The very moment you step through the double doors of bootcamp your Drill Instructors instill leadership in you. If you are ever going to train a well oiled fighting machine you must foster an entire leadership culture. Leadership is the foundation of any good Marine. That is why the Marine Corps decided to meticulously lay it out in the 11 Marine Corps Leadership Principles.
11 Marine Corps Leadership Principles
1. Be technically and tactically proficient
Knowing your MOS in the Marine Corps is very important. A Marine must have the technical skills to perform their duties. However, a Marine is “a Rifleman first”, before they ever receive training in MOS school. A Marine must be to tactically carry out those same duties on the field of battle.
2. Know yourself and seek self-improvement
A Marine must be able to identify their faults in every aspect of their lives. With this knowledge they can form a plan of attack and improve it. The Marine knows becoming a cut above takes work outside normal hours of duty.
3. Know your Marines and look after their welfare
A good leader understands the human element behind those they command. Every Marine is different and far from autonomic. Understanding this will help the leader put them in different billets to fit their capacity.
4. Keep your Marines informed
Keeping your Marines informed will ensure punctuality, understanding, and initiative within your ranks. This will also curb the spread of false gossip.
5. Set the example
Respect in the Marine Corps is “earned” never “given.” In order to excel as a leader you cannot “fake-the-funk” You must strive to be morally, mentally, and physically strong.
6. Ensure that the task in understood, supervised, and accomplished
A leader must speak in a clear and direct manner to make sure the task is understood. The task or mission must be supervised at all appropriate levels to ensure safety and compliance with regulations. As a leader you must learn to “inspect” before you “expect.”
7. Train your Marines as a team
Training your Marines as a team is the only way to ensure success in a combat environment. Junior Marines are taught from day-one in Bootcamp that they are “only as strong as their weakest link.” One Marine’s failure is the entire units failure! With this, Marines are taught to “police their own”
8. Make sound and timely decisions
A Marine must use initiative in order to heuristic decisions. A decision made quickly can affect the field of battle far more than a well thought-out plan executed too late!
9. Develop a sense of responsibility in your subordinates
By developing a sense of responsibility and delegating authority you are developing subordinate leaders of the future. You are also helping to foster initiative within your ranks.
10. Employ you unit in accordance with its capabilities
Understanding the Marines under your charge, your training, and equipment is essential to employment. The mission has a lower probability of success if you are poorly equipped to handle it.
11. Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions
Seeking responsibility shows your your superiors that you are confident of handling your current responsibility. Taking responsibility for your own actions is important to correct your shortcomings. Seeking and taking responsibility is the hallmark of good leadership.
When you use the leadership principles they will always steer you in the right direction when dealing with fellow Marines. The skills you learn in the Marine Corps will stay with you long after you EAS. The 11 Leadership Principles will become second nature.
The leadership principles are also an important for self-evaluation. As you progress in your career, you can use them to identify your own strengths and weaknesses, and seek self-improvement. With this you can truly refine the warriors edge!
The mission at Devil Dog Shirts is to perpetuate the warrior ethos within our Corps. The very core of any warrior is leadership. No matter what rank they are! It is leadership at all levels that drives the success of the Corps. As a gift from warrior-to-warrior Devil Dog Shirts will give any newly promoted NCO (with E-copy of promotion warrant) 17.75% off any merchandise on the devildogshirts.com website. This promotion is indefinite.
As a marine I agree. very unfortunate many people don’t