By: Prabowo Subianto [taken from the Book: Military Leadership Notes from Experience Chapter I: Exemplary Leaders of The Indonesian Armed Forces]

Courage

For a soldier, courage is absolute essential. Courage does not only concern physical courage but also moral courage. Physical courage is manifested in the willingness to overcome fear in the face of injury and death. Moral courage is the courage to face the risk of losing office, rank, and position due to actions disliked by superiors but true to one’s beliefs as a TNI soldier.

Physical courage and moral courage manifest themselves in a leader’s ability to make decisions in difficult and risky situations. Without courage, a military leader cannot succeed. Once a commander loses his courage, the appreciation from his men will be diminished or lost altogether.

Prominent Personality

A military leader must have a prominent and benevolent personality. I said good personality because many figures are prominent but not benevolent, such as Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot, Stalin, and Al Capone. A good person always displays honesty, puts others before themselves, displays humility and a willingness to sacrifice, and is not easily shaken by circumstances. From Indonesian forefathers, we can learn the eight personal qualities of good leaders, known as hasta brata:

A leader shall be like the Ocean (Pindo Jaladri).

A leader is broad-minded, able to listen to negative things but always does positive things.

A leader shall be like the Moon (Pindo Candra).

A leader can always be a guiding light in the darkness.

A leader shall be like a Star (Pindo Kartika).

A leader can show his people the right direction and always exude hope.

A leader shall be like a Mountain (Pindo Arga).

A leader has a steadfast belief that is not easily swayed by circumstances.

A leader shall be like the Earth (Pindo Bahana).

A leader understands what his people need and extends a helping hand without discrimination.

A leader shall be like the Fire (Pindo Dahana).

A leader provides warmth and can fire up his men’s spirit and eradicate inequality and injustice.

A leader shall be like the Wind (Pindo Bayu).

A leader can move freely and can be felt everywhere.

A leader shall be like the Sun (Pindo Surya).

A leader is always a source of positive energy for his surroundings.

The eight personality traits that we can learn from the nation’s forefathers should be contemplated because their wisdom should not be trivialised. In essence, if a leader has negative personality traits such as greed, dishonesty, selfishness, cowardliness, uncaringness, unfairness, entitlement, narcissism, then very quickly, he will be abandoned and even opposed by his own men.

Loyalty

A military leader must have a strong and absolute loyalty to the country, the nation, and the people. If he is not loyal, he will not have the strength to face the trials and tribulations in his life as a leader. Loyalty can be reflected in one’s commitment to an organisation, dedication to comrades and the men one leads.

There are leaders who, under unfavourable circumstances, are quick to scapegoat or blame their subordinates. Many also tend to look for their men’s mistakes when everything goes awry. On the other hand, if their men are successful, they are often the first to come out and claim the victory as their own. A true leader always strives to defend and put the interests of his men above his own. There is one age-old military wisdom we can learn from in this regard:

If you take care of your men,

your men will take care of you.

Professional Skills

To be a successful leader, one must have professional skills and capabilities. A leader must be well-versed in their field.

If they are an infantry battalion commander, they have to understand all types of infantries. A leader must thoroughly master all techniques and tactics from the platoon, company down to battalion level. They ought to have a vision equal to two levels above them and mastery equal to two levels below them. A brave but stupid leader will inflict many casualties on his men.

Passion

The fifth element that I believe a leader should possess is passion. It is what drives a military leader to act and advance dynamically.

Passion encourages a soldier to endure suffering and be calm and steadfast in the face of dangers. Passion will compel a military leader to achieve victory. Without passion, a leader could achieve no glorious outcome. If two equally intelligent and capable people compete, the one with greater passion will emerge as the winner.

There is a saying in the army that goes:

• The most brilliant plan executed half-heartedly will yield worse results than a simple plan executed vigorously.
• War may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory. (General G.S. Patton)

In my opinion, based on my study of the history of successful and effective military leadership, I believe that every military leader must have and live a leadership philosophy. Philosophy informs and directs a leader in exercising their leadership. The philosophy that I often use is the 11 Principles of TNI Leadership, which I will go through in detail in Chapter 10 of this book, and a simple principle that goes like this:

For me, it means that in making a decision or a policy, one should ask oneself whether or not it will benefit the country, the nation, and the armed forces. If it does, do not hesitate, and only after this can one start to think about one’s interests. Not the other way around. Suppose one already puts one’s interests above his men’s, let alone the country’s interests. In that case, one is acting selfishly and is showing poor leadership.

First: My Homeland; Second: My Men, Then third: Myself.

OTHER THINGS THAT DEFINE SUCCESSFUL MILITARY LEADERSHIP

Physical Fitness

A military leader must possess excellent physical fitness. He must be able to lead his men by example and be a role model. A military leader would not be effective if he is unfit. He cannot lead the men if he is not present in their midst or in front of them. Excellent physical endurance is necessary to deal with the pressure of military life and the stress of everyday life.

Presence At Critical Moments and Places

My seniors often taught me that leaders should always be present at the most critical place and moment. The presence of a leader can calm the men who may be distraught by the precarious conditions they are in and the dangers they face.

A military leader should also be able to read and assess a situation up close. He should be able to quickly feel his men’s psyche at a very critical juncture. Important decisions often must be made swiftly and accurately. In a state of emergency, changes often occur very rapidly. Thus, a military leader who monitors a critical situation from afar is often slow in making key, sometimes life-or-death, decisions.

Forward-thinking and Creativity

A leader must have a forward-thinking mindset to implement policies that can improve the current situations to achieve progress in the future. Maintaining a status quo and overlooking matters that call for improvement and change will lead to stagnation, even degeneration and degradation.

A leader must be creative and dynamic. Suppose he only waits for instructions and does not want to take the initiative. In that case, the organisation he is leading cannot rise to the challenges that may arise suddenly. Great leaders in history were often able to develop unexpected solutions and show a way out of their men’s difficulties or complex problems.

Cybernetics

A law known as cybernetics goes, “If you think you’ll lose, you’ve lost.” The takeaway is: Never whisper in your heart that you might lose. You have to have the spirit to succeed. The will to win will produce a winner.

Murphy’s Law

One of the laws in human and organisational activities that is worth a closer look at is Murphy’s law which goes:

‘If a plan might go wrong, it usually would go wrong’.

One would often encounter Murphy’s law in military life, whose local counterpart is ‘ojo kagetan’ (does not be easily shaken). A leader must always be prepared to face the worst scenario.

A Sense of Responsibility and Dedication

Rarely will we see a successful military leader who lacks responsibility and dedication to his duties and work, let alone a lazy and bossy one.

His subordinates will quickly sense if their leader does not have a sense of responsibility and is lazy, and they will become even lazier.