4 Leadership Lessons I Learned From a Marine Corps General

The opinions expressed by entrepreneurs contributors are their own.

Leadership is one of those skills that most people think they have, but very few have, and that's a shame because it's essential to being a successful entrepreneur.

If you want to grow your business beyond a one-person operation, you need to be able to lead a team effectively. The bigger your team gets, the more efficient you need to be, because you're far from the front lines.

I have been fortunate to have experienced a wide range of leadership styles throughout my career. Some served as powerful examples to model, while others served as examples to avoid. But I learned something important from each of them. And without a doubt, one of the most effective leaders I have had the opportunity to meet is Marine Corps General Anthony Henderson. I first met him while serving in the Marine Corps when he assumed command of Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines.

Related: Why Veterans Make Great Entrepreneurs

What does leadership have to do with leadership in the civilian world? All. Leadership is the same whether you lead troops into battle or employees.

Despite what you see in the movies, our troops don't spring into action just because someone yelled at them to do a particular thing. In fact, due to the incredibly dangerous nature of military service, more effective leadership is required compared to the civilian world.

Think of it like this: How much would I have to yell at you to rush across an open field pounded by artillery and machine gun fire? If you're like most people, your answer is probably something like, "There's no screaming that'll make me do that!" Nothing I could say would make you run through that field.

That's because real leadership isn't about forcing people to do something. It's about inspiring them to make your mission their mission. An effective leader is a boss, but also a mentor, protector and cheerleader. Their job is to issue orders, but first they must educate, train and nurture their team.

And that's exactly what Marine Corps General Anthony Henderson did - his leadership is why every Marine I met who served with him would always follow him into battle armed with nothing more than a pair of bristles and an MRE spoon.< /p>

I'm going to break down five that I learned from one of the best leaders I've ever met: Marine Corps General Anthony Henderson. If you apply the lessons learned from the stories I share here, I can promise you will become a better leader and build a more effective, productive and cohesive team that will help propel you towards your goals.

My last commander, who I will not name, was one of the worst examples of leadership I have ever encountered. He showed a total lack of leadership. He rarely showed up for our training operations, and when he did, he did nothing, which is not common behavior in our world. Luckily, the other leaders in our unit stepped up to make sure everyone was operating as planned, which was pretty important considering we're talking about literal life or death scenarios.

I vividly remember one particular battalion formation following a training operation, which was the culmination of several months of training in preparation for an upcoming deployment. Our unit had performed exceptionally well and our battalion commander congratulated him on our performance. I was blown away by his response, "Thank you, sir! I went to great lengths to make sure my Marines knew exactly what to do and how to do it. Personally, I...