What makes an army commander an outstanding general? In ancient and modern times, I am afraid that no one in China and abroad can give a definite answer to this question.

Take the US generals of World War II as an example, there are not only modest "GI generals" like Bradley, but also unruly and fearless generals like Patton, stubborn generals like Hodges, flexible and intelligent generals like Collins, cold-faced generals like Ridgway, chattering "rap generals" like Devers, "performance artists" like MacArthur who are keen on showmanship, and "politicians" like Eisenhower.

Moreover, there are many commanders in history who behave on the battlefield and judge two people in peacetime. John himself didn't know what kind of style he would be on the battlefield. So, all he could learn from Eisenhower was a few tricks. In the end, everything has to be summarized and explored by himself.

In fact, in Eisenhower's view, John was a person with broad vision, quick thinking, often able to think what people can't think and see what people can't see, and has a sleek personality, long-sleeved and good at dancing, and is very good at handling all aspects of relationships, but he has not received formal military education, and his military experience is too shallow. This kind of person is actually more suitable to be a staff officer than a commander.

But seeing John so excited, he couldn't pour cold water on John. In the past two years, John has brought a lot of surprises to everyone. Who would have thought that a layman who was purely a soy sauce player could thrive in the dry land of the army and become a general in less than two years. Maybe there's some undiscovered potential in this kid.

Second, in a way, Eisenhower and John were actually the same type of officers. Eisenhower could often see a little bit of himself in him. Considering that he had been in the Army for 30 years, and had never even served as a regimental commander (Eisenhower had only served as a battalion commander for one year in 1922 before commanding the troops to land in North Africa, and had been a staff officer the rest of the time), Eisenhower also wondered what it would be like for John to command the troops.

Therefore, Eisenhower was patient and broke up some of the experiences and insights he had accumulated over the past 30 years and taught John.

"The biggest difference between a commander and a staff officer is that he has decision-making power." On the battlefield, every decision made by a commander determines the life and death of a soldier. ”

"On the battlefield, every decision of the commander determines the life and death of a soldier. Therefore, compared with staff officers, commanders have higher requirements for willpower. West Point has a special training course for the willpower of cadets, and you don't need to go through regular military school training, and the inherent disadvantage is obvious at this point. You always have to remember that an army commander can be defeated, but not defeated. ”

"Every staff officer wants his commander to follow their advice more. But the commander, who is accustomed to following the advice of a staff officer, is definitely not a good commander. A good commander must have independent judgment and cannot be easily swayed by others. ”

"Yes, accurate judgment is the key to being a good commander. But I would like to remind you that there is no such thing as an infallible commander. The situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, and the fighter planes are fleeting, and no one can make a correct judgment at all times. Most of the time, the outcome of the war depends on which side of the commander makes fewer mistakes. ”

"I don't mean to put your hopes in the mistakes of your opponents, but to make you understand that as a commander you have to dare to make decisions. Indecision is the big taboo, you may lose if you make a wrong decision, but you are not destined to win if you don't make a decision. ”

"You used to be a staff officer, and you were faced with more problems in one aspect and one part. After becoming a chief, you must learn to consider the problem from the perspective of the overall situation. ”

"It's normal to face multiple complex problems at the same time, so you have to learn to make trade-offs. What problems must be solved immediately, which problems can be put on hold, and which problems can be handed over to others. But no matter whether it is dealt with or not, when it is handled, remember that you must not let the problems pile up, and you must circulate and digest them as soon as possible. ”

"As a commander, learn to trust your subordinates. The wisdom of one person can never be compared to the wisdom of a group of people. But remember, make sure they do things for you within the framework you have set, and that you are controlling them, not them. Omar has been doing this very well, and you should feel it. ”

Mr. Eisenhower's private lessons continued until dinner that day. Although John did not grasp everything immediately, he also benefited a lot. He is well aware that he is not a genius and that he is still a long way from the standard of a generation of famous players. It's good to have a vague idea of a lot of things in advance, and it's never possible to figure them out without practice.

For example, Eisenhower's question of willpower. In his previous life, John memorized Su Xun's "Book of Authority-Heart Technique": "For the way of the general, you should first cure the heart." Mount Tai collapsed in front and the color remained unchanged, and the elk was on the left and did not look instantly, and then it could control the interests and harms, and it could treat the enemy. ”

But he doesn't know how to "govern" this "heart". Anyway, if there is a landslide and the ground cracks, he will definitely run away. And in essence, he is still a businessman, and it is his instinct to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. He doesn't believe in the plan that suffering a loss is a blessing, he can not make a small profit, but he will never do it at a loss.

Eisenhower's self-created method of cross-time planning, he can go back and learn to sell it now. In his previous life, he had seen this method on the Internet, but he didn't pay much attention to it at the time, thinking that it was some success master who made it up in the name of Eisenhower to fool people.

After listening to Eisenhower's personal introduction today, John felt that there was still some truth. In fact, the method is very simple, draw a cross and divide a blank piece of paper into four quadrants. Then fill in all the problems that need to be dealt with into four categories: "important and urgent", "important and not urgent", "not important and urgent", and "not important and not urgent".

Then, let's focus on the "important and urgent" matters in Quadrant 1. Then put most of your energy on "important and non-urgent" things. Those that are not important but urgent are generally transactional work, such as meetings, phone calls, etc., which can be solved easily, and handed over to others if they don't have time. As for the work that is neither important nor urgent, with John's temperament, he naturally does not do it if he can, and if he can't do it, he will push it to his subordinates, and what do so many subordinates do.

John decided to go back and ask Adjutant Miller to try to categorize his day-to-day work in this way. It may not be very useful at this stage, but it may not be in the future. The situation on the battlefield is complex, problems arise at every moment, and the workload increases exponentially. In this way, at least you can avoid rushing and delaying the most urgent and important things.

And, as Eisenhower said, there is another benefit to this approach. If you use it for a long time, you will find that there are fewer and fewer things that are urgent and important, because important things have already been dealt with when they are not urgent.

Anyway, it wasn't a problem, and John was supposed to get used to Eisenhower's pace of work in advance. Maybe I'll have to work under Eisenhower in the future, and it's important to be able to work with the leader, isn't it?