Patton and Leadership is the start of many articles I plan to write about leadership qualities exhibited by the greats in the past. Hope you like it.

This article was originally published by Elvis Fernandes on LinkedIn

A little bit about my father, he was a humble librarian, there were plenty of books in my house at any given time. Knowledge was worshipped, but I grew fonder of Wisdom. As a Father, I have always been a leader for my daughter. I told her stories of World War, Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the British oppression, of Kings, of He-Man, and other cartoons/comic book heroes. I learned a lot from Gen. George S. Patton, and I thought it would be worth it that we watch the movie Patton once again. After all my father introduced me to the movie, it’s but natural that I carry on with that tradition. We watched the movie and boy it was a brilliant experience. Some things I noticed once again

1. Patton lead from the forefront. A leader needs to be on the ground, with their people, not in a cabin or a war room
2. Never feared any challenge. No shit bricks attitude, face any challenge outright, any challenge. You will get respected for that, not for cowardice.
3. He believed in aggression, in the offense. That’s why the enemy retreated.
4. It is wonderful how Rommel studied Patton, the man, not Patton the general, so intimidating was the character that it led the enemy to go to any lengths to understand him
5. Gen. Patton was a dreamer, he believed in reincarnation, he mentioned that he fought alongside Napolean, alongside Alexander, he lived war. Surprisingly, his ancestry was full of warriors. This passion made him win every war. I think a leader needs to be passionate about what they do, that’s when the passion can really trickle down to the team that you lead. That’s when you can build a kickass team.
6. Gen. Patton was ultra-patriotic, he was for the USA, he didn’t like Montgomery taking all the limelight, it wasn’t about just defeating the Axis, it was about ensuring that his country would also be in the forefront. Patton took charge of the situation and shined where even a decorated General like Montgomery could not achieve targets. They marched 48 hours and 100 miles towards Bastogne and forced the Germans to surrender, something the world was amazed just hearing about. Every soldier, every soldier, listened and heeded to Patton. That was a leader.

So here were my two cents about leadership and what we discussed at home yesterday on Father’s Day. Patton and many like him have inspired me a lot.

Feel free to comment about my writing, if you want to discuss the general or the movie or if you have someone else that inspires you.

Read about the movie here: Patton (film) – Wikipedia

About General George S. Patton : George S. Patton – Wikipedia