The Three Principles Of Great Leadership

Every man is a leader. Whether he is simply leading his own children or whether he is leading a multinational corporation, at some point in his life, every man will be a leader. Furthermore, the leadership of men—the good leadership of men—is a primary component for the maintenance of civilization; in fact, the lack of strong male patriarchal leadership in the West is, arguably, one of the main culprits for the decline of Western civilization over the last generation.

So, given that leadership will be a critical component of every man’s life at some point in time, and given that leadership is also a critical component of civilization itself, it behooves each man to know what it takes for an outstanding leader to be outstanding.  And having led soldiers, police officers, and others in the past, I thus want to share with you the critical aspects of leadership that I have observed through my own experiences.

In my view, when boiled down to its essentials, strong leadership is composed of three main principles. And if you put just these three principles into serious practice, it is almost guaranteed to make you a solid leader regardless of the field that you are in (although note that this is assuming that you already possess a natural physical presence borne from being fit, confident, and well-kept, as well as assuming that you have decent communication skills).

1. Lead By Example

Sometimes leading by example sucks…but it has to be done.

It is a standard cliché that a real leader leads by example. But the reason that this idea is a cliché is because it is true. Indeed, as a leader, always by prepared to do whatever you ask your men to do, and whenever possible, do what your men are doing. If your men have to dig trenches, then, if you have time, dig trenches alongside them. If your men have to do a round of sentry duty, then you do one too. If your men have to come in on the weekend to finish up extra paperwork, then you be in the first one there and the last one to leave.

The fact is that men have great respect for a leader who is willing to do everything and anything that he asks his men to do, and who actually shows that this is the case by doing these things whenever possible. Now, granted, as a leader, you will be unable to always do the things that your men do, but that is not the point; the point is that by doing what your men do whenever you can, your men will see that this is the case, then internalize this fact, and then they will never resent you when you ask them to do some shitty job, because they will know that if you could do the job yourself, you would.

2. Treat Your Subordinates Like Sons

A family. A band of brothers. A true team.

Although this may sound strange to some, the fact is that a true leader is like a patriarchal father to his subordinates. He is the authority figure. He dispenses justice and resolves disputes. He cares for and loves his men, but he is not afraid to challenge them or demand great sacrifices of them either. And so, if you want to be an excellent leader, become their “father.”

Indeed, just like a good father would be the first to rise and the last one to go to bed, when it comes to work, be the first one at work and the last one to leave. Look after your men’s welfare, makes sure they are fed and rested, know their problems, take genuine interest in their lives, and develop their character. A father pushes his children to their limits so that they can grow, exposes them to controlled danger, drives them to overcome their fears, and helps pick them back up when they fall down, and a true leader needs to do the same. And just as, sometimes, a father is willing to sacrifice his sons if the situation calls for it, a leader must be ready to do that too.

So think of how a true patriarchal father would treat his sons, and emulate that; doing so will indeed help turn you into an excellent leader. In fact, a leader who truly treats his subordinates like his sons, will soon have his subordinates treating that leader as a father, and as we all know from experience, sons will often do just about anything to please their fathers.

3. Be Competent

At a common-sense level, this principle is self-explanatory. If you are going to lead men in a certain situation, you need to have the knowledge and skills to do so effectively in your particular circumstances. Indeed, even if you practice the other two principles, but you do not have a solid level of competence, then, at best, you will be looked at as a “good guy who tries hard”, but not as a leader. So you do need to be competent at your job; this does not mean you have to be perfect—and many mistakes will be forgiven if you practice the other two principles—but it does mean that you have to know what you are doing the majority of the time.

Additionally, note that competence extends beyond your own specific role. Indeed, for while you should be an expert in whatever job is specifically assigned to you, as a leader, you also need to be generally competent in the roles that your subordinates do as well. So, for example, as an infantry platoon commander, you need to be excellent at giving orders and providing direction under fire, but you also need to have a competent grasp of how to stripe and assembly the platoon’s heavy machine gun, how to fire the mortar, and so (and note how this ties into leading by example). So being competent is a principle that extends to all the tasks that you and your subordinates have to deal with.

