Endurance: The 14 leadership traits of the United States Marine Corps and how they apply to your business.

The United States Marine Corps is legendary for not just winning battles but for making superb leaders. The Marine Corps thrives in the worst of conditions not because of the equipment that they carry, but because of their leadership. In combat, strong leadership saves lives and wins battles. Why is Marine Corps leadership unique compared to the other branches of the armed forces? Well, for one thing, size matters. The Marine Corps is made of just over 200,000 personnel, less than 10% of which are officers. Compare that to the Army made up of roughly 544,000 soldiers, approximately 16% of which are officers; the Navy made of roughly 327,000 sailors, with approximatley 15% being officers; and the Air Force, with over 325,000 Airmen, with almost 20% of the personnel being officers. This unique dynamic within the Marine Corps means that enlisted personnel are forced to assume roles of leadership and responsibility much earlier than their counterparts in the other services. Because of this, the concept of leadership is instilled from day one of recruit training.

Marines are taught to adopt 14 specific leadership traits designed to motivate and influence those under their responsibility. These traits don't leave once the uniform is packed away and the Marine returns to the civilian world, which makes them highly sought after in the corporate world as they are not only invaluable to the battlefield, but also the boardroom.

This is the 8th of 14 in which I will share thoughts with you one each of these traits and issue a leadership challenge to you.

I believe that anyone can conquer fear by doing the things he fears to do, provided he keeps doing them until he gets a record of successful experience behind him.

― Eleanor Roosevelt

One of the things that most people don't tell you about being a leader is that there will be times that you will fail. As leaders, we study, we work hard, we worry. Even the most successful of leaders have had failures and struggles at some point. We face hard times and have to make hard decisions when we become a leader. Webster's dictionary defines endurance as: The ability to withstand hardship or adversity.

What is the biggest hurdle you are facing in your organization today? What has been nagging at you for a long time, that you can't seem to overcome? Do you have a troubled employee that you can't seem to get throught to? Former American diplomat George F. Kennan once famously said that "Heroism is endurance for one more moment." Maybe you feel like cutting the strings on your "lost cause" employee. Maybe you feel like nothing is going right and it's time to step down. There are any number of reasons why as a leader you may feel ready to give up. But "heroism is endurance for one more moment." That one extra moment that you decide not to give up can be the moment you have a break through.

In the book of Joshua, after a tremendous victory at Jericho, wesee a series of suprising failures and defeats. In despair and hopelessness, Joshua "fell to his face" lying on the ground with dirt on his head. Surely Joshua felt ready to give up. He was broken and panicked. But nothing is accomplished with our faces in the dirt so the Lord said to Joshua

“[10]Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? .... [13]You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them."

There will be times in business and in life when your face is in the dirt and you feel ready to give up. As a leader, you do not have this luxury. Your people are looking to you for the inspiration to endure for one moment more. Marine Corps legend Dan Daily, in addition to being one of only 2 Marines to ever be awarded 2 Medals of Honor for different actions, Famously shouted at the Battle of Belleau Woods in WWI "Come on you sons of bitches! Do you want to live forever?" In the attack on Belleau Wood, the Marines faced one of the highest single battle casualty rates in their entire history, the entire first wave of Marines advancing were slaughtered, but in the end they emerged victorious and they gained a foothold that would help lead to vitory in WWI. After the battle, the French renamed Belleau Wood "Bois de la Brigade de Marine" ("Wood of the Marine Brigade") in honor of the Marines' tenacity. Sgt.Maj. Daly knew the odds were stacked against them, and so did his men. As a leader of men, he chose not to cower or give up but to charge the enemy regardless of the outcome and his endurance gave his Marines the motivation to endure a moment longer and go down in history.

Thinking back my own time in the Marine Corps. I often find that people constanly make comments about surviving combat and even recruit training. For me, These struggles were overcome by forcing myself to endure just a moment more. Everytime I felt I couldn't go any further, I told myself to endure just a moment more. Before I knew it, the challenge was over. I had succeeded in my goals. I was a United States Marine...then I became a Marine Corps infantryman...and then I completed the grueling Expeditionary Warfare training...then I survived my 1st deployment....then my 2nd....then my 3rd....then my 4th. After that, I went to college where I pursued my degree in psychology during the day and worked at night, all while battling this identiy crisis of going from Warrior to Student with no real guidance on how to make that transition. And I overcame the obstacles. I got my bachelor's degree. Eventually, I got my Master's degree. And in 1 and a 1/2 more years, I will have completed my PhD in Industrial Organizational Psychology. I'm doing this while raising a family and working full time. People tell me "I don't know how you do it." I do it by enduring for one more moment.

For your challenge today, I want you to think back to the personal mission statement that you created. I want you to write down what is holding you back. What is your insurmountable obstacle that is keeping you from achieving greatness? Now, I want you to write down your commitment that you WILL endure to overcome this obstacle. Keep track in a journal of how you are progressing in overcoming this obstacle. It may not happen overnight. Write down when you feel at the end of your rope, what do you use to inspire you to keep going?

Comment here so that you can share your ideas, successes and failures with other leaders so that we can all grow together. Share this article as well with your friends and colleauges so that we can get their thoughts as well.