learn about different personalities

Alison: You've played on many teams. How has your approach to leadership evolved with each move? 

Chris: It continually changes. In New Orleans I was crazy in my intensity on the court, wanting everyone to approach the game like I did and trying to make sure I got the best out of them. Later, in Houston, maybe my 13th year in the league, a coach told me that the biggest challenge I have is playing with guys who don’t care as much as I do. Going from team to team, you learn about different personalities and understand that while maybe you can get on this guy, you can’t get on that one. I haven’t always been perfect. Sometimes you don’t have a lot of time to figure out how to communicate with a teammate. But I always at least try with the right intention.

Alison Beard

Life's Work: An Interview with Chris Paul. Harvard Business Review. September-October 2023.

I teach them correct principles

John Taylor, the third President of the Church, reported: “Some years ago, in Nauvoo, a gentleman in my hearing, a member of the Legislature, asked Joseph Smith how it was that he was enabled to govern so many people, and to preserve such perfect order; remarking at the same time that it was impossible for them to do it anywhere else. Mr. Smith remarked that it was very easy to do that. ‘How?’ responded the gentleman; ‘to us it is very difficult.’ Mr. Smith replied, ‘I teach them correct principles, and they govern themselves.’”

John Taylor, “The Organization of the Church,” Millennial Star, Nov. 15, 1851, p. 339. As quoted in Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 2007. Chapter 24: Leading in the Lord’s Way. 

commander's intent

From a leader’s perspective, intent is the starting point. “Commander’s intent” has a special meaning in the military that requires time and thought. A commander must state his relevant aim. Intent is a formal statement in which the commander puts himself or herself on the line. Intent must accomplish the mission, it has to be achievable, it must be clearly understood, and at the end of the day, it has to deliver what the unit was tasked with achieving. Your moral authority as a commander is heavily dependent on the quality of this guidance and your troops’ sense of confidence in it: the expectation that they will use their initiative, aligning subordinate actions. You must unleash initiative rather than suffocate it…

By conveying my intent in writing and in person, I was out to win their coequal “ownership” of the mission: it wasn’t my mission; rather from private through general, it was our mission. I stressed to my staff that we had to win only one battle: for the hearts and minds of our subordinates. They will win all the rest…

Jim Mattis

MATTIS, J. (2019). CALL SIGN CHAOS: Learning to lead. S.l.: RANDOM HOUSE. 238, 239

command and feedback

In the Corps, I was taught to use the concept of "command and feedback." You don't control your subordinate commanders' every move; you clearly state your intent and unleash their initiative. Then, when the inevitable obstacles or challenges arise, with good feedback loops and relevant data displays, you hear about it and move to deal with the obstacle. Based on feedback, you fix the problem. George Washington, leading a revolutionary army, followed a "listen, learn, and help, then lead," sequence. I found that what worked for George Washington worked for me.  

Jim Mattis

MATTIS, J. (2019). CALL SIGN CHAOS: Learning to lead. S.l.: RANDOM HOUSE. 62

convey the leader’s intent

General George G. Meade and Staff

Union Army General George Meade would sit down with his war council sometimes three or four times per day during the battle. This continual “confirmation of understanding” allowed Meade to better to communicate with his commanders and soldiers the tactics and strategies needed to survive the Confederate push.

This notion of the leader’s intent is an important one for all of us. The concept is simple: everyone in the chain of command must know clearly and concisely the mission’s objectives two levels above them and be able to communicate this information two levels below them. This understanding enables anyone in the army to make decisions “in the moment” that are consistent with the overall strategic objective set by the general.

A key part of this concept is to have a “briefback,” or “confirmation of understanding.” Having everyone on the team articulate in his or her own words an accurate understanding of the leader’s intent so that you, the leader, can be confident they understand it and will make the right decisions.

Paul Merrild

"Reflections on Leadership from Gettysburg" Harvard Business Review. 10/12/2015