Leadership

Adding Leadership to the Warcloud system was the obvious next step as I got deeper into the concepts that make up the Warpath.

I saw a commander at the head of an army. But that commander couldn’t just give orders. In my mind, he had to be a real leader to avoid becoming a “nice-guy” who got nothing accomplished or a vicious tyrant who got his soldiers killed.

Going deeper into the concepts of the Warpath helped me establish a crucial doctrinal publication for warcloudfitness.com. What surprised even me was, Leadership was a part of it all along.

At first, it may seem that the leadership lessons are obscured by the fitness overtones. But Warcloud Leadership is not so far removed from Warcloud Fitness. Many metaphors pertaining to fitness and health (both physical and psychological), can be mirrored in the leadership needs of businesses and other organizations like governments of nations. And that’s how I see our bodies: nations with a commander to lead them.

Just as with fitness concepts, individuals must meet and overcome resistance and ultimately grow stronger.

The world needs strong leaders.

Commander’s Intent

The body is a top-down organization made up of a Commander (that’s you) and a lieutenant (the mind, or mental faculties). The lieutenant issues commands on your behalf via neurological communications throughout the body i.e. the nervous system.

The muscles are the soldiers – they do the work at the behest of their Commander. Beware the tendency to become a tyrant.

The Commander must establish what is most important to the overall strategic goals of the operation. That’s called The Commander’s Intent.

This Intent should succcessfully:

Describe what constitutes success of the operation

Define the purpose of the operation

And, convey that purpose appropriately to subordinate units

The Perspective of Command

You, as the Commander, must establish a relationship with your ground level troops. Remember, a body unable to communicate with itself is like a nation divided.

Take the perspective of a military leader. His has an eternal perspective, or at least very long-term perspective. In the midst of the battle, he sees the national end state, or the nation’s best interests.

Next down, you have senior military officers. Their perspective is long-term, but not eternal. Their perspective envelopes the duration of the conflict and perhaps the next campaign that follows.

Then you have the non-commissioned officers. Their perspective is short-term, limited to their current assignment.

At the bottom are ground level troops. Their perspective is micro-term, only encompassing their deployment.

What am I getting at here? The biceps does not know what your goal is. Muscles don’t know that you’re trying to get swole – they only know that resistance is being experienced and an appropriate force must be applied to fight it.

In order for your muscles to be recruited to a Cause (meaning, they’re not just focused on short-term objectives), you must build a strong relationship with your body. A strong neurological connection with your muscles is needed.

It cannot be overstated that a tyrant’s rampage to Victory will prove a weak and unstable national end-state. Meanwhile a “nice-guy” cannot hold the territory he’s won. You’re going to need to develop the skills and knowledge to become a strong, dependable leader of your own body before you can hope to lead others.