Small Wars Journal

Power and the Fallen Man

Wed, 11/14/2012 - 7:31am

Power and the Fallen Man by CDRSalamander at the U.S. Naval Institute Blog.

As young leaders grow in positions of authority they need to keep simple human nature in mind. You will be tempted, even if you try to avoid it. You can end it as quickly as it comes up, and all will go along as before. We are all human, and at a weak moment, you may pause – but don’t pause long – there are too many lives, families, and careers that are riding on you being a leader and doing the right thing.

Comments

Hammer999

Tue, 11/20/2012 - 12:45pm

You do know Gen Eisenhower had a lady on the side... So much for the moral arguement... Morals are a point of veiw and nothing more. Really a big problem we have is trying to force ours on others.

kevinjniehoff

Wed, 11/14/2012 - 3:24pm

I concur with the position ahead of me. Power corrupts and Absolute power corupts abosolutely. It is important to make up your mind early and take a stand early in regards to do the right thing. There is much to be said for taking a stand early and deciding early how to handle temptation. No one is perfect and in the work I do, I have experienced many people who have given into temptaion. Moral leadership is important despite what our society or others may say. Trust in a unit is important and lack of trust could devastate a unit and break up any relationship you may find yourself in. We all make mistakes and all need to be forgiven. But forgiveness and trust do not always go hand in hand. It takes time to restore trust and even though it involves personal relations others watch and it does have an effect on those relationships.