The 1944 Royal Navy view of leadership

The Royal Navy's 1944 officer pocketbook presents practical guidance paid for by generations of service experience. It treats self-confidence as something developed through responsibility and difficult experience rather than classroom instruction alone. An officer must remain visibly calm, acquire technical knowledge, listen to experienced subordinates, ask questions, and issue orders clearly enough to inspire action. Bluff and ignorance quickly destroy a crew's confidence because just decisions depend on understanding the work. The pocketbook also insists that loyalty runs down the chain of command as well as up it, making an officer responsible for protecting and developing the people below. Newer versions retain much of the same advice even where the language has changed.