Before air assaulting his Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry into Vietnam’s Ia Drang Valley on 14 November 1965, Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore, the battalion commander, declared “when we step on the battlefield, I will be the first boots on and that last boots off”. Three days later, the battalion was extracted after defeating an enemy force eight times its size. Through the battle, Hal Moore and his leaders displayed amazing leadership and were definitely in charge.

We believe that great leaders live by an absolute set of core values, 24/7. These individuals are hard wired to “walk the talk”.

One of our most prominent recollections from our cadet days at West Point is the farewell speech by General of the Army Douglas MacArthur to the Corps of Cadets when he received the Thayer Award on May 12, 1962. It is one of the most eloquent speeches we have ever heard — and we can only imagine what it must have been like to have been in the audience on that remarkable day.

Independence Day is an opportunity for all Americans to reconnect with our roots and rededicate ourselves to the ideals of our Republic. It is a day to reread the Declaration of Independence and consider the incredible foresight and courage of our founding fathers

Level Five leaders are developed over time. Indeed, considerable time. It takes a very special person to be blessed with a paradoxical mix of humility, persistence, and of course, competence. No one is born with these skills; rather, it takes a lifetime of education, experience, and mentoring in the school of hard knocks. Leaders are developed, not born. Frankly, the journey is akin to climbing a very high mountain for which there is no summit. We never arrive, but commit ourselves to the journey of continuous improvement.

In several of our recent Level Five leadership presentations, seminars, workshops, and discussions, we’ve been asked: “What do I do when the Boss doesn’t get it?” The sense of frustration in this question is palpable, and because we’ve been there we know the feelings are genuine and deep seated. No one wants to be in an environment where the person in charge does not share the values-based leadership goals of the rest of the team. Establishing and sustaining a culture of excellence seems impossible if the CEO won’t accept the need to embrace integrity as an absolute – and then “walk the talk.”