Mission Command

“He’s dictatorial! He comes from a military background.”

I hear this often when people discuss certain management styles.

Yes, it’s true that command and control (C2) plays a role in the military. But here’s what’s often missed: many of the most progressive leadership philosophies (decentralised decision-making, intent-based leadership, shared ownership) come from military leaders.

Books like:

• Turn the Ship Around! – L. David Marquet, a submarine commander, handed control to his crew and built leaders at every level.

• Extreme Ownership – Jocko Willink and Leif Babin on leading by example and empowering teams in Navy SEAL units.

• Team of Teams – General Stanley McChrystal on breaking rigid hierarchies to build agile, empowered networks.

• Call Sign Chaos – General Jim Mattis on the value of initiative, trust, and decentralised decision-making across his leadership journey.

• The Mission, the Men, and Me – Pete Blaber, a former Delta Force commander, on adapting leadership to uncertainty and empowering frontline thinking.

These aren’t just theories. They’re forged in the uncertainty and chaos of combat, where micromanagement simply doesn’t survive.

Even in a command-driven structure, modern military leaders are trained to push autonomy down to the lowest levels, trusting individuals to act on intent, not just orders.

In the world of software, we’d be wise to borrow this approach.

Modern software teams are cross-functional, distributed, and working in fast-changing, complex environments. Top-down control slows them down. What works instead? Clarity of intent, mutual trust, and empowering those closest to the problem to make the call.

Leadership today isn’t about giving orders, it’s about creating conditions for others to lead.

Maybe it’s time we retire the “military equals authoritarian” stereotype.

Sometimes the most adaptive, agile, and empowering leadership comes from the battlefield.

Originally posted on LinkedIn.