goals.

Instead of worrying about what people say of you, why not spend time trying to accomplish something they will admire.