Conclusion

Sometimes, this is all that leadership is. And yet, in many respects, it is also the most important form of leadership imaginable.

In the end, real leadership comes from loving your men in the true sense, for when you love your men you will naturally treat them like sons, and you will naturally want to be competent for their sake, and you will naturally lead by example in order to show them the way. And we see this ideal represented in numerous films and books, such as in the movies Gladiator or Master and Commander, or in the series Band of Brothers, where the intense bonds of brotherhood and affection that the men have with their leader can be felt through the screen.

And so, if you want to be the best leader that you can be—and why would you settle for anything less—than remember to lead by example, treat your subordinates like sons, and be competent. Do these three things, and other men will follow you anywhere!

Read More: The 10 Most Important Principles of Leadership

106 thoughts on “The Three Principles Of Great Leadership”

  1. God, Honor and courage. All that the West needs…All that a leader has to have, something that we dont have right now.

  2. Not sure I want men following me around.
    Now women, that’s a different story!

    1. Not sure I want men following me around.

      Depends on the situation.
      “The strength of the Pack is the Wolf.
      The strength of the Wolf is the Pack”
      -Kipling
      “As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
      Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.”
      Psalm 127:4-5

      1. “If you can keep your head when all about you
        Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
        If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
        But make allowance for their doubting too;
        If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
        Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
        Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
        And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise
        If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
        If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
        If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
        And treat those two impostors just the same;
        If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
        Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
        Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
        And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools
        If you can make one heap of all your winnings
        And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
        And lose, and start again at your beginnings
        And never breathe a word about your loss;
        If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
        To serve your turn long after they are gone,
        And so hold on when there is nothing in you
        Except the will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
        If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
        Or walk with Kings – nor lose the common touch,
        If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
        If all men count with you, but none too much;
        If you can fill the unforgiving minute
        With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
        Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
        And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!”
        ― Rudyard Kipling, If: A Father’s Advice to His Son

        1. It truly is. Although this doesn’t diminish his other works.

        2. Kipling is one of my all time favorites. I’m really picky about poetry, and I find most of his works excellent.

    2. As long as they look like teenaged boys you mean.

  3. Great article. Competence what a rare trait nowadays. From CEOs to receptionists I have seen little competence. Most seem to end up where they are because of luck, kissing ass, or sucking a lot of cock. True competence is a rare trait.
    I’ve had vets recommend things to me that made my dog sick so I took it upon myself to research his health and got him better. Likewise doctors have recommend things to be that I know would’ve made me worse and dependent on medication. I remember throwing out my ADD pills when I was in school because of how foggy they made my brain.
    However one valuable lesson I learned from the rampant incompetence of all those around me is that at the end of the day I’m the only one that I can trust and that I need to do my own research for everything. Listening to “experts” can get you killed literally.

    1. I met some CEOs, CFOs, Operations managers and Department heads over my time. I have yet to met one that is actually good at anything aside from smiling, shaking hands and looking busy.
      Most of them excel at taking credit for other’s hard work and shifting blame when projects flounder. Its how they got in those positions to begin with.

      1. “A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit.”- Arnold H. Glasow

        1. Very convenient for a follower, isn’t it???
          Which might be part of the motivation for liking it.

        2. “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”- Dwight D. Eisenhower

      2. Total agreement. Leadership in the business world is not the same that real leadership. In fact, corporate ‘leadership’ is only cunning, hypocrisy, , good PR and choose wisely your subordinates (they need to be clever enough to do the job really good, but not cunning enough to remove your seat).

        1. Yeah its amazing how only idiots get to be CEOs whereas the rest of us geniuses are forced to grind away doing the real work.

      3. Virtually all of the department heads I have dealt with have been excellent. It is a rare thing when I meet an executive who is not brilliant at what he does.
        I would suggest that either you don’t quite understand what these people do or that you are a little narcissistic. Or both.

