CHAPTER 1

WHAT KIND OF LEADER DO YOU WANT TO BE?

The Ship Is Sinking

The sky is a blanket of black. It's 2:30 a.m, and the moon has set; the starsbarely light the few feet in front of him. The skipper can barely see the othertwelve men on the boat. There are two other boats patrolling with his: they'reghosts, trying to ambush the enemy. This is the passage their destroyers sail asthey return home from battle.

One of the other officers is on the bow. He's using his binoculars, scanning thedark to locate a target. The 80-foot motor torpedo boat is the perfect surpriseweapon, faster and smaller than the enemy's giant ships. The skipper is at thewheel, waiting. He has a quick daydream about sailing as a child. He's alwaysloved the sea. The skipper snaps back to attention, and he thinks he sees hisfellow officer point. His skin tingles at the prospect of action.

Then the scout bellows, "Ship at two o'clock!"

Because the skipper is trying to prevent detection, only one of the boat's threeengines is fired up. He spins the wheel, hard; but it's sluggish. The boatcrawls. The night is so quiet, but suddenly he sees a 379½-foot enemy destroyer,towering 60 feet high and approaching at 40 knots. He doesn't have time to hearthe roar.

In the next moment, the skipper's boat is split in half. The only thing visibleare the flames from gasoline burning on the water's surface. Frantically, hescans the scene. Men were thrown from the boat, and the boat's wake spread themover an area larger than a football field. Some of them are hurt, and otherscan't swim—their life vests barely keep them afloat. They scream for help.The skipper and four others are still on the bobbing hull, and he realizes thecurrent is pushing the fire toward them. Because he is the commander of asinking ship, his men's lives depend on what he does next.

This vignette is a true story. Leadership experiment Number One: what would youdo? Your ship is sinking; men are in the water, hurt and screaming; burninggasoline is about to overtake the only part of your boat that's floating; andfive of you are in its path. What's the first action you'd take? If you'rehesitating, imagine. Imagine yourself on half a boat. It's pitch-black. You havecrew in the water. Feel the fear and tension of that moment. And feel theweight. Those men need you, and you have the courage and the strength to helpthem.

There is no wrong answer to this question, just like there's no perfect way tolead. The three commitments we'll teach you will focus your attention as aleader whether you're directive or collaborative, in a strict hierarchy or aflat model. Each of us is different in our leadership style: what matters is whowas included in your answer. If you thought, jump in the water, you'reright, but did you say anything to the other four men who were with you?

When a ship is sinking—whether it's a business, a government, or a city orregion facing a natural disaster—the first, completely understandablehuman instinct is to save yourself. Leaders want to save themselves too; thisbook is not about martyrdom, even though self-sacrifice is essential forleadership. The three commitments are about making sure our people always havewhat they need to thrive. The leaders we revere and the ones that get results,they pay attention: to how they lead, to the environment theirleadership creates and to every person on their team.

In the actual story, the skipper's first action was to yell, "Over the side." Hegave clear instructions that focused those around him, and when the destroyer'swake moved the floating fire away from the boat's remains, they climbed backaboard. Then he took account of his situation. He had four men on the boat withhim and another eight in the water, at least a few of them seriously injured andbegging for help.

Again, he was clear. He wanted to know exactly who was still with him,so he had every man call out his name. Of the 12 men, 10 were accounted for.Next, he told one of his men to blink a light so the healthy could swim to theboat. Then, pinpointing the direction from which one of the wounded was yelling,he took off his clothes and dove into the water. Over the next three hours,before the sun rose, he and those who were still healthy got every man onto whatwas left of the ship.

As dawn began to break, the men were scared. The skipper, of course, was scaredtoo. He didn't want to be in the middle of a disaster, but he was ready for it:he didn't become the commander of that boat by accident. He wanted to lead. Heused his connections to get into the war early. He didn't want to sit on thesidelines, and he ended up in the Pacific theater during its most perilous time.

What he was doing for his men began when he was young. He was a Boy Scout. Heran organizations in high school, both official and the playful Muckers Clubknown for pulling practical jokes throughout the campus. He led drama andathletic teams in college—his captainship of the swimming team had been ofparticular importance when his men were in the water. He traveled the world, andhis first book about leadership and foreign affairs had been published andbecome a bestseller the month after he graduated. When he found himselfshipwrecked with men in the water, he had been preparing for this moment hisentire life.

By the time he and the able-bodied tended to the wounded, the sun was rising.They were still on the remaining half of the boat, and in the distance, theycould see numerous islands; they knew the enemy occupied all of them. Theystarted to argue. There was nothing in their military training to prepare themfor this. There wasn't enough room for all of them on the boat; the woundedneeded the space, so the skipper took over. He had to rebuild their trust in oneanother and create some kind of stability in the chaos if they weregoing to survive. Except for the two hurt seamen, he ordered everyone includinghimself into the shark-infested water. They spent the morning watching for enemyplanes, shocked that no one had come to their rescue.

Then, at 10 a.m., their injured vessel began to creak—even the wounded menhad to get in the dark water and hang on. The boat capsized, guaranteeing itwould sink, and the skipper made the decision most people would have thought wasinsane. The men who could swim grabbed a piece of the boat's timber and headedfor the one island that, while further away, they bet was too small to beoccupied. The skipper then cut one of the straps on the life vest of a man whowas burned too badly to move. He put the strap in his own mouth, and began toswim. Every few minutes he would stop and rest and talk with the man in tow. Ittook five hours to reach the island, but everyone made it safely.

The...