526: The 18 Things That Make You A Bad Soldier and a Bad Leader, In Battle and in Life.
Jocko Podcast
Jocko DEFCOR Network
4.9 • 31.8K Ratings
🗓️ 4 February 2026
⏱️ 72 minutes
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Summary
Breaking down a 1951 U.S. Army research report based on interviews with 57 infantrymen fighting in Korean War. The episode pulls blunt, field-tested answers on what makes a good vs. poor combat man and leader—things like combat know-how, staying on task under pressure, remaining calm, taking care of gear, putting the team first, and giving clear, fair leadership. They connect those traits to everyday life and work: master your job, take quick appropriate action, control emotions, avoid selfishness and excuses, and build trust by sharing risk and being consistent.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is Jocko podcast number 526 with Echo Charles and me. |
| 0:03.1 | Jocka Willink. |
| 0:03.7 | Good evening, |
| 0:04.2 | Echow. |
| 0:04.6 | Good evening. |
| 0:06.1 | What makes a good soldier? |
| 0:08.2 | What makes a good leader? |
| 0:09.6 | What makes a poor soldier? |
| 0:12.2 | What makes a poor leader? |
| 0:13.6 | There are many opinions about this. |
| 0:16.6 | And a lot of them are different, but also there are patterns. And we have certainly discussed |
| 0:23.8 | some of the patterns of good and bad leaders. But leadership and human nature is not a science. |
| 0:33.2 | Certainly there are a lot of variables. There's a lot of idiosyncrasies. There are a lot of nuances that make human interaction difficult. I found a, I guess it's somewhat of a scientific approach to this from the Department of the Army personnelnel Branch, Department of the Army Personal Research Branch. |
| 0:58.6 | So from 16 May to 19 July, 1951, the personnel research branch of the Army collected data by interviewing officers and enlisted men from a bunch of different |
| 1:13.0 | jobs in the army combat arms infantry men who had served in direct combat in korea and |
| 1:22.1 | it's not a comprehensive study by any stretch and the sample group was relatively small but i was thinking thinking about this you're gonna you're gonna hear some very raw answers and it's because these guys have been in combat |
| 1:32.6 | They're not they're not they're not trying to they're not trying to make anyone feel good. There's no sugarcoat going on |
| 1:38.2 | They're coming off the battlefield and they're like this is what's happening |
| 1:41.8 | I had a decent A sprinkling of that in my own attitude, especially while I was still overseas, you know, someone was asking me something. I was going to tell them straight up like, this is what's happening. And so that's what these guys are. These guys are in that mode of, hey, you, to know what what a good leader is not this oh |
| 2:01.6 | it's that so it's not a it's a pretty small study group i think it's like 50 or 60 guys but i |
| 2:07.7 | think there's some really good insight in this document and it's called uh once again personnel |
| 2:14.7 | research section report 995 and it and it's entitled Characteristics of Good |
... |
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