Old movies about the American West would feature the US Army Cavalry as heroes riding to the rescue and establishing outposts to keep the peace on thefrontier.
Vistage Member and Consultant Les Landes points out the key to an effective Cavalry outpost was not the Colonel in charge but the Scout who was the leader’s eyes and ears. Mr. Landes suggests this underscores a useful distinction that made the Cavalry effective: the difference between being in command versus being in control. He writes “A valuable lesson for today’s workforce can be learned from a notable exception to the traditional rule of control and command that embodied that long-ago bastion of order and discipline – the U.S. Cavalry.
Are there parallels between the US Cavalry and your organization?
The higher up you get in the organization, the harder it can be to see what really matters. Who is scouting for you? Check out Mr. Landes’ brief and interesting blog post: Scouting for Control.