        1. I can always count on you Bob to totally disagree with me.
          You’re a sycophant.

        2. You have the smug arrogance of an Englishman coupled with the low IQ and comprehension skills of a black man.
          Its a combination that’s comically tragic.

        3. When you go to the gutter you’ll find it takes you a long time to pull yourself out.

        4. Kind of you to say so. Actually I’m currently being considered for a Head of Department job now. Clearly my low black IQ assured sufficient incompetence for me to at least get a look in…

        5. So you went from part-time burger maker to outright shift manager!? Wow congratulations!

    2. Your vet story reminds me of when the family dog died. Took her to an “Emergency Vet”, they gave her expensive medicine and sent us on our way. Local vets took one look at the dog and said “she has a brain cancer”.
      It is good to find trustworthy experts as it is difficult to know everything. Then again my stomping grounds were just barely getting touched by the rampant Marixsm then.

      1. Always best to get a second opinion! Alot of occupations don’t care and only want to milk you for your money like most doctors today are just salesmen for the drug companies!

    3. This is why I am VERY picky about who I choose to trust. I do not share much information with others especially about my personal life and I absolutely do not share any knowledge, advice or guidance in work environments. People are back stabbers. They will fucking eat you alive and they could sell their own mother for couple bucks. Even when person seems nice and all I am extra cautious and deep down still not trust. Never ever trust your management, they cannot be your friends AT ALL. Does not mean you can have positive relation at work. I keep a lot to myself and it does good for me so far. On the other side its sad I cant open to people but hey, I am immigrant here and I do not know anybody at all. Its also different to make real friends as an adult and immigrant. Everybody is chasing a fucking $.

      1. “Its also different to make real friends as an adult and immigrant.”
        You will have acquaintances, but never true friends as an adult immigrant. Get used to having a shot social life.
        As a matter of fact stay away from other immigrants. These are the biggest back stabbers motherfuckers.

      2. I’ve always found it very easy to make friends.
        Every 6-12 months I have to prune the friends list mercilessly.
        3-4 friends is about all I have time for.
        Friends are people you invite to your home, not people you meet outside in the pub or at work.

        1. REAL friends can generally be tallied on one hand. Pals, acquaintances, buddy’s, bros, droogs, etc. should be abundant.

  4. 4- Don’t put too many woman on your management team. Woman don’t make decisions by logic and reason- biologically by emotion. Your bound to turn your company into a royal clusterfuck if that happens. All you will get is testing and an attempt to have you removed from power.

    1. “Don’t put too many woman on your management team.”
      Don’t put any women on any management team and certainly not in any manly type work environment like construction.
      If pretty they’re a distraction if not they simply impede work, harmony and efficiency by their very nature.

      1. “I’ve hired a lot of women for top jobs, and they’ve been among my best people. Often, in fact, they are far more effective than the men around them.”-Donald Trump

        1. Westernise women today have a huge ego which Trump tries to feed to get the female vote! These lies have contributed to receiving 65% of white women votes.
          The ego is the source of unhappiness and depression which is another reason why Feminists are depressed!

        2. Not in construction unless places are “made” for them.
          Don’t get me wrong there are areas like nursing and child care are all yours my dear!

        3. The above quote from Trump is in his book “The Art of the Deal” that he wrote in 1987, 30 years ago. This was well before he had an interest in politics. Though he might have been trying to appeal to feminists in order to get those women as customers in his hotels etc.

        4. I’m not so sure about that. Trump is good at getting women to do what HE wants them to do, not what whatever they want to do which would amount to liberation. He grabs them by the pussy in a sense. The female vote he grabbed in the same way.

        5. So he managed to get the most effective women into his company… encouraging the best women to be career whores instead of wives and mothers.
          Selfish.

        6. Indeed. Just like any businessMAN, he has to “appease & pamper” pussies. But that doesn’t mean, as the @AdvocateNurse says, Trump is talking about “facts” !

        7. Because Trump is an Alphamale who leads. If one of his woman he hired would start to do bullshit like shittests and so on – he would fire them and call them ugly pigs.

