LUCIDITY... WHAT?

Lucidity can be defined as the ability to see and understand a situation clearly and accurately.

It requires, in particular, qualities of discernment and emotional stability. In the exercise of command, it enables the leader to continue to command his subordinates, despite difficulties, with a level of awareness that ensures he retains responsibility for his actions. It is also the ability to take a step back from one's own abilities or those of one's unit when the leader must resolve a difficult situation.

LUCIDITY... WHY?

• Lucidity is an indispensable quality for reacting to pressure, stress and emotion.
• It contributes to the resilience of the leader and his ability to continue to make decisions under uncertainty.
• In combat situations, lucidity allows one to avoid being contaminated by the opponent's reference system and thus to maintain a sense of ethics.
• Lucidity is indispensable for anticipating and staying one step ahead.

NO LUCIDITY ... WITHOUT :

• capacity for analysis and judgment;
• emotional stability;
• sense of responsibility;
• insight;
• foresight;
• sense of reality;
• physical and mental stamina;
• humility (knowledge of oneself and one's limits);
• healing and mastery of procedures.

LUCIDITY ... IN THE TEXTS :

"Lucidity is the fruit of the mobilization of knowledge and judgment, strategic reasoning, the fruit of a vision of the future, an exercise of synthesis; it should not be confused with that flash of genius awaited like an oracle by certain decision-makers (...) lucidity is forged through experience (...) lucidity is educated. »

Daniel Hervouët - Leading Men to Success (2014).

"To know the same dangers, the human beast rears up less. Nerves no longer tremble. The conscious effort to achieve self-control works in the long run. »

Paul Lintier - With a battery of 75. My play. Souvenirs of a Gunner (1914).

LUCIDITY... "IN CONTACT."

Testimony of a major of the Paris Fire Brigade -2010:

"On May 20, 2010 on the A4 motorway, a shooting broke out between a team of robbers and the police, injuring motorists and a lorry driver. A few minutes later, after exiting the motorway, the robbers hit a car and then opened fire again on a municipal police vehicle that arrived at the scene of the accident. A young female guard of the municipal police of Villiers-le-Bel was killed and her partner was seriously injured. A first aid vehicle from Noisy was alerted for "person injured by firearm" and sent to the scene, without further information.

Upon arriving in the vicinity of the accident, the BSPP crewmembers saw a thick plume of smoke rising into the sky. Tension builds and everyone wonders what they will find at the scene. The police officers who had arrived as reinforcements seemed distraught and under stress, two vehicles were burning, two police officers were on the ground, and the surrounding cars were riddled with bullet holes. The fire chief is aware of the urgency of the situation but is unable to obtain coherent and precise information: it is difficult to know if the criminals are still nearby and if there are other victims. Alone with two sappers, he quickly understands that it is imperative to remain calm and take a step back to analyze the situation and decide quickly. He asks for reinforcements and then gives concrete orders to his crew, making sure that his men concentrate on the restitution of precise gestures using drilled reflex procedures. At the same time, he tries to anticipate the missions to be carried out by the reinforcements. Their arrival is done in good order and they take into account the vehicle fires in progress. The company guard officer who presents himself as a reinforcement (a former NCO) is very calm, he takes command but decides to stay at a distance so as not to be absorbed by the heart of the intervention. He lets the company commander concentrate on helping the victims. Stress falls back, everyone gradually regains their bearings and the disaster is under control. Faced with this exceptional situation, it was the clear-sightedness of the leaders, acting as stress absorbers, that made the difference."

Testimony of a Captain Unit Commander - Operation SENTINELLE - Valencia-2016:

"Three days after arriving in Valencia, in the early afternoon, the unit carried out a mission of surveillance of a religious site. While a marshal of the lodgings is giving his instructions, a vehicle rushes on the patrol from the rear and mows the four mountain artillerymen who fall to the ground, sounded. One of them was wounded in the knee and could not move. The group leader, as he gets up, watches the vehicle manoeuvre and loads them backwards again. At this point, he orders his patrol to dodge, and the patrol jumps out of the vehicle, narrowly saving the injured man from being crushed. The attack on the vehicle resumed a third time. The group leader then grabbed his handgun and ordered the driver to stop, but to no avail. The attacker is determined and will go all the way. There is no alternative, the patrol leader orders the fire to be opened, then he shoots himself. The assailant, who is hit in the arm and thigh, ends up on a slope. In the action, a ricochet wounded a passerby in the calf. Tension immediately rises around the mosque. While keeping the attacker in his vehicle, the patrol leader alerts the police and his platoon leader with his radio. He ordered first aid to be given to the injured passer-by and reassured the witnesses with soothing and benevolent gestures until the police arrived.

Throughout the action, the marshal of the lodgings impressed by his lucidity and the correctness of his actions. Despite the violence of the assault, the injury of a subordinate and the tension of the crowd, he remained in control of his emotions and showed the necessary composure to analyze, decide and order. He acted in stages. He remained in control of himself, in the face of unpredictable events. »