Chapter III: The Principles of Leadership (3)

_Personal Pride._--Pride is another quality of human nature that is very useful to the leader in controlling his men. Just as he guards each individual's self-respect and cherishes it as the necessary basis of that manly and intelligent response he expects them to give to the demands of service, so he builds up their personal pride--in themselves, in what they are doing, and in the organization. This pride is largely established through seeking out cases of superior accomplishment and commending them. Once fairly developed, pride becomes an influence to which the leader may appeal successfully for better conduct, better results, and for patient endurance of hardship. He will not get it in a day, any more than he will get discipline or morale. It comes from the performance of good work that has been recognized as such, and rests in a justified feeling of ability and worth. So do not expect to get it by simply announcing to your men that they are the finest. Bring them to an honest belief in their worth through your recognition of it by praising their good work, and by making suitable remarks to outsiders which some of them may overhear. Find something in which they excel, and brag about it moderately. If possible make an occasion to show their ability publicly. If your outfit can once get a reputation for excellence, it matters little for what, it will become more excellent--good men will seek to join it, its personnel will thus improve, and it will continue to grow better.

_Pride in Organization._--Pride in the organization is a tremendous influence for keeping men up to the mark. It makes them keep each other up--and you begin to reap the rewards for having established it. You see them developing the spirit of discipline you have hoped for, and the co-operation in that teamwork which means so much. Every leader should always strive to arouse this pride. While we may not prescribe the exact steps for arousing it to fit the various conditions, your ingenuity will suggest the ways if you will make practical use of your knowledge that men take delight in doing things well and in having their excellence recognized; that the excellence of the individual should be reflected in the reputation of the team; that out of the bodily and mental development which comes from consciously doing things well, grow self-respect, laudable pride, and an assurance which strengthens the individual character; and that these are the elements of the organization spirit which you should seek to establish in your men.

_Competition affecting Individuals._--The instinct of rivalry or competition, which makes a man strive to excel among his companions, is another of the leader's instruments. This is so powerful a motive that it has to be used with judgment. Once launched in a real contest most men are likely to sacrifice anything to win. I remember discovering one of my young soldiers cheating in calling the hits at the target he was marking. He was perfectly frank in admitting to me that he had called many hits improperly, and when I asked him why, he ingenuously replied, "I heard the captain say we must beat H troop, and I was trying to help." He was so honest that I had to admit that the fault was half mine, and did not punish him. As a general rule what we want from our men is a high average of performance which may be maintained without any impairment of their powers, so you must judge the case fairly before introducing the spirit of contest. You must not be using it eternally to keep the men on the jump, but only on occasions that are worth while. There are moderate things for which it may be used regularly to stimulate effort, as in making the best record for punctuality, etc. But you would not want a man to be driving himself constantly to capacity--and so you use judgment to guard against individual injury as well as to keep the spirit fresh for use on real occasions.

_Team Competitions._--Competition between teams engaged in like undertakings will not only increase results, but its great advantage is that it brings the individuals of each team into close co-operation in order that their team may win, and thus gives them a better comprehension of the spirit of teamwork. As every leader is constantly trying to develop his teamwork, these rivalries are very common. But where your team competes with another _in the same organization_ it must play fair as a member of the larger team. The same rules of co-operation and loyalty apply to the conduct of your team here, as to the individual members of your own team at home. You may not do anything for your team here which injures the other team, or lowers it in the estimation of your men. Building up peacetime infantry spirit by slurs at the artillery, and artillery spirit at the expense of the infantry, was found to have been expensive business when war linked them together in the same team and each found himself dependent for success in battle on the co-operation of the other. "Sure he's good, but we can beat him," is the true mental attitude for contests within an organization.

_Care of Your Men._--Looking after your men's bodily welfare is an interesting and important part of the leader's direct responsibilities. I remember during the construction of one of the war training cantonments asking a bright-looking mechanic, who was pretending to be working at a steam heater at eleven o'clock one night, if he thought he could do good work in such long hours as he was keeping. "Certainly not, but I can make good pay." He was a decent-looking American, so I asked him how he justified such a spirit in this time of government need. "Because I am fed like a dog and lodged like one." It was true--and the ignorance or worthlessness of that contractor was thus squandering thousands of government dollars a day through needlessly disaffected labor, and delaying the completion of necessary accommodations for the soldiers. Such cases are common in every activity.

