Purpose plays a similar role in the success of organizations, armies, and nations. “Courage,” Walter Grady observes, “ requires the support of a purpose.” It directs the aimless, and with such certitude comes a quiet peace and confident humility. Purpose makes warriors out of cowards and patriots out of pacifists. It puts steel in one’s spine and acts as an antidote to suffering. Purpose is a powerful force bordering on the transcendent. Armed with ultimate purpose, articulated and approved by the ruling body of the land, Washington ordered that the document be read aloud to his army in the hopes that it would clarify the great national end for which his soldiers sacrificed and inspire them to fight courageously. The Declaration grounded the Americans’ fight for liberty in universal truths, applicable to all peoples at all times and in all places. It did not specify tasks but reinforced the collective will of the Army to endure until it achieved a satisfactory outcome.Ī year after he assumed command, the Continental Congress gave Washington the perfect tool for articulating that cause to his soldiers in the form of the Declaration of Independence. The moral assumptions embedded in that purpose, which in turn shaped his army’s organizational culture and standards of behavior, acted as a lens through which soldiers were to view the conflict and the character of the new nation. While national purpose may have little or no effect on tactical decisions such as whether to seize hill “X” or “Y,” Washington did not doubt its ability to instill courage in the hearts and minds of each soldier, regardless of rank. But Washington understood the power of a well-articulated national purpose to inform and influence behavior at all levels, including the tactical. They deserved a cause worth suffering for.įive months after he assumed command, Washington reiterated the centrality of purpose to an effective fighting force, when he counseled a newly commissioned colonel to “impress upon the mind of every man, from the first to the lowest, the importance of the Cause, and what it is they are contending for.” A commander-in-chief with less appreciation for the moral sphere of war would have confined his concern for subordinates’ understanding of national purpose to key leaders. Washington knew that soldiers would endure the hardships of war only if they were given a clearly defined and objectively good purpose. Fuller called “ the moral sphere of war,” assumed command of the Continental Army, he did so because of he genuinely believed in “ the glorious Cause.” This commitment to the cause or purpose, in modern English vernacular, would become the driving force behind his tenacity, endurance, and leadership style. When George Washington, who intimately understood this connection between purpose and what J. Leaders should seize every opportunity to reinforce these truths that constitute America’s national purpose. This is especially true for a nation with such a rich heritage of national purpose as the United States, founded as it is on sacred truths. Chesterton wisely observed, “The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” However, if servicemembers are never taught what is loveable about that for which they fight then there should be no surprise if they fail to fight well. But purposes provide the moral foundation from which all military action is derived and are therefore critical to success in war. military, yet it seems that while tasks are usually clearly articulated, purposes are often treated as an afterthought or neglected altogether. “Task” and “purpose” are two of the most foundational doctrinal terms in the U.S. Chesterton wisely observed, “The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.”
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