ethos:

ethos: the disposition, character, or fundamental values peculiar to a specific person, people, culture, or movement. The habitual character and disposition of something or someone.

The warrior ethos is a series of fundamental values, beliefs, and a particular mindset attributed to the teachings of the U.S. Army Ranger school, the greatest leadership development platform ever built by and for warriors. Ranger school is famous for developing warriors in each of the three major domains: mine, body, and spirit.

The principles are as follows.

1. Be tactically and technically proficient: you will accomplish all tasks to the standard required to accomplish the wartime mission.

2. Process professional character traits: courage, commitment, candor, competence, and integrity.

3. Know the four major leadership factors and how they affect each other: the lead, the leader, situation, and communications.

4. Know yourself and seek self-improvement: strengths and weaknesses of your character, knowledge, and skills. Then, continually develop your strengths and work on overcoming your weaknesses.

5. Know your warriors and look out for their well-being. Train them for the rigors of combat, take care of their physical/safety needs and discipline, and reward them.

6. Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions: leaders must exercise initiative, be resourceful, and take advantage of opportunities on the battlefield that will lead to victory. Accept criticism and take corrective actions for mistakes.

7. Make sound and timely decisions: rapidly assess the situation and make sound decisions. Gather essential information, announce decisions and time for soldiers to react, and consider the short or long-term effects of your decision.

8. Set the example: be a role model for your warriors. Set high but attainable standards, be willing to do what you require of your soldiers, and share dangers and hardships with your warriors.

9. Keep your subordinates informed: keeping your subordinates informed helps them make decisions and execute plans within your intent, encourage initiative, improve teamwork, and enhance morale.

10. Develop a sense of responsibility to subordinates: teach, challenge, and develop subordinates. Delegation indicates you trust your subordinates and will make them want even more responsibility.

11. Sure the task is understood, supervise, and accomplish: warriors need to know what you expect from them, what you want to be done, and what the standard is, and when you want it.

12. Build a team: train and cross-train your warriors until they are confident in the team's technical/tactical abilities. Develop a team spirit that motivates them to go willingly and confidently to combat.

**Employ your unit in accordance with its capabilities—the capabilities and limitations of your team. As a leader, you are responsible for recognizing both of these factors and employ your team accordingly.

The ethos leader is a leader who decides to live by the warrior ethos, by the knowledge skills and attributes listed above.

You do not have to graduate from the U.S. Ranger school to live by the warrior ethos. However, if you want to see a dramatic leap in your leadership ability, the outcomes of your work, and your organization or team, do everything possible to learn this ethos for yourself, display it in your actions, and teach it to your organization.

You will look for and find opportunities to learn and grow through transformative leadership development experiences. Instead of worrying about your enemies, you will make your enemies worry about you. Instead of trying not to go crazy yourself, you will drive your competition crazy trying to keep up with you. Instead of worrying about what Murphy is doing, outsmart Murphy.

If you want to learn how to develop the warrior ethos in your life, your organization, or your teams, contact our professionals at The Ethos Leader to guide you through the next steps in becoming the ethos leader you need to be in today's business climate.