Leave it Better Than You Found it
The first time I heard this phrase as a young leader, I thought it was profound and something that leaders should all strive to accomplish. As a Platoon, we needed a leader that would serve selfishly and have a mentality of improvement. The Platoon that he took over had a lot to overcome and some serious issues. 5 of the 8 top previous leaders had been fired after a quarrel amongst the leadership.
When CSM Albertson showed up, we all were hoping for a leader that could get the platoon back on track. He led with this mentality and was humble enough to know that we needed to be a part of the process to rebuild. We did rebuild, but it took time and he was a huge advocate for the members of the team. Within months of him arriving, we deployed to Afghanistan for the first time. The next three years we also invaded Iraq and had countless deployments back to Afghanistan. His leadership mentality is one of the reasons we thrived during these rotations.
Leaving it better is an important leadership tenet, it’s something that you need to lead with and expect from others in the organization. If everyone has this mentality and understands what “better” means, you will move forward. I’ve learned as a Senior Leader that there is also another tenet that needs to accompany this.
You need to understand that it’s not about you. This means that you need to realize that in the process of making it better, you will likely not see most of the results. When building a team that strives for excellence, it will result in a long term culture change in the organization if done right. To highlight the point, here are some things that happened years after CSM Albertson left the formation.
4 members went on to become operators in the elite Delta Force Unit
Two officers became senior officers in the Army
5-6 became Command Sergeant Majors
2-3 members ended up receive Silver Stars for valor in combat
This platoon became the one that was requested by name for some of the hardest combat deployments
Countless others have went on become CEOs of major companies or are running for political office
This is just an example of some of the great things that were accomplished in the years that followed his departure. The reason that this needs to be highlighted is because as leaders, we need to realize we are just building foundations. We are just part of the journey and need to realize that we are improving the people in preparation for the next leader that will come along and build onto the foundation that we started. This ties back into realizing that it isn’t about you, it’s about the investment now that will continue to develop as time goes on under other leaders and as these leaders move up in leadership positions.
When CSM Albertson left the formation, we had the words: “Thank you for leaving us better than you found us,” inscribed on the bottom of his farewell plaque. I can attest to the fact that a leader came along, invested in my team and I, and this investment has been paying off for the last two decades. We could all benefit from the mentality to “leave it better than you found it.”
I hope this adds value to your life!
~Mike
