I will never forget my first day in the 101st Airborne Division at Ft Campbell, Ky. I was to report to 1-327th Infantry Regiment, where I was assigned to A Company, 1st Platoon.  After meeting my Company Commander I was escorted to the platoonIMG_2567 area in the back to meet my platoon sergeant, SFC Anderson. They called him Big “A” for a reason, he was about 6 feet tall and 300 pounds of solid muscle! To put things in perspective, I was a brand new “butter bar” 2nd Lieutenant and as a recent graduate of Ranger School where I lost over 40 lbs, I weighed in at 5’-9” and 150. This was the moment I’d been preparing for, for over four years, taking over my infantry platoon! I had a lot of confidence and a lot to be proud of…after all I was a Military Academy (West Point) graduate, Airborne, Air Assault, and Ranger qualified. But somehow by God’s grace, in that moment I chose humility.  Maybe it was the fact that my Platoon Seargent was a lot bigger than I expected…but I looked up and him and said with confidence and humility “Goodafternoon Sergeant Anderson, I’m Lieutenant Thomas, it’s great to finally meet you, I’ve learned a lot in school, but I know I’ve got a lot to learn about what it’s really like to be an Infanty Platoon Leader and I look forward to learning from you.”  He took a step back, looked me up and down, took a deep breath and said “Sir, I’m going to make you the best Lieutenant in the Battalion!”

The rest is history, we worked well together and because I was “set up” to be the best LT in the Battalion, I was later selected to be the Recon Platoon Leader, the most sought after job for a LT in every Battalion.  The lesson here for all of us is to choose Confidence with Humility vs Arrogance with Pride!  Remember leadership starts in the heart, not when you get a title or position. 
My Disclaimer: I will share a lot of things I’ve learned over the years that will help you lead others, but it’s impossible to master enough principles to completely get on top of life, we were designed to need God; walk with Him daily, learn to hear His Voice, and He will direct your path. 
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