Padre's Corner - Leadership: an integrated human character with respect and honour
May 25, 2021 - Capt Min Kim, Padre, 1 Service Battalion
We pause for a moment to ponder what constitutes leadership.
Most of us—if not all—concur that leaders are not born but trained. In the military, for instance, there are numerous training courses that build knowledge and experience in order to help soldiers be efficient and effective in serving the country.
Soldiers in the combat units also take additional trainings in the field. Exercise MAPLE RESOLVE 21, one of the major exercises in the Canadian Army, is currently conducted in Wainwright in preparation, and so to be ready, for the upcoming deployments. Young soldiers and seniors alike learn anew each time they participate in these and other exercises.
Different and higher levels of knowledge and experiences for soldiers are necessary to build their leadership skills. However, knowledge and experience alone do not evince that one is a leader in a true sense. In other words, many are trained, but not all are leaders with respect and honour. We see this gap quite often, and what is seen should not be overlooked.
In Virtuous Leadership, Alexandre Havard stresses there is no leadership in a true sense if there is no virtuous character.
He states, “It is my contention that leaders either strive to grow in virtue as surely as they breathe or they are not leaders” (Introduction, xiv). By “virtue,” Havard refers to integrity and maturity, a sine qua non insofar as being a leader with respect and honour. Knowledge and experience do not replace virtues, and vice versa, but we often miss this mark.
“Leaders never resort to manipulation,” asserts Havard. “Nor do they lead by exercising the potestas, or power, inherent in their office. Instead, they lead through auctoritas, the authority that stems from character” (xix).
Leadership requires virtues as well as knowledge and experience; otherwise, it critically lacks what is essential. Leaders in the military are no exception; they are required to continue to be trained to be integrated human beings with respect and honour, equipping soldiers to be future leaders.