Each job presents its own problems to be solved according to the conditions. The big thing here is to realize that the welfare of his men is an important consideration for the leader who expects them to do good work. It would seem unnecessary to state that a man's mental and physical fitness have so much to do with his accomplishment, and yet so many bosses seem absolutely indifferent to a man's condition so long as he is able to drag himself to his work. In reality it should always be the first cause to investigate whenever any man shows a let down in his performance. A man cannot keep up good work on an empty or sour stomach, nor give continued careful attention to details if some trouble is constantly obtruding on his field of consciousness. This latter fact has cost many a good man an accident at his machine, and the intelligent foreman, knowing that sore feelings, grievances and mental troubles interfere with good performance, does all he can to eliminate them. In not keeping your workers in the best possible physical and mental condition, you are throwing away all kinds of potential energy--running a six-cylinder engine that is skipping many of the cylinders. How quickly the superintendent would get after a foreman who did that with a machine, yet possibly never notice that many of the human machines were as badly out of kilter.

In this question of looking after the welfare of your men there are two opposing considerations to be kept in mind. You are to build up in them self-respect, initiative, individual responsibility and self-determination, and therefore must not patronize them, coddle them, or treat them like children. On the other hand you have to recognize the characteristic of an individual in a group--he immediately shifts individual responsibility to the shoulders of the group. That is the reason why every man of a company in camp will continue to wade through the mud to reach a spring where five minutes' work by anyone would arrange stepping stones, or to dip water with difficulty from a shallow stream where a few minutes' work would dam it into a comfortable pool--and no one of them would do either of these helpful things until some leader came along and ordered it. This need for oversight is true in every activity, and the leader has to be on the lookout to see that his men do the things that are necessary for their comfort and welfare.

This is particularly necessary in out-of-doors jobs, as in engineering and construction. The man may be too tired or inexperienced to see to it himself that he has a comfortable place to sleep. The boss knows that the man's work of the morrow will depend on the restfulness of his sleep, and therefore requires him to make himself reasonably comfortable. Above all he gives constant attention to how his men are fed, especially at their breakfasts. He sees that they have the best available shelter and comfort for the noon rest. All this is simply part of his job of grooming and stoking the human engine which he is using on the work. To keep the men fit and to work them hard is his job--and the beauty of it is that the more thoroughly he does both the happier and more contented they are. For the hard play of tough muscles and the stern conquest of serious obstacles both bring pleasurable satisfaction to natural instincts in a healthy man; instincts designed to make him a cheerful and determined actor in the struggle to conquer nature and advance civilization. These instincts of pugnacity and of joy in a fight, of winning out no matter what the obstacle, are readily responsive to appeal, and most helpful to the leader who knows how to use them.

In some industries the physical and mental condition of the workers is made the care of a welfare department, which provides proper environment, sanitation, athletics, hospitals, kitchens, libraries, saving banks, country clubs, etc.--a background for successful management. But there still remains the necessity for the personal touch of the foreman in direct contact with the men. He understands all the facilities offered, their advantages, and what management intends them to do for the men--and he is there in close touch to see that the men get the right ideas and make the most of them. But beyond all that, incapable of general control, and properly in the sole hands of the immediate leader for the sake of their effect on his leadership, there are the thousand little homely things of the daily work and play in which the thoughtful foreman makes his men feel his interest in their welfare, success and happy living.

_Creating and Maintaining Discipline._--The inexperienced man is likely to have more apprehension about his ability to maintain discipline than about anything else in connection with taking charge of a group of men. He wonders if they will obey him and is not sure of himself as a disciplinarian. It will help him if he gets a fair idea of how discipline is maintained. It is often said that discipline is the result of the leader's administration of rewards and punishments. This is too narrow a view. In reality the spirit we call discipline is the result of the leader's whole conduct of himself and his job, of his personality and methods, of everything he does for his men, to his men and with them. Among all these, rewards and punishments play an important part. But rewards have a great deal more to do with building up discipline than have punishments, and are given much more easily and pleasantly. In fact if the leader has established at all the spirit of leadership herein pictured he will have but rare occasions to use any punishments. This has been proven over and over again, and with all kinds of men. In every phase of human endeavor, fair treatment and the encouragement that comes from judicious appreciation of good intentions and from praise of good work soon establish a spirit which makes punishment quite out of place and unnecessary.

