Supervise the Activity
This is the last in a series of posts on using the Six Troop Leading Steps (BAMCIS) in the War of Life.
Get caught up here:
The final step in BAMCIS is: Supervise the Activity
It’s also the step most people skip.
To begin is exciting. Planning is productive. Making the reconnaissance gathers information. Issuing the order feels decisive.
But supervision is boring and hard work.
Supervision is critical to leadership, and it’s impossible to practice self-leadership without it.
In the Marine Corps, we have a saying, you don’t get what you expect, you get what you inspect.
Leaders can’t issue an order and then walk away, hoping it gets accomplished.
A good leader confirms understanding, oversees rehearsals, inspects gear, and enforces standards.
That is what most personal/professional development efforts are missing.
People make a plan, then abandon their responsibility to lead the effort.
The plan won’t supervise itself.
This is true whether you have a nutrition plan, a workout plan, a writing schedule, a plan to grow your business, or a plan to save your marriage.
Anything important requires the commander's attention.
And as we should know by now, that’s you.
This isn’t because you’re weak, but because the war of life is characterized by friction, chaos, and uncertainty.
You will get tired. The week brings unexpected requirements. People will need things from you. The enemy will adapt, and your old habits will start probing the wire looking for a gap.
Supervision is how you keep the perimeter strong.
In Walking Point terms, it’s your daily azimuth check.
Review the mission. Observe the terrain. Evaluate your actions. Review enemy contact.
Then adjust as necessary to support the main effort.
Don’t confuse intensity for discipline.
Intensity is sending out a handful of patrols into enemy territory today.
Discipline is the consistent deployment of a patrol every day. Even when the weather sucks, or you don’t feel like it.
Consistency will always beat out intensity in the long war of life
Supervision means asking hard questions:
Did I do what I said I would do?
Did I meet the standard?
Where did the fog of war appear?
What do I need to adjust?
What am I missing?
Where is the enemy finding a gap in my defense?
What is tomorrow’s priority?
Supervision also means inspecting your systems, not just your effort.
If you keep failing at night, inspect your evening routine.
If you keep missing workouts, inspect your bedtime.
If you keep eating garbage, inspect your grocery list.
If you keep losing focus, inspect your phone.
If you keep avoiding the hard task, inspect the first hour of your day.
Amateurs attack symptoms. Leaders inspect systems.
The point of supervision isn’t perfection, it’s correction.
A patrol will get off azimuth from time to time. That doesn’t equal failure. It just means the leader needs to check his compass and correct.
That’s the war of life.
You will get temporarily disoriented. You will make enemy contact. You will miss a workout. You will be lazy, distracted, and tired.
It isn’t whether you occasionally get off course
It’s whether you have a supervision process that gets you back on azimuth.
This is why the AAR matters.
What was supposed to happen?
What actually happened?
Why was there a difference?
What will I sustain?
What will I improve?
Supervision closes the loop. And then, like every good process, it sends you back to the beginning.
You supervise the activity, learn from the activity, and begin planning again.
That is getting better at getting better.
A repeated cycle of mission, movement, feedback, and adjustment.
BAMCIS is not just a troop leading procedure.
It is a way to lead yourself through uncertainty.
Begin planning.
Arrange for reconnaissance.
Make the reconnaissance.
Complete the planning.
Issue the order.
Supervise.
Then do it again.
That is how you start Walking Point.
Today’s Tactic:
Your plan doesn’t fail when friction appears. It fails when you stop supervising. Check your azimuth daily. Correct. Continue the mission (or as we say, Charlie Mike).
Until next week, Charlie Mike!
John
- Your arms dealer for the war of life
I like the new tagline.
“That we can manage other people is by no means proven. But we can always manage ourselves.” — Peter Drucker