Chapter 14 Leadership Lessons from West Point edited by Major Doug Crandall
252 – “In fact, trust is the key to the exercise of leadership in any type of organization. Leaders must earn their followers’ trust before they can truly lead. In this chapter, I define trust as one’s willingness to be vulnerable to the actions of another person (leader, subordinate, or peer), based on a sense of confidence in the other person’s competence to meet role requirements and character to behave cooperatively.”
252 – “Once trust is earned, followers will allow leaders to influence not only their behavior but also their thoughts, attitudes, values, goals, and motivation.”
253 – “Thus, trust provides leaders with the ability to exercise a level of influence that literally transforms the followers and increases their willingness to work towards achieving the organization’s objectives, even at high risk or sacrifice, which greatly enchances organizational effectiveness.”
253 – “It is proposed that influence based solely on position power is not leadership but rather coercion or pushing.”
255 – Attributes of A Leader Who Can Be Trust In Combat (Listed in order from soldiers survey.)
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Competent
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Loyal
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Honesty/good integrity
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Leades by example
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Self-control (stress management)
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Confident
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Courageous (physical and moral)
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Shares information
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Personal connection with subordinates
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Strong sense of duty
256 – “The attribute of leader competence was viewed as entailing a leader’s job knowledge, intelligence, decision making, management, and interpersonal skills. The attribute of loyalty was viewed as encompassing concern for and support of subordinates, the chain of command, the unit, and the country. It also included the leader’s willingness to place the needs of the unit and its members before his or her own (selfless service).”
256 – Soldiers cited leader competence as the most important attribute for influencing trust in combat. Soldiers depend on their leaders’ technical and tactical expertise, judgment, and intelligence to plan and execute operations that successfully complete the mission with the least possible risk to soldiers’ lives.”
258 – “Loyal leaders genuinely care about their soldiers, support them, place their soldiers’ welfare before their own, and look out for their subordinates’ well-being even if it incurs risk or cost for the leaders, allowing soldiers to depend on their leaders to protect their best interests at all times, especially when the risks are great.”
259 – “A leader’s integirty serves as a foundation for the moral and ethical execution of missions, which protectshis or her subordinates’ moral justification for fighting and sustains their will to win.”
260 – “This sense of confidence that leaders will be honest and behave morally regardless of the situation leads to the development of trust.”
260 – “Honest and candid information seemed to help them control rumors and allowed them to form realistic expectations of the challenges ahead. Having an accurate sense of requirements needed to meet future combat situations can provide soldiers with a sense of predictability and control, which can help them manage stress. One sergeant’s statement summed up the importance of honest communication in combat from a soldier’s perspective: ‘Honesty, in my opinion, is what makes an effective leader. The executive officer of this unit kept us informed and never sugar-coated anything. If we were headed for some rough times, he flat out told us. He always kept us informed, and that is what soldiers need.”
261 – “Leaders’ honesty and integity are essential to leadership and greatly enhance organizational effectiveness.”
261 – “Leadership by example, especially in combat, enhances solders’ perceptions of leaders’ integrity, because it is one thing to espouse certain values and beliefs and entirely another to act in accordance with those values and beliefs in an environment where one’s life is at risk.”
262 – “Leaders who lead from the front communicate to their soldiers that they are confident in their own and the unit’s abilities, have the courage to meet the dangers of combat, and would not ask soldiers to face a danger or do a task that they themselves would not be willing to do.”
262 – “Leaders who can demonstrate the character to lead by example by being out front in dangerous or crisis situations earn their subordinates’ trust and bolster their subordinates’ confidence to complete the mission and survive.”
263 – “Leader must be aware that subordinates are always assessing their reactions to stress to predict how they will react in extreme stressful situations where the consequences have the greatest importance.”
264 – “A platoon leader, a subordinate officer, relates how the commander dealt with this stressful situation: ‘Duing a convoy movement we suffered three breakdowns almost simultaneously. My commander spent half hour yelling at people and placing blame. I lost trust in him because it made me doubt his ability to be decisive when it wouldh ave potentially mattered the most.’”
266 – “The soldiers recognized that leaders will experience fear; however, they did not want their leaders to show signs of fear or be paralyzed by it.”
268 – Therefore, a ldeader’s moral courage providees the force of will to do what is right regardless of the situation and the costs the leader must incur. In combat, this is critical because leaders’ moral courage and integrity define the moral and ethical boundaries that subordinates must operate within.”
269 – “Sharing information, especially in chaotic and dangerous situations, provides group members with a sense of predictability and control that they need and crave, which facilitates successful stress management.”
270 – In any organization, leaders’ willingness to share information, especially in a crisis, serves four important functions.
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It allows subordinates to prepare for challenges and manage stress.
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It demonstrates to subordinates that the leadership as an instituion is not trying to hide anything.
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It increases the interdependence in the leader-subordinate relationship.
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It prompts subordinates to reciprocate in kind.
270 – “This connection between the leader and subordinates is important because it increases the interdependence in the relationship and the liklihood that leaders will consider their soldiers as people and not simply as expendable resources.”
271 – “This feedback from subordinates is critical for leaders’ self-development and the organization’s improvement.”
273 – “When asked to describe in their own words how trust was related to leadership, the majority (78%) of the soldiers interviewed indicated that trust was necessary and essential for a leader to exercise influence in combat. This was a powerful finding because the results suggested that in extreme situations, where the subordinates assume the greatest risks, trust is the psychological mechanism that gets them to willingly accept leader influence, place their self-interests secondary to the organization’s interest, and step into harm’s way.”
274 – “As highlighted by these examples, subordinates viewed trust in leaders as necessary and essential to their willingness to accept leader influence and the risks of combat. Subordinates willingly followed the directives of leaders they trusted and seemed willing to put forth the extra effort and assume a greater degree of risk to accomplish the mission.”
274 – “Thus, the findings from both studies strongly indicate that trust is the key to leadership.”
276 – Combat Leadership Lessons For All Leaders
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Lesson 1: Trust is the key to the exercise of leadership
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Lesson 2: Competence is king in the development of trust in extreme situations such as combat.
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Lesson 3: Lead by caring
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Lesson 4: Competence and character determine a leader’s credibility.
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Lesson 5: Leading by example enhances credibility and provides subordinates direction and motivation, especially in tough situations.
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Lesson 6: Leadership is about creating relationships with people.
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Lesson 7: Staying cool is a must to lead.
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Lesson 8: Share information to lead, especially in touch situations.
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Lesson 9: Never let them see you sweat—project confidence in all actions.
