Category Archives: Military Leadership

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Leaders Hold the Dominant Terrain

“Remember that when an employee enters your office,
he is in a strange land.”  -Erwin H. Schell

Erwin Schell’s quote is partly about your physical office, which can be a foreign and scary place for everyone you lead. But the statement is also about how you wield power when your people enter the domain of your influence.

When you’re the recognized leader, you automatically hold the dominant terrain at the outset of every engagement. Of course, this is especially true in the military, where command authority is the ultimate trump card and rank is clearly displayed on our uniforms. Your people know who is in charge – you don’t need to restate it.

What will outlive your professional accomplishments is the way you enable individuals to feel capable and powerful, despite the obvious fact that you hold ultimate authority.

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Why “It Is What It Is” is a Stupid Phrase

It’s Baghdad, 2007. I’m a company commander deploying to a contentious area during the height of The Surge. As my unit starts to shadow the unit we’re replacing, and I spend time with my counterpart and his battalion’s staff, I begin to hear a new phrase pop up:  “It is what it is.”

I wouldn’t have thought much of it, but I heard that response from numerous members of the unit, and applied to all types of discussion topics. My buddies and boss picked up on it, too. I heard “It is what it is” so much that I began to think it was an approved mentality of the unit, a sanctioned mindset.

It Is What It Is

Warrior Diplomat Soldiers from 85th Civil Affairs Brigade use teamwork to negotiate obstacles at the Leaders Reaction Course on Fort Hood, Tx., Oct. 9, 2014. Link to photo. 
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Sleep that Sabotages Leadership

Today’s HBR recommendation, “Your Abusive Boss Is Probably an Insomniac,” is a summary of findings from a study published in the Academy of Management Journal. The researchers studied 88 leaders and their teams to find out if the leaders’ sleep habits affected performance at work. The result?…you guessed it, but there’s a twist:

We found that daily leader sleep quality, but not quantity, influenced the leader’s self-control and abusive supervision behavior, and ultimately the degree to which his or her subordinates were engaged in their work that day. It is not clear why sleep quantity did not have the effect we predicted, but the effect for sleep quality was very clear; a given leader engaged in more jerky boss behavior after a poor night of sleep than a good night of sleep, and this influenced his or her subordinates to disengage from work.

sleep

Photo by Odi Mitch. Link to photo.
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How to Write a Change of Command Speech

Chances are you’ve been in one of the following situations:  a member of a formation suffering under a long change of command speech; an audience member embarrassed for the speaking commander because his speech is really bad; or a soon-to-be ex-commander staring at a blank page on the morning of your own departure speech. Sound familiar?

Don’t worry, we’ve all been there. The change of command speech is important but it can sneak up on you in the distracted days before the big event. Here are some thoughts to consider as you prepare for the transition. There are sections for Incoming Commanders, Outgoing Commanders, and some general tips.

Change of Command

Maj. Brian Harber, executive officer for the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, salutes Lt. Col. Jeff Stewart, outgoing commander of the 1-24IN, signifying the Soldiers are ready for inspection during a change of command rehearsal ceremony at Ladd Parade Field here June 29. Lt. Col. Stewart relinquished command of the battalion to Lt. Col. Matthew MacNeilly during a ceremony at Fort Wainwright, Alaska July 2, 2012.
(U.S. Army Photo By: Sgt. Thomas Duval, 1/25th SBCT Public Affairs) Link to photo.
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A Powerful Way to Discover Your Bias

“Whoa, whoa!…What bias?!?! I don’t have any biases!” Was that your response to the title of this post? Well, I had the same thought before I took this test and now I think differently.

Here is a fascinating resource that will help you discover what you think about the world on levels beneath conscious thought. It reveals how your past experiences, upbringing, or even your morning scan of the news can skew your beliefs about race, gender, ethnicity, disability, age, sexuality, and weight.

Why wouldn’t you want to know, especially as a leader, if an unhealthy bias is getting in the way of your leadership?

Bias

Soldiers from Honor Guard Company, 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) and the U.S. Army Special Forces Command stand in formation prior to the start of a wreath laying ceremony, Oct. 18, at the John F. Kennedy gravesite in Arlington National Cemetery, Va.
(U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Luisito Brooks)
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Article: “A Military Leader’s Approach to Dealing with Complexity”

Here is a short Harvard Business Review article from Air Force Brigadier General John Michel (@JohnEMichel and GeneralLeadership). Brig. Gen. Michel was most recently the commander of NATO Air Training Command Afghanistan and shares several grassroots leadership lessons in this article, entitled “A Military Leader’s Approach to Dealing with Complexity.”

complexity

U.S. Army Sgt. Robert Newman, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, U.S. Army Europe, watches the sunrise after a dismounted patrol mission near Forward Operating Base Baylough, Zabul, Afghanistan, March 19, 2009. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Adam Mancini/Released)
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What Mastery Means for Military Leaders [TED Video]

Art historian and critic Sarah Lewis delivers a thought-provoking TED talk on “The Near Win,” a concept that espouses the immeasurable gain resulting from just-missing one’s ultimate goal. She highlights examples of artists, musicians, and Olympians in explaining that developing Mastery in a craft is all about “staying at our own leading edge.”

There is parallel connection to the military in that we, like an Olympian archer, must hone our craft through repetition after repetition. Sarah Lewis comments that:

Success is hitting the 10 Ring, but Mastery is knowing that it means nothing if you can’t do it again, and again, and again.

But success in battle requires not only individual Soldier Mastery, but also organizational Mastery. Do we work military organizations with enough repetitions to reach Mastery?

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The Military Leader at 100

I’m happy to share that today marks the 100th post from The Military Leader since its inception in March of this year! What started as a personal venue to capture thoughts and resources on leader development has evolved into an actively connected community of nearly 2000 leaders!

U.S. Army Rangers assigned to 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, fire at an enemy bunker during Task Force Training on Camp Roberts, Calif., Feb. 1, 2014. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Steven Hitchcock. Link to photo.