Marine colonel explains how to lead your peers

As a chapter officer, on a class project, or in another campus organization, the time will come when you'll need to lead your friends and brothers. Col. Robert Lanham, Indiana ’77, has an expansive military career, and he has served tours in Iraq, Europe and the Western Pacific. Lanham serves at the U.S. Marine Corps Headquarters as the director of the strategic initiatives group. He offers his advice on how to effectively lead your peers.

Col. Robert Lanham speaking at the 2011 Conclave.

One of the most frequent quandaries voiced by our undergraduate SigEp leaders concerns how best to lead their peers. In my experience, peer leadership provides the real essence of leadership in any circumstance—not because it is so hard to master, but because it can be the least forgiving; so, mastery is critical.  In order for peers to want to follow another, they must have trust and confidence in their peer-leader. They must believe the path they are to follow will provide some benefit to them, and they must believe very strongly that their prospective peer-leader is capable of getting the job done successfully. But doesn’t that describe leadership in almost any circumstance?

Model the way.

When Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner discuss the practices of exemplary leadership in The Leadership Challenge, they preface that discussion by stating their first law of leadership: “If you don’t believe the messenger, you won’t believe the message.” A leader has to be credible, trustworthy, and competent in everything he does or the likelihood of “being believed” in any significant endeavor will be challenged from the beginning.

So, first and foremost, conduct yourself in a manner that exudes competence, confidence, and credibility. Time-honored characteristics such as honesty, diligence, preparedness, and a willingness to listen to others are crucial for leaders. Then, of course, the “message” must be worth believing in.  Followers will work hard to reach a goal only if they believe it will do them some good and they share in the belief that their lives will be improved in some way worthy of their exertions.

Define the why and what.

If you want to enlist others in achieving a challenging goal, then you will have to begin by investing the time to develop a strong sense of what that goal should be, and why it is important.  With peers, involve them early in these deliberations so that the group can share in the vision and develop a sense of “ownership” of that common, positive purpose you are trying to accomplish.

Are you trying to raise your chapter’s academic performance or increase participation in campus leadership opportunities?  Maybe you want to take on a challenging community project.  Whatever you decide to take on, begin by answering why it is important to you and your peers.  You must involve them in this discussion and be willing to make some modifications to your original concept in order to capture what is important to the group as a whole. Your vision or goal is usually improved in the process.

Keep everyone involved.

All of this is simply another way of thinking about the first two leadership practices from The Leadership Challenge:  Model the Way, and Inspire a Shared Vision.  They are emphasized here because they are so critically important.  As you move through the other elements of the process, keep in mind that a leader may have to share power and credit with peers in order to keep them energized and on task.  If you try to do it yourself, you may lose energy, interest, and followers along the way.

Ultimately, leadership comes from the heart.  Believe in your vision and find ways to bring it about, but your head has to do a lot of thinking, listening, and adjusting your approach along the way. Good luck!

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