Furthermore, you and I are part of an organization that values appearance. Think of all the efforts everyone puts into the official DA photograph. Having a sterling record is not enough; you also have to pass the pretty boy test if you want to get promoted. And so we tape and tuck, puff and suck to get a picture that makes us look like Rambo’s twin brother.
And have you ever noticed what happens when two Soldiers meet especially when they are in class A uniforms? Even while shaking hands the eyes begin to move, ever so quickly and ever so subtly, to look at rank (which one of us has to say “Sir” or “Ma’am”? Who salutes first?) and then at the shoulder patch to determine unit of assignment. The eyes then zip over to the right shoulder to see if there is a former war-time service patch, and, if so, which unit? From there the eyes turn back to the blouse to see if there are any hero badges and, dropping slightly, quickly scan the fruit salad. Why? Well, to determine what qualifications the soldier has (Airborne, or leg? CIB, CAB, EIB? Master-Blaster or Pathfinder?), where the Soldier has been, and what the Soldier has done. After all, he who has the most doo-dads wins and we all want to take the measure of the new Soldier.
And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. You can tell a great deal about an individual by looking at all the stuff on the uniform. But you can’t tell everything. Consider this short passage from the Bible, from 1 Samuel 16:7, “But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’”
If you had looked at David, you would have seen a young man of small stature. From outward appearance, you never would have known he was a man after God’s own heart. You could not tell this was a hero who one day would fight to the death against the giant, Goliath. You would never guess that years later he would lead Israel to victory over all her enemies. Before their exploits in combat, who would have picked the gentle Sgt. Alvin York to become a great warrior, or the diminutive Staff Sgt. Audie Murphy to receive a battlefield commission and his nation’s highest honor?
So, then, we all look at the uniform and the doo-dads, and a Soldier’s appearance tells us a lot. But it doesn’t tell us everything. It is especially important for leaders to remember this basic truth: the race is not always won by those who are great in stature, or impressive in appearance, but often by those who have great hearts and unconquerable spirits. Real heroes are champions at heart, long before we see their true colors revealed in the moment of testing.