Walk or Drive?

Recently my friend Mike from Concord, asked if I would do a small write up about leadership in the military for his quarterly news letter at Sharp Tool Company.  I thought after writing it that I would share it with everyone.  Enjoy.

As I walked through the gates of Arlington National Cemetery I was struck with the absolute immensity of the hollowed grounds that lay before me.  As far as my eyes could stretch lay the final resting place of so many American Heroes, Presidents, Soldiers, and my best friend.   I walked into the main office where a polite lady asked me, “Specific grave site?”  I replied, “Yes, 1LT Todd Weaver, KIA 09 September 2010.”  She shuffled through papers and eventually found the grave site.  She then asked, “Are you going to walk or drive to the site?”  The statement befuddled me.  Walk or drive?  I hadn’t even considered that the site was so far away that I may have to drive.  And with my disabled right foot, perhaps driving was the best option.  I paused for a second and replied, “Walking.”

I have been an officer in the United States Army for almost four years now.  I was deployed and injured in Southern Afghanistan almost a year ago now.  Leadership and organizational change are huge tenants of being an Army Officer.  In the Army, as with most organizations, we have core values in which all Soldiers subscribe to.  Specifically we have seven core values: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity and Personal courage.  All the core values put together both literally and figuratively spell out LDRSHIP.  As with any organization the extent to which our employees embody these values leads to either a smooth and efficient work place, or an inevitable failure. 

As I walked out of the front office my mind was racing.  “How could anyone drive on such honored ground?  How could I look at myself in the mirror if I drove past all these honorable heroes just to get to my friends final resting place?”  My right foot had been severely mangled by an Improvise Explosive Device in September and this walk would be the furthest I had walked since being injured.  Down Patton Street, left on Eisenhower, the street names of countless American Heroes droned on and I thought of my organizations core values, L D R S H I P.  I was proud that I was walking, as it was inevitably the right choice, even though driving would have been easier.

Organizations will continue to live, breath and move.  Employees will enter and exit over the years.  Core values will certainly change based on goals, motivation, and the company’s mission. But, in the heart of every employee there will be a time, perhaps multiple, where you are posed with the metaphorical question “Walk or Drive?”  Which way are you committed to acting?