“Don’t say it’s impossible! Turn your command over to the next officer. If he can’t do it, I’ll find someone who can, even if I have to take him from the ranks!”
General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson
Impossible?
Published
Musings, leadership tidbits and quotes posted by a retired Navy Captain (really just a high performing 2nd Class Petty Officer) who hung up his uniform a bit too early. He still wears his Navy service on his sleeve. He needs to get over that. "ADVANCE WARNING – NO ORIGINAL THOUGHT!" A "self-appointed" lead EVANGELIST for the "cryptologic community". Keeping CRYPTOLOGY alive-one day and Sailor at a time. 2019 is 84th Anniversary of the Naval Security Group.
I Like The Cut of His Jib 
In three sentences, General Jackson summarizes the entire wartime senior officer selection process.
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Who on the war and what side did Stonewall Jackson fight on?Reality is a stubborn thing
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anon 11:39 AM,What's your point?
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Jackson was inflexible, a harsh man, a bit weird in his personal conduct, and constantly at war with his subordinates, many of whom he took to courts martial. His military record was great, but not universally so (Seven Days Battle was not his best hour). His death (returning to his own lines) was the beginning of the end for Lee and the Confederacy; Lee was starting to run out of generals.
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Sorry for the typo, it would appear that my left hand was not responding to my direction. What I meant to write was “who won the war?” My point is that veneration of the generals on the losing side of the conflict is misplaced in my opinion. The aura surrounding these individuals was rooted as a political security blanket of the southern states following the conflict. The southern generals made horrible tactical and strategic decisions (Pickett’s charge for example) that would have annihilated the reputation of any Union general, yet Gen. Lee was placed on a pedestal. As to the quote in question, asking the truly impossible from your subordinates does not make a great leader in my opinion. Convincing your subordinates that they have the ability to rise above their own self limitations is what separates a good leader from a great leader. As the quote goes, a leader is a purveyor of hope. “Leading” through fear does not make a great leader.
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