A concrete example of the highest type of rigid discipline based on purely democratic principles is that of a highly trained college football team. Here we have individual manliness and initiative highly developed, together with a sense of subordination, teamwork, and the requirements of leadership and discipline. Here we find instant, unquestioning, cheerful obedience to commands given in action, and an _esprit_ and morale which make the team cheerfully tackle the toughest opponents. Where any leader may need in his group a discipline of quick implicit obedience to orders, let him consider the spirit of the football team as his model, rather than the spirit of whipped obedience which was found in the galleys of old.

_Discipline from Rewards._--Probably the most effective reward is the slight word of recognition of individual effort or excellence, sometimes even a nod and smile are enough. The main thing is to show this man and the others that you see and appreciate what he is doing. So as you supervise the work of your men be on the lookout for chances to commend individuals. Do not overdo it, fulsome or unmerited praise does more harm than good. Keep it what nature intended it to be, a reward for excellence which every man likes to receive, and for which he naturally strives so long as he feels sure that he will get it when merited.

One leader will go about inspecting his workers and look only for faults and speak only to criticize something as wrong; while another will seek good work to commend it, and correct mistakes in a spirit of showing how it could be done better. The first may by tremendous effort hold his men to a certain level of accomplishment, the second will soon have them all going in a spirit of emulation. Smith does not see why he cannot do as well as Jones next door, whom he heard the boss complimenting. Appreciation of a man's excellence appeals directly to one of his strong instincts, and never fails to inspire continued effort to win further praise.

_Influence of Good and Poor Men._--There are always to be found in every group certain men of stronger more cheerful characters than the average, men who make the best of things, who jolly the rest along through the hard tasks, and whose influence is thus a great asset. The leader must note these men, and do what he can to increase their influence with the others. If he has to show favor to some individual, he should pick one of these men to receive it, thus letting everyone see his appreciation of their cheerful willing spirit.

On the other hand there are often certain men of the meaner sort. They do the growling and grumbling for all, and their influence is in the direction of lowering the morale of the group. You must know these individuals also, and do what you can to convert them to cheerfulness and a will to win. Where a man's influence is bad, be sure you do nothing to strengthen his standing with his fellows. If someone must draw a disagreeable task, it is often well to let such a man have it as a reward for being a "kicker." A leader who did not think of this and made the mistake of handing the reward to such a one would hurt the morale of the whole by making the men feel that virtue was not recognized, and that their leader lacked good judgment.

You must therefore know your men and watch their work and their spirit, so you may reward the deserving, and never appear to support the undeserving. In time of hardship or strain, when the morale of your outfit is being tested, it will win through or break down depending largely on which type of men have the stronger influence. It will be well for you then if you have strengthened the hands of the strong cheerful ones and made them subordinate leaders of sentiment and opinion in your group.

_Leader a Maker of Men._--The finest thing about being a leader is the chance it gives to build up the characters of the men--to take hold of the personal equation of a weaker brother, discover his difficulties and weaknesses and also his strong points and possibilities, and so to handle him as to make a man of him. This not only brings you great satisfaction and the personal reward of feeling that you are making the world some better by living in it, but it brings actual material gain to the community and to your work, in that you have made this man able to give more as a citizen and as a laborer. Many an army officer has found his one relief from the tedium of peacetime duties in thus taking a keen interest in the personalities of his men, and in making it his business to build up a reasonably strong useful character out of what may have appeared an almost hopeless wreck of humanity.

Every leader is constantly affecting the future of his men, consciously or unconsciously. His power to reward and punish makes this necessarily true. His decisions and acts of authority each tend to build up or to discourage the character of the man affected. This is what makes us shudder to see this power of leadership in the hands of ignorant, unscrupulous, brutal or even thoughtless men. The good leader realizes how by strict fairness, encouragement and guidance he may develop the powers of his men; and how by continued injustice he may break a man's spirit, destroy his manliness, and leave him a worse member of the community than he found him. He accepts this responsibility, and takes pleasure in trying to use his power for the better good of the men, the community, and the work in hand. He is in some measure a "maker of men," and with that thought in the back of his mind he studies his problem in a desire to act to the best advantage.

_Discipline by Punishment._--"Punishment" is a severe word to use in connection with ordinary daily affairs, but there is no milder one whose meaning quite fits the case. It has little place in our ideas of handling ordinary situations. In fact it stands only in the background as a last resort. Thus in community life the penalties of the law stand in the background as matters of no personal interest to law-abiding citizens. Yet the existence of those penalties and of the means for administering them are essential elements of community organization, and they must be intelligently understood by the officers responsible for community welfare. In this respect the leader has the same responsibility, and it is necessary to discuss frankly how he shall use this power of punishment, in order that he may meet this responsibility successfully.

