JCOC 73

Deputy Secretary of Defense
The Honorable Gordon R. England

Principles of Leadership

At the United States Naval Academy’s Forrestal Lecture Series, Secretary of the Navy Gordon England identified important principles of leadership based on his personal experiences as a business executive and in government.

Those fifteen principles are as follows:

Provide an environment for every person to excel
Treat every person with dignity and respect – nobody is more important than anyone else
Be forthright, honest and direct with every person and in every circumstance
Improve effectiveness to gain efficiency
Cherish your time and the time of others – it is not renewable
Identify the critical problems that need solution for the organization to succeed
Describe complex issues and problems simply so every person can understand 8. Never stop learning – depth and breadth of knowledge are equally important 9. Encourage constructive criticism
Surround yourself with great people and delegate to them full authority and responsibility
Make ethical standards more important than legal requirements
Strive for team-based wins, not individual
Emphasize capability – not organization
Incorporate measures and metrics everywhere
Concentrate on core functions and outsource all other