In Extremis Leaders Have and Inspire High Competence, Trust, and Loyalty

Although many characteristics of in extremis leaders tend to set them apart from other organizational leaders, they also hold several characteristics that are widely exhibited by successful leaders across a range of contexts. In extremis leaders, like most other leaders, are highly competent, and they engender loyalty and trust. The following quotations, both taken within a seventy-two-hour window during the fall of Baghdad, illustrate the stark difference between success and failure at establishing loyalty in dangerous times:

We got our boy back here that we are trying to fix up, and he had a good chunk taken out of his forearm. He was definitely in some pain and he definitely had some tears, but he hung on. He was apologizing for getting blood on our boots. He was apologetic. "Sorry for bleeding on your boots." I said, "You want to apologize for bleeding on my boots?" I got a lot of respect for him. (U.S. soldier, Third Infantry Division, Baghdad, Iraq)

And then, in contrast:

Not the officers. We couldn’t talk to them. They put us in jail, they kill us. We cannot talk to them. (Captured Iraqi soldier, Um Qasr, Iraq)