You don’t forget the sound of artillery.
The concussive force. The exact rhythm of fire commands.
In those moments, everything depends on clarity, trust, and execution.
As a 13B Cannon Crew Member, leadership didn’t come from barking orders—it came from being the one who stayed steady when the pressure spiked.
Years later, I’m in a different kind of pressure cooker—product launches, incident response, systems going down.
But the leadership lessons from my military days still guide me—every day, in every team.
1. Lead From the Middle
Some of the best leaders I saw weren’t wearing stripes or bars—they were the ones holding the team together from within.
They:
Showed up early
Knew their stuff
Stepped in quietly when things broke down
In tech, that means being the dev who mentors others, keeps morale up, or speaks up in tough retros.
Leadership isn’t always about authority—it’s about accountability.
2. Stay Calm Under Fire
In artillery, panic kills.
If you can’t think straight, you can’t execute.
And your team can’t follow you if your energy is frantic.
Today, in high-stakes tech situations—incident response, stakeholder pressure—I channel that same energy: calm, measured, focused.
You lead by your tone. And calm is contagious.
3. Know the Mission—and Communicate It
In the military, ambiguity leads to friendly fire.
Everyone needs to know:
The objective
The fallback plan
Their role in the system
As a tech lead, clarity is your job. Don’t let people drown in vague JIRA tickets or shifting expectations. Spell it out. Keep people aligned.
4. Put Your People First
I watched leaders who would take the heat so their team didn’t have to.
I try to do the same. Whether it’s shielding a junior dev from client frustration or giving credit in a standup—it matters.
People remember how you made them feel when things were hard.
Final Thoughts
Leadership isn’t a job title. It’s a decision you make in the middle of tension.
Whether it’s behind a gun line or inside a Kubernetes cluster, the qualities are the same: calm, clarity, consistency, care.
Follow my story at jameshenderson.online—where the best leaders still show up early, stay late, and carry more than just their weight.