      2. Just picture our great male ancestors hunting in the wild with a women present! You see the most successful businesses with very little women staff or none. These days I do a little temp work here and there where female bosses are a nightmare for a business! If you want shit done, have a male only staff and watch productivity go through the roof! The only credit I give to women in the workforce is be attractive to attract customers!
        Long as the government are receiving x2 more taxes due to brainwashing women to work as slaves instead of being free at home as a housewife, they will keep pushing their agenda to encourage women to be workforce slaves!

    2. “It’s funny. My own mother was a housewife all her life. And yet it’s turned out that I’ve hired a lot of women for top jobs, and they’ve been among my best people. Often, in fact, they are far more effective than the men around them.” (“Trump: The Art of the Deal”)

      1. I have yet to see a woman effectively run any company in the US. You put a woman on top with mostly woman in a management team; you are asking for bankruptcy. Name me 1 company that isn’t f up? I know you can’t. I am sure as a liberal though- you can spew some diatribe and avoid the topic because your response would be based on logic and fact-something your incapable of, My point being proved. … I doubt ms nurse your company is much bigger than a lemonade stand.
        I like how woman claim “there company”; chances are extremely high some one gave it to you or you fleeced it out of someone.

        1. “their company”
          Ms Nurse don’t run anything but her mouth.
          Corporate or government employee.

        2. I thought you were being a jerk before when you insulted “advocatenurse” but now I see you had this guy pegged the entire time. You have good insight.

        3. You have good insight. I thought you were wrong about AN, now I see you were right.

        4. The thing is at the level i assume you are talking about you could put a monkey in charge and the business would still run. It comes down to product and customer experience. The “leaders” of the organization just sign off on the work of others. i think that’s what someone like Steve Jobs was very good at, seeing the value in others ideas, and sticking his own neck out to bring them to fruition.

      2. A good leader puts together a good team and leads them. A woman in a team led by an alpha like the Donald will knuckle down and do the job efficiently. I’ve seen this happen. Where it all goes to shit is when you have women leading women. I’ve seen this too.

        1. You are such a freaking idiot, it’s no wonder that you have to buy your women.
          You have a deep ignorance, or hatred here, which basically informs the reader that the wife who took you for a sucker was, and I’m going to say it out loud, a nurse.

    3. Hate to break it too ya, but people in general don’t make decisions by logic and reason-men included.
      Men have just had more reasons to train themselves to think first, then act.
      The entire world operates on emotion. The emotional appeal wins every…single….time.

      1. I would agree to an extent. If you put a CPA man or woman. People driven by logic and analytics — you will see the difference in how things are done. Woman only care about how they are “seen” in context to their decision. Men- make the decision on logic and don’t need that self identity confirmation. I wouldn’t say all men- because all men are not men.

  5. As the old saying goes:
    Never ask anyone to do something you haven’t already done yourself.

  6. Competence can be developed by a desire to get the job done. Too many and all women see leadership positions as a status and privilege posting for being wonderful.

  7. Need some proofreading…it’s strip and assemble, not stripe and assembly a machine gun…otherwise, good advice…

  8. I learned a few things about leadership by supervising inmate work details. If you can get inmates to work for you, you can get almost anybody to work for you.
    Leading isn’t really that hard you just have to find your own “way” of doing it and find the middle ground so to speak. If you are too hard on your men they will just say “fuck it, I’m not doing it” but, if you are too easy on them they will run over you. It’s a fine line to walk however, if you can stay on that line they will follow you to hell.

  9. “where the intense bonds of brotherhood and affection that the men have with their leader can be felt through the screen.”
    This site is so gay

    1. You know, you’re free to fuck off. If you don’t like the content here, then hanging around sniping from the sidelines like a yapping dog makes you nothing more than a little bitch.
      Hit the road, buttercup.

