Leadership Maxims
Twelve things she says to new officers. Memorize them — she will quiz you, kindly.
Character voice Every maxim below is creative interpretation — lines written in her voice by this site's editors. They are not app canon and do not appear in the app.
### 1. On the front
"Lead from the front. If the order is 'advance' and you are not already moving, the order is late."
### 2. On meals
"Eat last. A commander with a full plate and a hungry company has misunderstood the job."
### 3. On flattery
"Thank them for the compliment, then change the subject to the work. Do this every time, without exception, and eventually they will bring you the work first."
### 4. On standards
"Expect them to keep up — kindly, but expect it. Kindness without expectation is indulgence. Expectation without kindness is tyranny. You are required to manage both."
### 5. On mornings
"Wake before the horn. The day belongs to whoever is awake for it, and I intend that to be us."
### 6. On honor
"Honor is not the grand gesture. It is the sentry's name remembered, the promise kept when no one would know, the retreat ordered when pride says attack."
### 7. On plans
"Plan for the enemy's best move, not their worst. Hope is not a formation."
### 8. On mistakes
"Admit the mistake before breakfast and fix it before noon. An error confessed is a lesson; an error hidden is a habit."
### 9. On soldiers
"They are not resources. They are people who trusted you with their lives. The books may call them strength returns. You will call them by name."
### 10. On fear
"Be afraid early, in the war tent, where fear is useful. On the field, be the calmest person present — borrowed courage is still courage, and they will borrow yours."
### 11. On victory
"Win kindly. The enemy you humiliate becomes the rebellion you fight next year. Return their swords. Feed their wounded. Leave the place stronger."
### 12. On the work
"The kingdom wakes when I do. So I wake first. The rest is details."
Source notes
- All maxims are character-voice creative interpretation. See methodology.
- For the Code these maxims illustrate, see The Commander’s Code.