Chapter 18 Leadership Lessons from West Point edited by Major Doug Crandall
338 – “Despite these sacrifices, the military continues to retain highly committed, skilled professionals without the benefit of large salaries. The importance of developing and retaining highly committed soldiers cannot be overstated. Unlike civilian counterparts, virtually all soldiers enter at the lowest enlisted or officer rank and are trained, developed, and promoted into positions of increasing responsibility. There is no lateral entry from the civilian sector, making the retention of junior and midlevel leaders enormously important.”
339 – How has the Army developed committed soldiers and families, given the increasing level of demands that are placed on soldiers and their families? Among the many reasons soldiers cite are these:
- Having a sense of purpose
- Developing a bond with fellow soldiers
- Leadership climate
- Having the support of and serving the interests of their families
- Being able to use the skills they have developed
339 – “…factors that contribute to organizational commitment…”
- Autonomy
- Responsibility
- Empowerment
- Task variety and meaningfulness
- Leader support
- Development and investment in members
- Professional opportunities
- Work-family balance
- Pay and benefits
339 – “Soldiers want to know they are risking their lives for a higher purpose, for a mission that has meaning to them, and that they contribute to the greater good.”
342 – “Whether in the Army, private business, or the nonprofit sector, intrinsic caring about a task, the task having personal meaning for the individual, and the individual believing that his or her efforts have a positive and substantial impact on the lives of others and importance beyond the immediate situation all contribute to empowerment and organizational commitment.”
342 – “Unit leaders must also articulate to soldiers the importance of their efforts and how each task and mission contributes to the success of the larger operation. As part of this culture, Army leaders demonstrate the importance of a task by sharing in hardships and risk and by demonstrating a willingness to do any task asked of soldiers. A leader appearing in the middle of the night in freezing rain to tell a soldier he or she is doing a great job protecting the unit from attack does far more to communicate the importance of standing guard than telling that soldier the next morning after climbing out of a warm, dry sleeping bag.”
344 – “Soldiers desire to be a part of a unit with a history of achievement and excellence, to contribute to its storied history, and to live up to the standards of its past heroes.”
344 – ” Research indicates that members of an organization tend to have the strongest commitment to their most immediate units and that as units become more distant, these effects are weakened.”
348 – “My own Army drill sergeants were cast from this same mold, and they were some of the toughest men I have ever known, but their approach to leadership was situationally based. That is, it was appropriate for basic training and transforming a civilian into a soldier, but it is seldom used in leading soldiers in operational units. After all, who would voluntarily subject themselves to this form of leadership over a prolonged period—particularly soldiers with their own families?”
348 – The ability to retain solders in their command is seen as a reflection on leadership and command climate. I believe most Army leaders would agree. Other things being equal, supportive and caring leaders tend to do very well, and those who are perceived as uncaring, self-serving, or hard on families often fail to retain soldiers.”
349 – “Barry Posner, coauthor of The Leadership Challenge, visited the US Military Academy at West Point to discuss his research on the qualities subordinates desired in their leaders. In an informal poll of the military audience, caring was selected at a higher frequency than he found during his research. As we talked afterward, he mentioned that he had expected the opposite, that he had not expected caring to be as important in a hypermasculine, warrior culture. I explained that in the Army, we must care deeply for our subordinates, because we ask them to risk their lives and subordinate their own well-being to the unit’s, trusting to their leaders and peers for their safety and welfare. It is because we ask so much that leaders must care so much. “
349 – “Studies have found that more than 75% of personnel consider the balance between work and personal life their top priority and that more than two out of three male workers would give up pay, power, and status for more family time.”
350 – “Leaders who believe that families are not their concern fail to mobilize the support and influence of the family, generate resistance from spouses, and reduce performance in the organization.”
351 – “Leaders must understand how their actions impinge on the lives of soldiers and families and how families influence the effectiveness of the unit.”
352 – “When leaders fail to create the perception that they care about families, soldiers are more likely to experience work-family conflict, and in the long term, they are more likely to resolve that conflict in the interest of the family, and thus at the expense of the Army. There are plenty of leaders who still view families as a distraction that they need to buffer their organization from and who fail to see how their decisions touch the lives of their solders’ families.”
357 – “Do not undermine commitment by placing the leader’s short-term performance needs before the developmental needs of the member or the long-term need of the organization.“
357 – “Although the Army has its share of micromanagers and risk-averse leaders, most leaders in today’s Army speak of the neccessity of empowering our soldiers and junior leaders. The term strategic corporal is often used in discussing this issue, referring to the fact that the Army’s most junior leaders are making decisions and taking actions that have strategic implications and possibly influence global opinions.”
358 – “The Army is constantly faced with doing more with less and increasing soldier-to-task ratios. Although it might be nice to have all the resources and soldiers needed, it has forced the Army to provide greater discretion and responsibility to soldiers and leaders.”
359 – “Given the complexity and rapidly changing nature of the environment, it is difficult to know what tasks to train for and even more difficult to find the time to do so. As a result, the focus has shifted from perfecting a few core tasks to instead focusing on the development of initiative, flexibility, and decisions making.
359 – “Developing flexibility, initiative, and rapid decision making under stress has become more important than task mastery. This has created a situation where soldiers and leaders experience increased responsibility, discretion, task variety, and opportunities to demonstrate competence in training and during operational deployments.”
360 – “Solders develop powerful commitment for many reasons, including empowerment, increased responsibility, discretion, task variety, and opportunities to demonstrate competence.”
360 – “People want to be developed, to feel that they have importance to the organization. Although most organizations provide training for their members, they may not be fully leveraging this as an opportunity to development commitment. How could you use the investment in your people that is already occurring to build the perception that they are valued…People also have a need to demonstrate their competence, exercise greater autonomy, and be entrusted with increased responsibility. How can you help your people realize these interest while still managing the initial risk? When people are given these opportunities, how will you use the experience to generate commitment?”
- Invest in your members’ training, education, and development
- Ensure this investment is viewed by the member as a sign of his or her value and the leadership’s commitment to the member.
- Do not undermine commitment by placing the leader’s short-term performance needs before the developmental needs of the member or the long-term needs of the organization.
- Communicate the task and mission, your intent, how it fits into the big picture, and your desired end state. This sets the conditions for the member’s greater use of discretion and creativity. It also empowers the member to generate task variety.
- Provide opportunities for the member to use new skills, assume greater responsibilities, and exercise initiative within the leader’s intent.
