10/16/2026
West Point used to lean hard on negativity to shape cadets. Denying food as punishment. Yelling. Techniques meant to break you down so you could supposedly be built back up.
That approach gave way to something better, the Army's own Be, Know, Do model. Be the standard. Know the task and duties of your profession. Do them every day. You represent what right looks like.
I have thought about that phrase for years. It doesn't ask you to perform the standard once, under observation. It asks you to become it, day after day, until there is no difference between what you believe and what you do. Most leaders can write a values statement. Far fewer can tell you how those values actually show up on a Tuesday afternoon on the plant floor. The gap between the two is repetition.
In this week's All-In Adaptive Leadership Insights, I walk through why standards only become culture through deliberate repetition, and a specific practice from that same West Point shift most leaders get backward without ever noticing. Link is in the comments.
I'd love to hear about a standard in your organization that only became real once you stopped talking about it and started repeating it. Leave a comment below and let's talk about it.
Enjoy the journey!
