Command Decisions

Episode 50:  Rainbow Bridge

Colonel Blake:   Well, I’m afraid this is what you call your 

                 command decision.  It’s “lonely at the top” time.  

                 Strictly something for your leader. 

Hawkeye:         Well, Henry?

Colonel Blake:   Oh Golly.  Whatever you people decide is fine with 

                 me.

The Chinese send the 4077 a message to offer a prisoner exchange as they are unable to adequately treat the captured US casualties.  Colonel Blake calls together the officers to discuss the risks involved in the exchange and calls on volunteers to meet the enemy in their territory.

Leading an organisation into unknown territory always involves an element of risk and demands courageous leadership to make the call to lead where others fear to go.  These sorts of tough decisions cannot be avoided, rarely should be delegated and ought never to be abdicated.  While there are tough decisions that require the collective wisdom of other leaders or a committee to determine the correct course of action, more often than not, what makes decisions tough is not determining what needs to be done but having the courage to do it!  Leadership expert Peter Drucker writes, “Just because something is difficult, disagreeable, or frightening there is no reason for not doing it if it is right.”  From that crucial conversation to a corporate contract, the knowledge of what is the right thing to do can’t be compromised by the degree of risk or reservation by those we lead.  Command decisions require uncompromising character and courage from those entrusted with the responsibility to lead.

We Win Some, We Lose Some

Episode 6:  Yankee Doodle Doctor

Hawkeye:   Three hours ago this man was in a battle.  Two hours ago we operated on him.  He’s got a 50-50 chance.  We win some, we lose some.  That’s what it’s all about.  No promises.  No guaranteed survival.  No saints in surgical garb.  Our willingness, our experience, our technique are not enough.  Guns and bombs and anti-personnel mines have more power to take life than we have to preserve it.  Not a very happy ending for a movie.  But then no war is a movie.

The 4077 is chosen for the filming of a documentary focusing on the surgical skills of the doctors in the war effort.  Outraged by the propaganda, Hawkeye and Trapper create their own version of the film revealing the truth about the war.

Leadership on the front lines of life recognises that no matter how hard you try or how experienced you might be, people don’t always follow your lead.  This has been a hard reality for me to face when I’ve invested enormous time, energy and resources into developing leaders to have some make unwise choices that damages the relationship or derails them from their position.  I have come to realise that my “willingness, experience and technique” is sometimes not enough.  While I can’t control other people’s choices, I can choose not to allow their decision not to follow discourage me from my responsibility to lead. Leaders are responsible to faithfully “lead with all diligence” (Romans 12:8), despite the outcomes we cannot control.

Dealing With Crisis

Episode 2:  To Market, To Market

Hawkeye: Don’t confuse me I can only handle one catastrophe at a time

Trying to meet a deadline for secretly delivering Colonel Blake’s antique desk to the black market, in exchange for essential medicine, Hawkeye and Trapper become locked in the Colonel’s office.  Hawkeye is faced with multiple crisis of getting out of the office, delaying the chopper and the risk of getting caught!

Crisis has the ability to bring out the best and worst in leaders.   It is relatively easy to lead in the calm when everything makes sense, but in the midst of a crisis when confusion reigns, that is when the true value of leadership is revealed.  A leader needs to be able to maintain clarity of thought to effectively navigate an individual or organization through crisis.  To have clarity of thought during crisis depends upon having a clear understanding of your vision and values before the crisis occurs. Vision and values provide the foundation upon which a leader can confidently make the right decisions and give appropriate direction, especially when faced with opposition.  Having a clear reference point during periods of crisis in my ministry has empowered me to stay the course and not allow conflicting agendas derail the mission of the church I am leading.