Punishment is intended to be a corrective. It must be administered for the sole good of the man and of the group, and never in a spirit of vindictiveness or revenge. By punishment we mean all the corrective measures commonly used as means of disciplining men--reprimand, docking pay, deprivation of privilege, suspension, discharge, etc. The severity of any given punishment is largely a matter of the spirit and infrequency with which it is given. It is in every case a matter of prayerful consideration for the leader, until long experience has made him quite infallible in his judgment.

It is possible to fix a set standard of punishments, such a punishment to follow such an offense, but this standard cannot be followed arbitrarily. That would ignore the big human factor and all manner of extenuating circumstances. Every case of an offense must in fairness be judged on its own merits. The leader must judge the peculiar circumstances attending it, consider the personality of the offender, and above all discover the underlying motive. It is unquestionably true that most men naturally prefer to do right, and go wrong only for some reason. Very often some sense of offended justice is behind it. In any case the punishment cannot be reasonable unless founded on a true understanding of the facts. And it must be both reasonable and just, for its one big object is the effect it will have on the man's character and the group discipline. This effect is the determining factor. It is most important that both leader and men shall always realize that whatever punishment is given, it is done for the good of all as well as for that of the individual.

_Investigation of Offense._--To be able to get at the actual truth of the matter takes tact and knowledge of human nature. You will be interested in developing this ability in yourself. It will often be difficult to get the man to be frank, he cannot quite believe in your desire to be fair, and his instincts of secretiveness, pugnacity, being a good sport, etc., all stand in your way. Put yourself in his place is a good rule during the investigation. It is going to take time and patience and skill, until you have established the tradition of cards on the table and a square deal for all. By avoiding ever acting in passion and by always showing a determination to get the facts and judge fairly, you will soon be able to get at the real truth about each offense, and to learn what it really means in your organization that this man has done as he did. Then you may decide what steps to take for the best interests of all.

Do not think that this is Utopian, or that it takes too much time. It is a leader's business to have time for just such things--and you really save time by it. Do it thoroughly a few times, and you will thus discover and root out the cause for soreness and trouble and establish a spirit of fairness and decency which will soon reward you by freedom from having any offenses to handle at all.

_Actual Punishment Unnecessary._--A pleasant fact is that while every offense must be taken cognizance of, it does not have to be always actually punished. It may often be made the subject of a plain talk to all of the men, explaining what such an offense means to the success of the undertaking and put so strongly that a better result may be thus obtained without giving any punishment at all. I recall an instance in one of the inexperienced war organizations, where a senior officer, detailed to handle the case of a man actually guilty of the serious offense of sleeping on post as a sentinel, made it so strong an object lesson in his talk to the company that he put the whole outfit, officers and men, on their feet in discipline, and did not punish the sentinel at all. So do not feel that "punishment must always follow and fit the crime." Use your common sense judgment, and do the thing which you believe will best promote the discipline you are trying to inspire in all. A reprimand, with an explanation of what the offense means to discipline, is generally punishment enough.

_The Leader's Responsibility._--If in the end you decide that punishment must be given, give it yourself. Be very jealous of the authority over your own men. Do not let anyone interfere with it or exercise it for you if you can help it. You want them to look to you for justice and see in you the seat of authority under which they act and to which they are responsible. This means that you personally handle every case, and make it clear that the decision as to the punishment is the result of your own judgment. If the offense must be punished with more severity than you are empowered to administer, then only send it to higher authority, and with your own recommendation. It is a poor officer who lets a court martial run the discipline of his command. The good one sends a man to court for punishment only in the rarest cases, and then because he is dealing with a recalcitrant who will not respond to decent treatment, and is therefore a candidate for discharge. The same general rule should be true in administering any office in civil affairs.

_Prompt Action Necessary._--As the object of both rewards and punishments is the effect they are to have on the individual and particularly on the group, action in both cases should be taken immediately following the occasion, while it is fresh in the minds of all. Let your men realize that you are right on the job of bossing, and that the conduct of each is a matter of real interest to you and to all. To overlook offenses and neglects that appear willful, causes them to multiply, and discourages the faithful workers. The word or nod of recognition of good work is immediate, and has its effect, so also does the first step in recognition or correction of an offense. This first step may be an admonition, or even a reprimand where you are sure it is justified. But the first step is generally to call the man up and ask his reason--and to ask him in a tone that assumes that he has a reason, and that you intend to give it fair consideration. You may have to defer action for further investigation, but you have taken the first step and gotten the immediate effect. It only remains to carry on to a decision as circumstances determine.

