How To Help Those Who Are Still In The Game
You hear people say to those who serve in the military or to Veterans “Thank you for your service”, but does this really address how you can truly help those who still serve? Recently, there has been an example of a leader not attending a Veterans Day event at an overseas cemetery nor attending a similar event here at home. The same leader can’t even attend an event honoring the national arts.
What are citizens to make of this when rhetoric does not fit nor match the behavior of elected officials? How does this square with the concept of effective leadership?
General Stanley McChrystal, Retired Army General formerly in command of all American and coalition forces in Afghanistan and now Senior Fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute For Global Affairs, has noted in his book “Leadership: Myth and Reality “
“ Even in combat, I found that I had far less direct power than the mythology of military command implies and would discover vastly more ability to influence things outside my formal authority than I’d anticipated.
Power, in my experience, is derived more from reputation than rank, more from persuasion than direction, and more from example than prescription. “ ( P. 246 )
I can remember hearing years ago about how a military Commanding Officer ( a Physician ) for a military treatment facility volunteered on weekends to serve in the Emergency Room alongside his staff, arms deep in blood, treating victims of shootings and motor vehicle accidents.
No staff person at that military medical facility questioned the integrity nor the dedication of this Commanding Officer; they saw it manifested all of the time. The Commander’s credibility was beyond reproach !
They don’t make very many leaders like this anymore. More times than not, you can see people who make major important decisions without consulting their workforce, without considering at all what the short-term, let alone the long-term, consequences might be regarding their decision-making process.
You have to wonder what all of this means with regard to contributing to a healthy work environment and organization.
I know of another military officer ( a Command Chaplain ) who would always be on the dock seeing his staff Chaplains deploy on a ship for their mission. This same Chaplain was also tenacious in his support for his Chaplains’ families visiting and communicating with them during the deployment.
Again, I don’t see this anymore.
Instead, expediency seems to override and triumph over anything that would resemble compassion and thoughtful analysis.
Recently, a newly elected Congressman and Veteran reminded us that we need to
“Never Forget “
Yes, never forget the sacrifices that others have made for you. Instead, we have been content to let others do the dirty work for us. As David Crosby observes:
“Somebody’s brother
Somebody’s mother,
Somebody other than you. “
How can you help those who are still in the game? First, by listening and showing that you care. Then allowing the conversation to determine how you can be of help, i.e., helping a service member, Veteran or their family member with assistance getting groceries, going to a medical appointment, helping with their lawn.
This assistance does not need to spectacular, but it does need to be genuine.
It can happen.
We can do better.
May it be so.
