Leading From the Point of Influence

A leader's weapon is his unit. To do this effectively, the leader must lead from the point of influence. The place where he can best employ his unit and impact the action most often will not be from the front. As a company commander, I tried to lead my platoon across an open area in civil war because I got out right in front of them; that didn't go well. A naval intelligence officer on an aircraft carrier also led from the back rather than the front when we were doing exercise steel knight.