Being the captain of a warship can be a lonely existence. Eating, chilling out, watching tv and resting in isolation will impact different people in different ways. Regardless of where a captain sits on the intro-extravert spectrum however, s/he needs some sort of trusted sounding board to ‘download’ on.

During the 1990s I served at sea in the Navy under a ‘Leader in Service’ who I now commonly refer to as Captain-my-Hero. One day a ship with a significantly junior Captain was to rendezvous with us to start several days of training manoeuvres. On joining us, this ship got its final approach horribly wrong and put both ships in danger of collision. After a simultaneous reversing of engines, we were both stopped in the water, much like two charging thoroughbreds skidding to a stop in a cloud of dust. As we slowly backed out of trouble Captain-my-Hero quietly called for his Signals Yeoman and I managed to hear him dictate a message to be dispatched by flashing light:

When I was a teenager my sisters introduced me to Crosby, Stills & Nash. Nash, the smooth, Welsh ex-Hollies musician was a terrific songwriter and these words from ‘Wounded Bird’ (Songs for Beginners, 1971) always struck a chord:

Leaders whose overwhelming desire is to serve their people reside, I believe, where humility meets generosity. They create constructive cultures where brilliant ideas, creativity and innovation are bountiful, and mistakes tolerated. These ‘Leaders in Service’, exceptionally comfortable in their own skin, personify the words of the great Robert Greenleaf, who pioneered Servant Leadership in the 70s. He said that “Leadership must, first and foremost, meet the needs of others”.

Even prior to this week’s dramatic series of events in the US, I had been considering how leadership can be so dangerous when being attempted by a largely inept and flawed human. My Dangerous Leadership model is completely based on the behaviours of D.J. Trump but elements of the model could apply to many flawed leaders of the last 100 years or so. Where for instance might you place K. Rudd or T. Abbott? Steve Jobs was hardly perfect. Hitler's petulance was off the scale while George 'Doubya', regardless of his recent positive leadership commentary, is definitely in there somewhere. It’s a very long list and no one is perfect that’s for sure.

" Know yourself and you will win all battles" - Sun Tzu