      1. I love the content here. Fake news and idiots who think they’re smart, loser who don’t know how to fuck girls and take advice from fat jelly bellys like Matt Forney, multi-culturalists-in-denial supposed racists led by a Middle Eastern immigrant – supposed nationalists led by a man who’s abandoned his nation, what could be funnier?!
        If you act like a fucken moron, man, don’t blame passers by for stopping, pointing, and laughing at you.

        1. And, blocked. There’s good trolling, and then there’s bad trolling. 2/10, too try hard.

        2. Forney is a fat ass. Roosh is a Middle Eastern immigrant who’s abandoned his nation. The only type of people who’d accept Roosh into their midsts are genuine multi-culturalists (which is why the alt-right rejected him). All true and plenty more too. Trolls are wise creatures.

      1. And yet you guys are obsessed with oiled bronze muscles, male-bonding, and even go so far as advocating to ban chicks from the Olympics so you don’t have any inconvenient interruptions while watching your sweaty male athletes all chiseled and manly. Dude, this is the gayest group of closet homos I’ve ever met. Every second fucker here is insecure about his sexuality and throws a 5 year old’s tantrum at the mere mention of a gay joke that might’ve – just might’ve in his paranoid mind – been serious and a question of his masculinity. Fuck me, fag on, homos

        1. Don’t forget they love Greek homos. Plato et al.
          But to be fair masculine social areas/activities always attract homos, scout leaders, Boys Brigade, school PE teachers.
          Lot of homos on MGTOW as well, you just gotta recognize them for what they are. They always end up boasting of their conquest of women, but always with deviant homo acts.

        2. Yes. The only good thing about the Olympics is watching exotic girls in tight shorts run round in circles. When this site spoke out against fit girls in skimpy clothes it was a definite red flag

        3. I don’t see that anywhere on here. Maybe there are some fags on here but we all know that faggotry is working against society and the family unit.

        4. This entire site is against society the family unit in any same way gays are. How is having gay sex any different than having sex with a condom on or contraception pills involved? Neither produces offspring and builds families and helps society. On one page, RoK will be blaming gays for population decline, and then on the next page they’ll be talking about how to get sex without any risk of the date getting pregnant – backed up by 101 reasons why NOT to get married. That’s absolutely hypocritical.
          Anyway, there’s an unhealthy obsession here with the things I pointed out – muscles, masculinity, and other men. You didn’t address that. Fuck what I would to see photos of the users here. I bet they’re all pencil-necked geeks or jelly bellies, none of them even close to the man they describe in their wet fantasies.

      1. Banning women from the gym to increase “male bonding” isn’t the opposite of gay. I just hope somebody have the good sense to put free condoms in the showers or you’ll all get HIV

    2. “This site is so gay”
      Says the guy (you perhaps?) with a pic of a dude ramming a phallic object into his mouth.

        1. I’m gay because I drink beer? Odd, but if drinking beer makes you gay then count me in! I love the stuff and I’m not ashamed of that

        2. Your gay because your a homosexual, but you can attempt to construct the terms anyway you want twink.

        3. I just wish better beer was available out here.
          Chang, Leo, Tiger in Thailand.
          San Miguel in the Philippines.
          I’ve turned to Vodka and Gin cocktails in disgust.
          And wine coolers ……… which may be a little bit gay.
          That Red Cock Vodka ($4 a bottle) has already gone, add equal measures of freshly squeezed lime (4oz), add 2 halved strawberries, and a tablespoon of sugar, poured over crushed ice. ….. bloody amazing (Vodka Gimlet)!

    3. Yet. Here you are… checking it out. Reading things. Noticing what the guys here like. Commenting on “oiled muscles…”

      1. Trolls gotta trolls somewhere. I used to troll femminists, but then I realized there were smaller fish to fry and I came here. Anyway, I am planning on making my own website and learning about how stupid my opposition are is important

      1. Bullies called me that in school. Who’s the bigger fag? The man called Little Bo Peep, or the man who gets bashed by Little Bo Peep? I think you know

      2. As far as I know banging sheep isn’t considered gay.
        What’s a NZ guys favourite girls name? ….. Baaa Baaa Raaa

  10. So true this! The only thing is, we have to train our sons how to handle backstabbers. Especially the military types who pre-emptively strike. These three things help, but they can be shut down, subverted, and undermined by a skillful liar. There are after all, in all professions our sons will face, so many promotions available. Sometimes, the more competent, intelligent, athletic, knowledgeable, or whatever, can actually paint a significant target on your back!!!
    So you have to teach your sons how to communicate WELL! And pick up on the social cues, and when to know a snake when you see one! They will bite your heel ASAP if they can steal something from you.

