Black Jack Self Study #53, The Four “C’s”of Leadership

This week’s discussion video provides a brief overview of the Four C’s of Leadership; Competence, Clarity, Context, and Character.

Both GEN(Ret.) Martin Dempsey and L. David Marquet have talked about each of these principles in various forums in the recent past. In Marquet’s Leadership Nudge 134 he explains the amount of control given to a subordinate is dependent on their demonstrated competence and clarity. Reciprocally, leaders must provide opportunities to build competence in specified and implied tasks, the what of the organization, through training opportunities as well as provide clarity of purpose; the why of the task, something GEN (Ret.) David Perkins described as the affordance of the organization — what is it we are here to do?

Providing context to the organization — where and when it is we will conduct tasks and missions and in what environment we will do such tasks — allows leaders at all levels to be what GEN Dempsey calls being a “sense-maker;” to distill what is important and explain the reasons why, when, and where we are doing certain missions, deployments, training, etc.

Leading with character is the glue that ties it all together. Honesty and integrity instill trust in the leadership and organization that the tasks being conducted are being done with the best interests in mind of the “doer” and the collective. It inspires confidence in the organization and reinforces a sense of authenticity in those around you. People are more prone to follow someone they trust to live and lead with integrity than they are someone they believe is hiding something from them.

Question for Discussion: How do you use the Four C’s in the Leadership of your own organization?