Leadership

                As far as a miniseries goes, there has to be a lot of progress through each episode while still developing characters and plot for the whole series. I have made it through episode 5 of the miniseries Band of Brothers. The last two episodes have focused more and more on the leadership of Easy Company. There are a few things that I have noticed about a leader. The first and most basic is that a leader isn't a leader if no one follows. I know that statement seems like a "no duh" statement, but in the show a whole unit of men were willing to face the worst disgrace a soldier could because they wanted to live and their leader was not the man to follow into battle.

                Another observation is a leader leads. Which means that he is at the front. When opposition arises, the leader is the person who will make the decisions knowing the consequences of those decisions and be the first to move against the opposition. I know that this defeats the hierarchy of power, especially when it comes to war and chain of command. However a true leader is the front runner. The president is the leader of our country, and when faced with a difficult situation HE is the one making a trip to a foreign country to try to resolve the problems. Captain Winters in the show Band of Brothers is the leader of Easy Company, and he demonstrates his leadership throughout, particularly episode 5. When his unit has to advance to overtake the enemy, he throws a smoke canister out to be the sign of when to advance. Since he is throwing, he doesn't need to see when the smoke comes out for him to know when to start running.  Well, there was a delay on the canisters part and Winters was already 60 yards ahead of everyone else. He doesn't look back because he doesn't need to.

                A good leader builds a support team around them by gathering people with skills and utilizing them. A great leader takes whatever people they have and build those people up. Winters didn't need to look back because he knows what men he has built up and trusts that they will follow him. I can't articulate how I feel towards this. No matter how hard I try, I can't describe what impact a team like this has on my life. If it is just four, or forty four, when a team works together, all making sacrifice for one another... I just want to pray for that for my family.

                Most men will understand what I am talking about. I only say men because we can make a relationship as strong as brothers without needing to come from the same parents. I tell you, my sister used to only call herself my sister strictly because we came from the same parents. That was when we were younger. However my friend Logan, I have only known for six years, and he is the man that I would call if something terrible happened to me or my family. I know that this is small scale compared to how close the men in WWII grew together, but the bond is so strong.