Courage to Execute: What elite U.S. military units can teach business about leadership and team performance

Chapter 3

Team Alignment: Connecting the Troops with the Leader's Intent

Once we've onboarded our people, gotten them steeped in identity, culture, and skills, we begin the subtle but crucial process of aligning them to our goals. And that takes building their trust. Not the trust they have in one another—rather, I'm asking them to trust me. No one trusts out of the blue, but ultimately, everyone wants to have confidence in the person in charge. So to align people, you first get in sync with your environment and their environment. Get in step with the up-to-the-minute data, and then articulate a clear vision of where you want to take your troops. Let's look at another example.

Not to be outdone by their navy brethren in the Blue Angels, the U.S. Marine Corps has its own elite showmen. Perhaps the most famous group is the Silent Drill Platoon: 24 marines who have an exceptional organizational identity, a clear mission, and who personify coordination and synchronicity. They are known for flawlessly executing rifle drills without speaking a word or relying on any other cues. (You can get a glimpse of them in action in the opening credits of the film A Few Good Men.) The platoon spends about 140 days on the road each year, and 10 to 12 hours of drilling per day is common.

So what can we learn from them? Clad in dark-blue tunics with gold buttons, white trousers, polished shoes, white gloves, and white hats with stern black brims, these marines march into an arena in tight formation, ...