“Kohema … two steps right!” belted out Officer Cadet Rashid.

With the Mons Officer Cadet School’s (which later became part of Sandhurst) future at stake, Britain’s Minister of Defence, Dennis Healey, was due for an inspection. The pride felt by decades of sweet and tears on the grounds ignited the passion to keep the doors open while the Wilson government was making budget cuts during the austere latter 1960s.

Determined to put on a sterling performance to show why Mons should be exempt from cuts and being forced to close its doors, the facility was at its finest — the buildings received a fresh coat of paint, the grounds manicured and the officer cadets drilled to peak performance.

Shortly before Healey’s arrival, row upon row of officer cadets were standing rigid in close-order formation, parade formation and ready for the ceremonial review.

The then Senior Under Officer, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice-President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, was ready to lead the officer cadet force through the parade drill. During the final stages of the six months at Mons, it was traditional to appoint two officer cadets as Junior Under Officer (JUO) and one as Senior Under Officer (SUO), the highest rank that can be held by a cadet.

They take on permanent responsibilities for organising the company and assume partial leadership over it. Yet they are not saluted, as they do not hold the Queen’s commission.

Awaiting inspection by Minister of Defence Healey, Senior Under Officer, Shaikh Mohammad stood slightly ahead of his fellow officer cadets in parade formation. But when the Commandant, Brigadier Philip Heidenstram appeared, he was annoyed to find Shaikh Mohammad out of line with the rest of the cadets on this day of showing the perfection of Mons.

Brigadier Heidenstram immediately informed Sergeant-Major Benney of his displeasure, which was a subtle but direct order to rectify this misalignment and have the cadets in perfect formation. “Officer Cadet Rashid!” Benney bellowed, “Take two steps left!”

Instinctively, knowing the desired outcome, Officer Cadet Rashid, ordered his cadet officers to take two steps to the right. Was this an act of disobedience or display of leadership genius? And the 40 or so cadets quickly adjusted their positions on his direction.

Problem solved, the troops were aligned.

This legendary story shows decisive action-oriented leadership. Shaikh Mohammad did not spend time analysing the order, he knew exactly what Brigadier Heidenstram wanted and had the courage to act rather than to just follow orders.

The desired outcome was clear, and he saw a path to get there and took it. This raises the question should leaders and managers be focused on following orders or achieving outcomes?

You may be concerned that there is a risk in not following the exact order, and there is. There certainly was in a military setting where there is clear chain of command and the assumption that you are to take the order literally. Yet, Shaikh Mohammad took the proverbial “hill” recognising the difference in orders of direction and orders of outcomes.

What did the Brigadier want? Alignment. Actually, he wanted something even greater — a perfect display for the Minister of Defence. And, that is what he received.

Strong outcome based leadership is prevalent throughout the “story” of Dubai and something we can all learn from. The point being that leaders lead!

When I reflect on this story and the leadership lineage of Dubai, an approach to leading becomes clear — decisive leadership. Strong leadership, concentrated decision-making and where the decisions are not subject to external restraint. Leaders who act and do not wait on consensus.

They do not need someone else to give an order and tell how to do it. This should not be confused with totalitarianism, which holds total authority and seeks to control all aspects of life.

A good decisive leader also listens to and gives his lieutenants the freedom to act as long as it is in line with the desired outcomes. When I think of this, I think of someone who is not afraid to take the power of authority, even without relying on his or her positional authority.

The mention of being a decisive leader erringly evokes images of a self-assured leader who has a bossy way of ordering others around. But when used in its purity, it can be a very powerful and successful form of leadership.

Picture a leader who is not afraid to make decisions and lead his troops to success.

The writer is a leadership adviser and author of ‘10 Tips for Leading in the Middle East’ and other writings. Follow him on Twitter: @tommyweir.