All Praise and Honor

March 3, 2025

Dear Leaders,

Giving credit and praise where it is due is a touchstone of good leadership, for everyone likes to be told they did more than just a good job, and it sets a fine example for all.? Like anything else in leadership, it must be real, as false praise does more than just come up empty; it diminishes the person bestowing it, and when it is contradictory to the leader’s actions, it’s purely hypocritical.?

President Trump recently fired the highest-ranking military officer, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Charles “CQ” Brown.? He also relieved the ranking officers in the US Navy and Coast Guard, Admirals Lisa Franchetti and Linda Fagan.? Each of these officers were into positions that normally carried a two-to-four-year term, and it was customary for presidents to leave them in office even if they were appointed by predecessors of a different party, for the military positions are nonpolitical.

The President gave no specific reason for the dismissals, and he and the Secretary of Defense gave the obligatory forms of praise, albeit in social media postings rather than through official statements.? Of General Brown he said, “I want to thank General Charles 'CQ' Brown for his over 40 years of service to our country, including as our current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is a fine gentleman and an outstanding leader, and I wish a great future for him and his family.”? The other cached officers received less praise in more perfunctory statements.

Putting the politics aside and looking at the statement made in a larger context, it sounds more insulting than lauding.? In his previous term, President Trump nominated General Brown to be the US Air Force Chief of Staff, praising his career and capabilities, and it was President Biden who subsequently promoted him to Chairman.? Given that the Admirals and other relieved officers likewise had excellent careers that made them well qualified, the generic statements made about them are equally hollow and mocking.

Taking the series of events together, we see in the end one thing, a preference for personal loyalty over qualification.? Military personnel, from the highest ranking general to the lowest private, all take the same oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic, and their individual and collective loyalty is to the nation.? The President as Commander in Chief is their superior, and they obey orders, but they owe no personal loyalty.? They work not for praise, but for the sense of duty inherent and instilled within each of them. ?Consequently, any accolades received when they know they are being replaced for personal preference of blind loyalty are empty and demeaning.

I know well from my experience in the civil service how it can be.? I was passed over for promotion with a broad-based hint that my services were neither required nor desired.? Taking the cue, I applied to retire.? Being well known on a national level within my agency, many came forward with accolades and well-wishes, including some from whom I had no contact for many years, but with what I considered to be sincere praise and appreciation.? My boss, the same person who passed me over in favor of her preferred candidate, penned a very nice letter lauding my 46 years of service to the country through the military and civil service, and the Acting Director at our headquarters did the same.

To me, neither was worth the paper on which it was printed, for I found it to be more justification for them rather than genuine appreciation.? Taking the high road, I simply thanked them and truly appreciated the more genuine respect and recognition from those who I knew were sincere.?

Leaders should praise and commend their people when they earn it, doing so both personally and publicly, and it always has to be real.? Don’t give praise for doing basic tasks and don’t do it when it isn’t truly earned.? Above all, don’t make it phony, as if someone has to go under less than pleasant circumstances, you can wish them well, and maybe they did some things adequately, but to praise them on their way out the door when it was unearned only diminishes any future statements you make, as your people can easily detect the insincerity contained therein.

The dismissed officers, like many other US Government officials being cashiered with revolutionary fervor lacking only the guillotine, will leave with their dignity and honor intact, but those in leadership who are equally false and unrepentant in their actions will stand as examples of bad leadership on the stage of reality.? They won’t care, and many will think them correct, but we who can distinguish the reckless from the resolute, and retain our integrity in our own leadership journeys, will rightly earn the praise from those who will mean it.?

Sincerely,

Tim