Mitch Frazier: Let’s be leaders who inspire

Leadership is often celebrated in the wake of moments that matter. In business, leaders and the impact they deliver are revered at the end of a quarter, at the conclusion of a successful product launch or following the close of a record-breaking year.

Good leaders share the spotlight and recognize the team that made the results possible. Great leaders do more.

Great leaders leave a wake of confidence and create a future capability. They not only rally a team around a clear, measurable goal, they teach the team how to do it. They inspire with clarity of purpose, build a spirit of unity and create the conditions to transform ambition into action now and in the future.

This view of leadership is not utopian. It’s real, and its impact on teams is often not fully recognized or appreciated until long after the final milestones are met. Many can identify the few, rare leaders in a career who set this example, who enabled excellence and whose wisdom, courage, competence and care became the standard to lead. These unique leaders are far more than role models; they shape the very fabric of how future generations lead.

Nearly 22 years ago in Iraq, I became a beneficiary of one of these leaders. His name is Tom Bostick, and last week on stage at the Midwest Defense Innovation Summit in Indianapolis, I had the opportunity for the first time in more than two decades to thank him for showing me at an early stage in my career what it meant to lead.

Tom is a brilliant leader who answered the call to accelerate the progress of the United States’ Iraq reconstruction program in 2004. As commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region Division, he led a team composed largely of American civilians with a laser focus on restoring critical infrastructure. I first met Tom in June 2004 when I arrived in Baghdad as a new member of his civilian public affairs team. He was the epitome of calm under fire. He defined our mission, built connections with each of us and provided a framework to operate quickly and deliver results.

Despite the challenges of operating in a war zone, working for Tom was one of the best and most formative experiences of my life. Tom demonstrated how a calm, clear-headed approach to operating in an ever-changing environment was possible by creating clarity and cohesion despite the danger.

I’ve never forgotten the lessons learned during my brief time with Tom in Iraq. They shaped who I am, how I think, how I lead and how I serve.

This story of Tom’s impact on me isn’t unique. He’s shaped the lives of leaders around the globe. He retired as a lieutenant general in 2016, and over his Army career, he led and served hundreds of thousands of soldiers, civilians and their family members. After serving in Iraq, he went on to lead a turnaround of Army recruiting, served as the Army’s personnel chief and concluded his time in uniform as the Army’s chief engineer. Following his service, he’s led teams in business, biotech and beyond.

He penned the book “Winning After Losing: Building Resilient Teams” and has taken stages around the globe to inspire leaders with his uniquely calm, competitive, intellectual, mission-focused approach to leadership.

We can all learn a great deal from Tom. Let’s commit to leading like him, and let’s not wait nearly 22 years as I did to tell someone the impact their leadership had.•

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Frazier is president of IBJ Media.