Legion College: creating leaders through PEOPLE principle

More than 900 Legionnaires have graduated from American Legion College in the past 17 years, and over the course of that time the program’s curriculum has evolved to focus more on leadership development. One of the many ways the current Legion College class of 59 students is developing its leadership skills is through PEOPLE (professionalism, empathy, optimism, partnership, loyalty, empowerment).

“The PEOPLE principle is about taking care of others; it’s about serving others,” said Josh Clement, a 2015 Legion College graduate and now a group facilitator. “Every aspect of it says I’m going to be optimistic because we need to keep going in a positive direction; I’m going to keep my team engaged, energized and moving forward; I am going to be loyal to my team and earn their loyalty back; I’m going to empower them so they are helping us for the common good.”

Clement stressed to the students that “leadership is not easy. But I encourage you, no matter what level of leadership you’re in, make it a point for the good of the Legion to educate and share about our great organization.” As the commander of Post 2 in Helena, Mont., Clement closes each meeting on a positive note.

“I say something great about our organization. I want them to walk out of our meeting proud to be a Legionnaire.”

Since Monday, the students have watched leadership videos by four-star Gen. Stanley McChrystal, Navy Capt. David Marquet and retired airline Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger. Following the videos, a discussion among the students ensued on how each leader used the PEOPLE principle.

Past National Commander and Legion College Chancellor Dave Rehbein pointed out that there were differences in the leadership style of the men, yet they had one thing in common – they acted on the leadership style that worked for them.

“Pick the leadership method that works for you,” Rehbein said. “One of the principles that I try to live by is a simple statement – people don’t care how much you know about them once they know how much you care about them. The more you know about them, the better you are to lead them to where they want to go.”

The Legion College students were challenged on how to apply the PEOPLE principle at all levels of The American Legion. The common theme among responses given was through training.

“You cannot empower your people until they are trained,” said James Snow, a Legion College student from the Department of Alabama.

Legion College student John Reece from the Department of Illinois said, “Once you train your people, regardless of what the job is, you have to trust them to do their job. So in your post or in your district, if the people are trained and you trust them to do their job, you are going to greatly reduce the amount of micromanagement that you feel you have to do to get the job done.”

An online training program available to Legionnaires is The American Legion Extension Institute (ALEI). When the students were asked if they saw a value in having ALEI be a recommended training tool for leadership development, everyone's hand immediately went up for yes.

“These tools are there for you,” said Paul Brown, a 2015 Legion College graduate and assistant director of the Legion’s Membership Division. “With ALEI, you’re going to understand the concept of the Four Pillars, you’re going to understand the basis of the programs at the national level, the history of The American Legion, and the principles for what we stand for.”

When the students arrived to Legion College last Sunday and divided into five districts, each district was given a real-life post conflict scenario and tasked with creating a leadership plan to resolve it. The districts have been presenting their solutions over the course of the past few days to Rehbein, Legion College Dean David Elmore and other national staff members who have provided feedback as to whether their plan would be effective. Tomorrow as a class, each district will discuss their scenario and leadership plan.

National Commander Charles E. Schmidt also will be addressing the students tomorrow prior to the start of their mock department convention where the districts will present resolutions.