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The Lord Down Here. Discipline Lessons from RSM John C Lord MVO MBE RSM John Lord MVO MBE is a legendary character but one that is less recognised these days than he should be. He achieved two notable firsts: the first RSM of 3 PARA (on its formation) and the first Academy Sergeant Major at…
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JP Morgan’s Guaranteed Formula For Success Sometimes, in the Army and in our lives, we find ourselves confusing working long hours with working hard. And then we confuse working hard with achieving results. There’s no simple way to avoid this mistake. It requires us to constantly assess which task(s) will best deliver our aims, and…
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Advising and Inspiring: What I Learned from ‘Bottom-Up Blogging’ I recently instigated an internal monthly blog within my Army Reserve RMP company. It began with me writing an example and publishing it. I then press-ganged others to follow suit. To begin, each month we covered a different aspect of the British Army’s ‘LEADERS’ model from the…
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High Morale: Lessons from D-Day to the House of Lords …Remember Monty’s pep talks to us on the eve of the invasion? Then the emotional feeling as we threaded our way through the English countryside, heading for our embarkation points. I can recall some barracking dockers as we approached Southampton, shouting to us ‘are you…
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Make Your Guiding Principles Useful Early in my first tour in the Army I received a copy of an unusual document I’d never come across before. Two sides of A4, typed and headed; it was the Commanding Officer’s Command Philosophy. ‘His philosophy?’, I thought. ‘Does he think he’s Plato?’ Since then I’ve wised up. I’ve…
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Breaking the Mould – How to Change, Develop and Improve Instruction Recently I witnessed, with a heavy heart, a group of trainees being disciplined by their Corporal instructor. Swearing, derogatory language and general de-motivation – it really was sad to listen to. And thankfully, it’s very rare to see these days. When I took the Platoon Commander, who was watching, aside and explained to…
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