Greg Ballard Lt. Col., U.S. Marines (Retired)
Drawing on his experiences in the U. S. Marines, in the corporate world, as a coach, and as a small business owner, Greg Ballard now publishes his concise, yet definitive guide for new, junior, and middle level leaders. In addition to the realities, traits, and principles explained in the book, he also details the two overarching responsibilities of leadership and gives the three indicators of effective leadership. He also explains the relationship between responsibility, accountability, and authority. Additionally included are fourteen “Other Thoughts” which are of great value.
The accumulated knowledge in this valuable book will greatly benefit not only individuals in positions of responsibility, but also those companies or organizations that have multiple levels of leadership.
Greg Ballard grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana and graduated from Indiana University with a degree in Economics. He served twenty-three years in the United States Marine Corps, holding leadership and staff positions in wide ranging disciplines, both in war and peace. A Distinguished Graduate of the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, he also received his Master’s Degree in 1997.
Successfully transitioning to the corporate world before embarking on a small-business venture, he has been asked to present his leadership ideas to multiple audiences. He has now formalized some of those thoughts in his book Small Unit Leadership, The Ballard Rules: Volume 1. His websites are theballardrules.com and smallunitleadership.com.
He currently lives in Indianapolis with his wife, Winnie, and their two children, Erica and Greg Jr.
1. EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE ON A GOOD TEAM
No one shows up on the first day and says “I think I’ll be the worst employee I can be.” It just doesn’t happen. Most people want to work for a company in order to provide for life’s necessities, to connect with a certain community, or possibly to improve themselves. Some people join organizations, such as non-profits, in order to further a cause in which they believe. In any case, absolutely no one joins a company or an organization to do a bad job. No matter what circumstances caused a person to join a company or an organization, a person inevitably walks in the door wanting to do a good job for what he hopes is a top-notch outfit. Poor performance is usually a learned, or even worse, an expected behavior.
The very important corollary to this thought is that good people want to be around other good people. They do not want to belong to an organization that tolerates bad behavior or lack of direction, and they will actively seek to move out of the organization if at all possible. This has enormous implications for volunteer organizations, but also impacts for-profit companies if the economy is doing well.
Therefore, it is incumbent upon the leader of any organization to realize he must strive to develop a good team that people actively seek out. This means setting realistic standards of behavior and objectives for productivity; good, motivated workers find standards and objectives comforting because they are not ambiguous. It also means creating a positive atmosphere where people feel comfortable to work and develop. Ideally, employees should want to come to work because the work environment is enjoyable. A good work environment also enhances performance.
If you don’t create the proper work environment, then your good, talented people will leave as soon as another opportunity presents itself.
If I ever had another “light bulb” moment in leadership, this was it:
As the Commanding Officer of a recruiting station, I had a number of very competent recruiters. However, I was being forced to accept as a sub-station commander a senior non-commissioned officer (Staff NCO in the Marines) who had burned too many bridges at another recruiting station in the Midwest.
Within the first month, this new Staff NCO committed an ethics violation. As was my custom with sensitive issues, I discussed this matter with my trusted advisors, one of whom was my senior recruiter trainer. He was an exceptionally professional Marine with a great sense of humor. When I asked him what he thought I should do, he looked me dead in the eye and said “Sir, I don’t want to belong to a unit that would have a guy like him in it.”
That got my attention. I realized right then that if I did not deal with the unethical behavior, I would soon be losing the trust and respect of all my very competent, professional Staff NCO’s. Certainly, performance throughout the command would suffer.
I had multiple courses of action available to me, but I did what I thought was right for all concerned. The disciplinary action I took allowed the Marines to maintain pride in their unit, thereby saving the performance and morale of the command. Once my senior recruiter trainer told me he did not want to belong to a unit with unethical personnel, the choice was clear, because everybody wants to be on a good team.