  11. Incredible article. This article is also the greatest rebuttal to putting any woman in a leadership position of men. Of course no woman can lead, they cannot be fathers and have no concept of it. And of course feminized men think wimen can lead, they are all a pack of traitors and children and have no concept of either fatherhood or brotherhood.

  12. As roosh said, women fill the container they are in. If the men have each others backs, then the women will either step up to your standards, or worst comes to worst, you have a wolfpack to go find better women.
    Have each others backs guys. Women arent the problem.

  13. The Sun-Emperor is re-establishing the Axis. Do I need to spell it out for you filthy mofo’s?
    They. Are. All. Idiots.
    Anders Hitler Adolf Breivik
    Thelemic state tax office COMMANDER IN CHIEF is still in Prison.
    Trust the Fuhrer.
    The Second World War never ended …
    Am Ende steht der Sieg.

      1. why? he was an fucking socialist asshole and an dictator who killed a lot. Are you that degenerated in your weakness that you need cruel murder to fill your weak personality with some energy?
        He was lying, destroying and massmurdering. That is not good – that is evil.

        1. No i am not. And Ukrainians are blond + blue eyed. Nobody killed more blond blue eyed “arians” as Hitler and Stalin.
          Both idiots.

  14. I’m chuckling about this article because I had a confrontation with my boss. I said, in private of course, that he acted like a boss and not a leader and it enraged him (which is another way he was a boss). I left the company, obviously, but I struggle with being a leader myself.
    One can do all of the above and still not be a leader. A leader is someone who gets a team of people to follow him, or even better, his ideas via trust and engagement. When one has authority, leadership is “bootstrapped”. This is why Trump did so well partly because his father gave him a headstart, but he ran with it.
    So for me at this point in my life, I seek to have people follow my ideas rather than me personally because I simply don’t have the authority to command them. I’m reminded of Tom Sawyer tricking the kids into painting his fence for him. That to me seems to be what leadership is: Not conning people into doing your work for you, but getting them to think it was their own idea.

  15. Fucking Hell. Why does every damn comment section end up being about penis measuring of some kind. True Leaders are born and not made. Sure, non-genetic leaders can work on themselves until they are passable at leadership, but they don’t have near the ceiling as those true born leaders.
    Aside from this, leadership in conflict is when you are able to cull the fat and find out who has the stones to do what has to be done.

      1. No aspirations at all. I do my thing and let others do theirs. My comment was based purely on observation and an awareness of interpersonal interactions.
        I am curious to know what you think I am wrong about? I reread what I wrote and still stand by it.

  16. What I get from this is simply that not everyone is meant to be a leader. We can all be competent in our sphere, but not everyone can convincingly embody the patriarchal archetype, or even set an example that others are drawn to follow. But we can all strive toward these principles, even if we end up as followers.

  17. “It is a standard cliché that a real leader leads by example.”
    Behind every cliché is a piece of truth. Too often people ignore the clichés because they think that they are just cute pieces of language strung together to inspire, uplift and motivate others. The truth is that clichés are cliché because they have been proven.
    Awesome post.

  18. It has always been said, great leaders learn how to follow. What do they follow? The example that was set forth by their leaders before.

  19. Fantastic article! Very well written, and is pure wisdom from start to finish! I applied these very principles about a year ago, and have seen incredible change in every aspect of my life, especially in my career.
    I’ve taken a break from ROK for a while, and this article is exactly the kind of material I was hoping to find coming back. More like this please!

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