Leadership Lessons from Nelson and Twelve O'Clock High

Introduction: The Challenge of Leadership and Change

Dramatic, major changes are sometimes difficult to achieve, whether in civilian industry or in government institutions such as the military. Often, a leader — whether a politician or an officer — who attempts to institute change is challenged by those who are entrenched in their positions. Even so, a skilled leader can enter an organization steeped in its own habits and rituals and make the changes that are genuinely needed. Leadership is never simple, but history and film alike offer compelling illustrations of what it looks like when it is done well.

Nelson's Command Philosophy

An article in History Today extols the leadership abilities of British Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, who led British ships into battle in the late 1700s, defeating — among other notable forces — Napoleon's fleet at the Battle of the Nile (1798). His leadership philosophy, recorded in his own words, was straightforward: "A commander gives his orders in a manner that ensures the subordinates understand his intentions, their own missions, and the context of those missions" (Vincent, 2003). Moreover, Nelson continued, "Subordinates are told what effect they are to achieve and the reason why it needs to be achieved." This doctrine of communicating intent, context, and purpose to subordinates would come to be recognized as a cornerstone of effective military command.

General Savage and the 918th Bomb Group

The leadership shown in the film Twelve O'Clock High (1949), starring Gregory Peck, exemplifies Nelson's kind of strategy. Peck's character is by turns belligerent, unreasonable, dramatic, and heroic — yet he is consistently articulate in laying out his expectations. Some of his subordinates no doubt considered him too demanding. But Peck, who plays Brigadier General Frank Savage, has come into command of the 918th Bomb Group in England during World War II, and he is not shy about stating — loudly and repeatedly — what is expected of those under his command. In the end, he accomplishes his mission with their help.

The film shows just how difficult it is for a general taking over an important unit that has acquired loose and undisciplined habits. When Savage is driven onto the base for the first time, the soldier at the gate fails to check the general's credentials. Savage immediately gets out of the vehicle, returns to the gate, and confronts the soldier directly about the lapse in security. This gives him an early warning that the base is lax in more ways than one. As soon as he reaches the command office, he spots a soldier not dressed in the proper military uniform. His response is immediate: as the new leader, he must do something about this failure of military procedure and discipline.

In dressing down the air executive officer, Savage may seem to the viewer to go too far in his verbal assault. He speaks directly and loudly into the face of the officer and declares things such as, "As far as I'm concerned, you're yellow," and, "You're a traitor to yourself and to the uniform you wear." He becomes deeply personal with the officer — who had apparently been drinking — which is not textbook leadership practice. Yet it is wartime, and the stakes could hardly be higher.

Nazi Germany had seized much of Europe and was slaughtering people by the millions. There was no easy path to victory against a military machine of that power, so Savage's decision to employ an intimidating, uncompromising leadership style carries a certain wartime logic. "I hate a man like you so much I'm going to get your head down in the mud and trample it," Savage tells the officer. "I'm going to make you wish you'd never been born." Colonel Ben Gately, the demoted air executive, had not been flying on the bombing missions with any regularity — itself a sign of deeply inadequate leadership. That is why Savage had called him "yellow": it is the blunt, direct way a commanding officer strips away a subordinate's excuses. "You're going to make every mission," Savage orders, and he further commands that Gately's bomber be marked with the words "Leper Colony" — a visible signal to every man on the base that Savage is utterly serious.

Conclusion: Continuous Learning as the Core of Leadership

A leader doesn't just attend a prestigious officer's training school, learn a great deal, and emerge permanently prepared for effective command. He needs the willingness and the capacity to learn continuously. He must have a strong desire to stay current, to see himself as an educated educator — someone who asks questions rather than merely disseminating information.

Asking questions and seeking new knowledge is exactly what General Savage did well, and that disposition rubbed off on his men, just as he had intended. But even the best-laid plans of generals and colonels can go awry if the willingness to keep learning — and to never stop listening — is lost. Taken together, the example of Admiral Nelson, the fictional case of General Savage, and the BKDL framework all point to the same conclusion: great military leadership is not a fixed achievement but an ongoing practice rooted in clear communication, self-awareness, and a commitment to continuous growth.

Works Cited

Be-Know-Do-Learn. (2006). U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Original Publication [author] & Eric Shinseki. Retrieved May 14, 2008, from http://hq.usace.army.mil/cepa/learning/2.htm.

Twelve O'Clock High. (1949). Twentieth Century Fox. Director, Henry King.

Vincent, E. (2003). Nelson and mission command: Edgar Vincent analyses the spectacularly successful, and surprisingly modern, leadership strategy of Horatio Nelson. History Today, 53(6), 18–20.