_Symptoms of Poor Leadership._--We have all seen men in positions of authority who are awful examples of what a leader ought not to be. A little authority in their hands seems to upset the balance in their heads. They lose all sense of how to deal with men, become ridiculously arbitrary and loudmouthed and blustering. They try to rule by "putting the fear of God into them," by main strength and brute force. They are the boss because they have been named the boss, and "they will show them." Their first step when they see anything going wrong is to bellow "what the h---- are you doing?" in a tone that implies that the man is not only a fool but a criminal. They outrage every sensibility of manliness he may have, assume his motives are those of a thief and a liar--and then expect him to respond with good work and loyal service. Of course that is ridiculous. Such methods of control bring only sullen obedience, and even invite open rebellion. Swagger and bluster are but a thin camouflage for incompetence, and it would be a wholesome thing for these leaders to be able to realize the scorn and disgust they are implanting in the hearts of their men. Some do not know any better, and may be made good by training, others lack native strength of character and are hopeless. Neither should be left in authority as they are.

_Misconduct--Fault of Leader._--Where you find recurring cases of insubordination, or indifference to good work, you will generally find that the cause for it lies in the presence of a leader who is not good enough for his job. This is true in the army, and must be true in any organization. For it is true that men generally start out on any job with the intention to make good on it, and if many go wrong in an outfit, the answer is pretty sure to be that there is something wrong with its leader. Likewise where a leader finds himself unable to maintain discipline, he may well seek for the cause within himself. We often hear the statement "I've got the worst bunch of anarchists on earth. No one could do anything with them." This is an admission of the leader's own unfitness. Men run about the same, are subject to about the same instincts and controlled by the same general principles. I have seen the same group of men who were all but mutinous under a hard-headed, narrow-minded officer become one of the best disciplined groups of the whole command under a few weeks of a new leadership which embodied principles of fairness and decency in handling men. The lesson is plain, both to the man who wants to be a good leader, and to the employer who wants his subordinates to get good results.

_Giving Orders._--Many a beginner questions in his heart whether he can get the men to obey him or not. Perhaps this will be the first time in his life he has ever been in a position of authority to give orders. He has been the servant rather than the master, in the ranks of his boyhood gang rather than its captain. He has never enjoyed the habit of command, and, unless carried along by some dominating influence, is ill at ease in giving orders. This is very common on the part of young corporals in the army, and calls for experience and training before they can make good. If the youngster by tone or manner in giving the order betray that there is any doubt in his heart that it will be obeyed, he simply invites disobedience out of the Adam that is in everyone. Common exhibitions of this uncertainty are--the sickening apologetic tone and even words, high-pitched shouting of the order, accompanying profanity, repeating the order again and again, and threats as to what will happen if it is not obeyed. These are all sad exhibitions of inexperience or incompetence, and are sure to lead to trouble. See to it that you avoid every one of them, and school yourself in the correct methods. Here are some suggestions.

_How to Give an Order._--In the first place do not give too many orders, give as few as possible. Remember the requirements of the modern theory of command. Here is where they apply directly. Therefore you first make sure that the order is necessary, and that the thing to be done is reasonable. Then pick a suitable man to do this particular thing, call this man by name and thus get his attention, and then in a quiet tone tell him to do so and so, just as a baseball captain tells a member of the team to cover third base. There is no question of obedience, no thought of it. Your quiet tone does not assume that the man is deaf, or a surly dog, or a criminal, but does assume that he is an intelligent, loyal member of the team of which you are captain. It will not occur to him to disobey such an order.

_How Not to Give Orders._--On the other hand you will yourself stimulate his disobedience if by tone or words you insult his manliness, question his loyalty and obedience, or by threats dare him to disobey. We see this often illustrated in the affairs of daily life, where men untrained in authority are required to exercise it, and generally give orders in such a manner as to stir up trouble rather than to get cheerful obedience. This is certainly true with most street car conductors and similar holders of a brief authority. By observation you may get a dozen lessons daily in giving orders--ten how not to give them, and two how to do it to get results without friction.

