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It took both management and leadership to solve this problem!
In late September 1943, the American and British armies finally broke out of the Salerno beachhead and pushed back the German Army in Italy. The enemy wasn’t giving anything away for free.
The 10th Engineer Battalion (3rd Infantry Division) had the mission of opening up the road near a place called Acerno. On one 2200 yard stretch the retreating Germans blew up 5 bridges, leaving narrow, deep canyons for the Engineers to deal with.
Building 5 bridges like the one pictured above, under fire and in the rain, took a combination of LEADING THE PEOPLE and MANAGING THE JOB.
LEADING
- Owning the mission without asking “Why us?”
- Common suffering, the key to credible authority, as officers, NCOs and privates rolled up their sleeves and had at it.
- An understanding that the only thing worth this much work, under these conditions, was the chance to eventually beat the enemy and get back home.
MANAGING
- Creating a plan, gathering resources (take another look at that picture – the resources must have included and Erector set and Tinker Toys!), and initiating movement – all at once.
- Balancing initiative, sound engineering, safety, risk, and sustainability (think water and Chesterfields) to do this job 5 times along a length of mountain road just over a mile long.
Management and leadership are your left jab and your right hook. The big missions require both.
A good read:
They Called It Purple Heart Valley by Margaret Bourke-White (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1944) Great stories and photos of what supporting troops did to move the US Army in Italy, each a lesson in the arts management and leadership.
Photo above from publication Salerno, War Department ‘American Forces in Action Series’ (Wahington DC: War Department Military Intelligence Division, 1944). From what I can tell the photographer is uncredited.
Related: Does Someone Think You’re Lying? 6 Tips to Clear Things Up.