I took command of an infantry company in the 28th Infantry Division of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard in 1985. The company I commanded was designated Company A, 2nd Battalion, 109th Infantry Regiment, and the unit had an authorized strength of 144 soldiers. I was honored to have an opportunity to lead the commissioned officers, NCOs and soldiers assigned to the outfit.

I remember reading an Army leadership manual earlier in my career before taking this command. In the manual, there was a statement I will never forget. It said a military unit, and any organization, for that matter, takes on the personality of its leader. When reading that statement as a young, inexperienced leader, I doubted it. I could not believe that a unit of almost 150 soldiers would take on my personality. I did not believe that someone like me could have the type of impact whereby over 100 of the people assigned to my unit would take on my traits.

Based on my experience commanding that company, I learned I was wrong, and the leadership manual was correct. An organization will take on the personality of its leader.

In my case, the commander I took over for was a good man; however, his focus seemed to be more about being a nice guy rather than emphasizing physical fitness and tough training. That was the personality of the unit when I took command. Everyone got along, but many of the soldiers were not physically ready for combat. The company did not conduct rigorous individual or collective training in a field environment.

I believed soldiers must be in excellent physical condition, and I also believed infantrymen needed to train rigorously in field conditions, be experts with their weapons and take excellent care of their equipment. Over time, the unit took on a tough persona. This was confirmed by our brigade commander when he selected our unit to deploy to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California. It was an honor in the late 1980s for a National Guard company to be selected for that training.

Bearing Witness

I continue to hear about and witness demonstrations of both military and civilian organizations adopting the personality and philosophy of their senior leader or boss.

I have a friend who worked at a Cadillac dealership. He explained to me how the dealership took on the personality of its owners. For the first several years my friend worked there, the owner ran a tight ship, treated the employees well and always engaged customers and tended to their needs. The employees followed suit, and the dealership had a reputation for friendly customer service.

The owner eventually decided to retire, and ownership of the business transferred to the man’s two sons. Neither son really wanted to own the dealership. They treated their employees poorly. They treated the customers much the same way. The personality of the enterprise changed 180 degrees. Many of the older employees left the company, and those who were hired treated the customers disrespectfully, just as the two owners did. Within five years, the dealership was out of business.

Many leaders underestimate their power to inspire and change the behavior of their subordinates. But leaders do have the power to shape the personality and behavior of the organization they lead based on their character traits and the way they act.

If a leader does not pay attention to detail and is sloppy, the organization will not be detail-oriented. If a leader treats their employees disrespectfully, employees will treat customers the same way. If the leader is service-oriented, employees will be service-oriented, too. Yes, there are individual exceptions, but I have seen that organizations will take on the personality of their leader.

There is a scene in the 2000 movie Remember the Titans in which the captain of the high school football team is arguing with one of the players. The captain tells the player he has the worst attitude he’s ever come across. The player answers, “Attitude reflects leadership.” That is a true statement.

Bad Attitude?

In my work as a leadership consultant, I visited a manufacturing facility where I met a newly hired supervisor. Let’s call him Mark. He had been an NCO in the Army, and it was easy to tell he was a sharp guy and a caring leader.

Mark met an employee who worked for a different supervisor. Mark was a positive individual and asked the employee how he was doing. The employee answered that he was doing terrible, and the response was laced with curse words.

The employee’s supervisor came over to Mark after hearing the exchange and told Mark that he should stop trying to engage this employee. The supervisor went on to tell Mark that no one talks to that employee any longer because he has such a bad attitude.

Mark was undeterred, and for the next seven days, he kept asking the employee how he was doing, and for seven days, the employee said he was doing terrible, but the curse words began to subside. On the eighth day, Mark again asked the employee how he was doing, and before the employee could respond, Mark stopped him.

Mark said, “Now, don’t tell me you are doing terrible.” The employee looked at Mark and did not say a word. This went on for the next few days until the employee finally answered Mark’s question about how his day was going by saying, “It is going pretty good today.”

The worker eventually asked to be reassigned to Mark’s team. The request was granted. Now the employee is one of the most positive and respectful people in the plant.

This is a notable example of how a leader can use their personality to make a positive difference in the life of another person.

Maj. Gen. John Gronski, U.S. Army retired, is founder and CEO of Leader Grove LLC, which provides leadership assessments and training. He served on active duty and in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard for 40 years, and upon retiring in 2019, he was the U.S. Army Europe deputy commanding general for Army National Guard. He is the author of Iron-Sharpened Leadership: Transforming Hard-Fought Lessons into Action.