I once visited as their first regular army instructor a rather new troop of National Guard cavalry that had somewhere gotten the idea that obedience to orders would result in proportion to noise. Every order was roared at the men, and generally accompanied by a volley of profanity, in a pathetic effort to exercise authority. It was an astonishing exhibition of not knowing how to handle men, and naturally did not command the respect or obedience of the meanest man in the troop. It was a pleasure to watch the keenness with which they grasped the correct doctrine of command, and to see the discipline of the whole organization develop under the change. Those same men were fast becoming real leaders and no doubt carried through to success.

It is clear then that disobedience may often be the direct result of the way in which the order was given, and you should remember this when investigating a case. While that may not justify your overlooking this particular offense, it should enable you to correct the cause of trouble and thus avoid continued offenses. You may be able to teach the subordinate to give orders correctly, or you may have to take away his authority.

_The Why of an Order._--It is a good thing where possible to give the reason for doing a thing at the same time that you give the instructions. This not only enlists the man's intelligent interest in carrying them out, but often gives him a chance to do better work because he understands what the desired result is. There are of course occasions for quick action and for simple action when this would not be reasonable. So in using this idea of telling why, there are two things which you must carefully look out for: first, it must never appear that you are apologizing for giving the order. It must be clear that you are explaining what is to be done, not why it is being ordered. And second, avoid cultivating a spirit or habit which would make a man feel free to stop and ask why when simply told to do a thing, as in an emergency. So you give the reason for the action only when it is clear that the circumstances warrant it, and when it will lead to better results.

_Necessity for Following up Instructions._--Equally important with giving instructions is to see that they are executed. This does not mean that you are to stand glowering at your man until he has moved. Go about your business in absolute assurance that he is carrying on; but if he does fail, be sure to note it and take action. Too many leaders feel that they have done their full part when they have given the order. To overlook even slight neglects is likely to lead to more serious ones; and for a man to be guilty of direct willful disobedience is a very serious thing in any organization, as it threatens the discipline of all and demands drastic action. Do not let it be true that you have gradually led a man into this through your shiftless leadership, whether due to your laziness, ignorance, or lack of nerve to enforce your authority.

In the matter of how instructions are carried out, a most helpful thing is to make it a rule of the organization that whenever a man is given a special task to do he is expected to report the fact as soon as it is done. You can see the advantages of this compared to the method of telling a man to do something and then letting him feel that you have no further interest in it. The man realizes that you will know how much time he takes to do it, and you realize that your duty is not fully done when the instructions are given. It gives you a chance to check up on his execution and to praise his expedition or excellence; and it gives the man a chance to try to win this praise. It is as though a father said, when giving his son a certain task, "let me know when you are through." He would get better results than he would if he left the lad alone with the feeling that his father would take no further interest in it.

_Willful Disobedience._--But with all regard for everything on your part, it may yet happen that you will meet a case of direct willful disobedience in some certain matter. Some condition quite outside your knowledge or control may have caused it. If you want to handle this case wisely and save the man to the organization, you must realize how his mind is working and act accordingly. He is concentrating his faculties in opposition to this particular thing--forcing them from the normal easier channels of obedience, he has to concentrate them to the task of breaking out this new channel of disobedience. As the phrase goes, he has "his mind set on it." To win him over to obedience you must first divert his faculties from this concentration by requiring him quietly to do some simple thing like handing you some article or adjusting his clothing, anything that you are quite sure that he will do for you. Then by easy stages you may develop a state of mind which will make it possible to discuss the original trouble reasonably, thus regaining your control and saving him from grave consequences. We have a like case in horse training. Where the trainer persists in making him do some one movement a horse often becomes stubborn and refuses to move at all. The trainer then changes absolutely to some simple thing which the horse will do at command--perhaps to walk and halt and walk again. He thus re-establishes control, and then through steps that the horse will perform returns gradually to the first test of obedience and finds him tractable. It takes patience and a high order of leadership to save a man in such serious cases as this, but you will joy in having done it. "Any dub can fire a man"--you want to do better than that.

_Orders Rarely Necessary._--But after all the best thing about giving orders is not to have to give them. In the general case, the better the leadership the fewer the orders given. Teamwork, co-operation, initiative and loyalty of subordinates, all these developments of intelligent leadership make orders largely unnecessary--and things are done in response to suggestions and in carrying out instructions as to what is to be done. We may envy the leader whose men jump in response to his quiet firm tone of command. But do not imagine that he picked this ability ripe for the eating from any tree of knowledge or life. He has developed a strong character and a knowledge of human nature in some practical school, learned that self-control is the first step in controlling others, and that men respond in kind to the treatment they receive.

_The Tone of Voice._--Not only in giving orders but in all your verbal intercourse, the tone of your voice plays a part quite worthy of your consideration. It is a potent element of your personality in its effect on others, and easily within your control. It may interest you to the point of regarding your tones hereafter to realize the important part that human speech has played in our development from pure animalism. Centuries no doubt passed before primitive man learned the use of language. It was the one big step by which he proved his superiority over the other animals of creation and assured his progress. For language is the foundation, as it is the agent, of all knowledge; and alone made possible the mental processes necessary for our present accomplishment. Yet we see men to-day so blind to this, so indifferent to this fundamental difference between themselves and the beasts, that they allow themselves to roar and growl and whine and chatter in close similarity to certain well-known species. Others bungle the use of their voice deplorably; so one may barely catch their fading tones, or must shrink inwardly from their rasping one. Men actually attempt to win the minds of others and yet speak in tones so repellent that convention alone makes us stay to listen to them. It is a pity they do not think to hear themselves as others hear them, and thus learn not to sacrifice longer this natural asset. For half the power of speech is in the tone.

We can all recall cases where it was the tone of voice that caused the trouble. "It wasn't so much the thing he said, as the nasty way he said it" has caused many a man to go to the mat. But it is not alone in making trouble that the tone of voice can accomplish so much. We have also seen the cool, quiet tone of a leader bringing order out of chaos and re-establishing control and confidence among excited men; the virile animated tone putting "pep" into men's work; and the firm, confident tone winning obedient following through danger and hardship. The power of speech is thus seen to be tremendous--let us use it to advantage, and as becomes members of the human race.

_The Mob Spirit._--As any man may have occasion to deal with the "crowd spirit" and even with the "mob spirit," it is well to have some idea of how these things come about and are controlled. In normal circumstances the members of a community as individuals are law-abiding and self-restrained in deference to public opinion and their own sense of responsibility. Some sense of common wrong may unite certain ones into a group for the common purpose of obtaining redress or instituting improvement. This group may start with no intention of committing any overt act or even of actually doing any particular thing, and yet end by being led into most unfortunate excesses.

_Individuals in Crowds._--The individuals who compose the group have to a degree lost their identity and have passed much of their individual responsibility to the shoulders of the group. They thus come to find themselves feeling free to do things they would never consider doing as individuals, and being controlled by statements and suggestions which they would know to be absurd in ordinary circumstances. Thus they approach a point where they do not respond to sound reason and logical argument, but rather react to impulses which are aroused by passionate appeals, daring suggestions, almost anything that has a catching sound and is often enough repeated. And thus they may end by becoming a mob, susceptible to blind impulses and ruled by unreason.

In its beginnings this group is easily amenable to control, for the "mob will" has not yet taken form, and the individuals still retain some sense of reason, personal responsibility and fear of consequences. But the longer they remain together, the greater their numbers, the more they are harangued as a body having a common purpose, the more surely does this crowd-will take form and make possible their transformation into a mob. Therefore by temporizing with the crowd you strengthen its unity and encourage the growth of its concerted will. Action to control the situation must be prompt and decisive, and directed to an immediate dispersal of the crowd. Let the mob spirit once get really under way, feel its unity and find its peerless leader, and it may be controlled only by similar tactics to those of the demagogue who now leads it, or by the use of the armed forces of the law. These are points well worth the consideration of every citizen, whether he contemplates joining a mob or trying to prevent one.

_Conclusion._--As you note that this discussion is ended, it is possible that you are wondering how I could have failed to mention so-and-so as one of the most important elements in leadership. I hope you are, for in so doing you have taken a big step in leadership in that you have yourself considered and weighed its requirements. I repeat in closing that it is only by giving personal thought to these questions and deciding upon your own personal methods and conduct that you will acquire success in handling men. Let your purpose be clear and worthy, and your policy based on square dealing; be yourself genuine, unselfish and just; make your men partners with you in the enterprise, and your personality such as to admit their loyal co-operation and following; keep in mind that your object is to increase their manpower through their developed individual manliness and character; and then work out the details as your own experience and judgment dictate.

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Transcriber's note:

Obvious printer's errors have been corrected.

Inconsistent spellings and inconsistent use of hyphens have been preserved.