Category Archives: Military Leadership

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How to Build a Team of “Yes Men”

Listening to Michael Hyatt’s superb podcast on creating team unity, my first reaction was, “We’re good! The military has got this team alignment thing figured out. We’re focused on the mission, we have a clear command structure, and we follow orders.” But as Michael explained the steps to creating team alignment, he said that to get the most powerful results, leaders must:

Create an environment that is safe for dissent.

Ouch! Ok, that’s not the first phrase most military members would use to describe their work environment. In fact, I think it’s rare that I’ve seen a military leader who embraces dissent in the name of creating unity. I know I’ve never prioritized it.

The result?…we get a team full of Yes Men who not only fail to speak up when they disagree with mundane issues, but are also trained to remain quiet in the face of critical decisions. If you want a team of folks like that, then make sure you do these things.

U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Caroline Chavez, a senior drill instructor assigned to Platoon 4023, November Company, 4th Recruit Training Battalion, commands her platoon during their final drill evaluation, June 25, 2014, at Parris Island, S.C.
(DoD photo by Cpl. Octavia Davis, U.S. Marine Corps/Released)
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The Post-Active Duty Leadership Environment – Part 2 (Leadership)

This is the second of three posts by an Air Force Major discussing the organizational changes he experienced after leaving active-duty to fly for the Air National Guard and a civilian airline. Read the first post here.

In part one of this series, I described my transition from active duty flying in the US Air Force to my current job as a civilian airline and Air National Guard pilot. I addressed how I found my concepts of service and excellence to be more aligned with my post-separation life than my active duty experience.

I also asserted that many leaders I encountered focused more on serving their careers than serving their subordinates and that this mentality has become a cultural issue within the Air Force’s Air Mobility and Training Commands, if not the Air Force itself.

Today’s post compares the active duty and civilian/National Guard leadership environments that I experienced.

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Why Your Leadership Style Needs Some…Gemütlichkeit???

Let me reveal a secret about social functions in the military:  No one wants to attend a morale or family event and feel like they’re right back at work. We spend all day in the midst of clear authority, customs, and time-critical tasks and we don’t want our social events to feel anything like that.

But, we’ve all been there. Here’s a short story.

Why Your Leadership Style Needs Some Gemütlichkeit

The Commander of U.S. Garrison Bavaria taps the keg at the 56th Annual German-American
Volksfest in Grafenwoehr, Germany, 2014. Link to photo.
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7 Military Blogs You Need to Check Out

Get your Sunday reading in with some peer writing. Here are 7 of the best military blogs out there right now if you’re looking for professional, well-written content. What I like about these site is that they’re either created/hosted by an active duty service member, or they’re a repository of active duty writing. So, you know you’re getting relevant content.

military blogs

Army combat helmets assigned to Soldiers participating in the 2009 U.S. Army Reserve Best Warrior Competition sit at the ready during the Urban Warfighting Orientation Course phase of the competition. Link to photo.
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A Career of “Career-Ending” Jobs – Eisenhower’s Wavy Path to Success

If you haven’t thought about it from this perspective, consider this about a diminishing military:  we can’t expect that leaders will reduce mission requirements when there are fewer service members  – “Do more with less” sounds appropriate.

And a subsequent effect is that the service members who remain will have less of a say in their assignment choice, as “personal preference” cedes ground to “needs of the Army.” Some officer and NCO leaders will receive assignments to perform unglamorous duties in less-than-optimal locations. And they’ll think their career is over because of it.

The Making of a Leader: Dwight D. Eisenhower by retired Army Colonel Robert C. Carroll in the 2009 Edition of Military Review, shows how General Eisenhower’s career had a similar tone. Carroll recounts Ike’s string of “not-so-elegant jobs that many might consider career-enders, but would later pay huge dividends.”

Supreme Allied Commander U.S. Army Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower. Courtesy: Wikipedia.
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6 Ways to Enhance Your Close-Out Formation

The physically fit but exhausted Soldiers maneuvered back and forth, looking for some advantage that would lead to victory. They had applied every hand-to-hand combatives skill they had to become the final two Soldiers in the pit after starting with 25 competitors. The rookie Private from Bravo Company then surprised the seasoned Staff Sergeant from Headquarters and launched him over the edge of the pit, causing an uproar from Bravo and securing bragging rights for the next month.

Close-out Formation

Pvt. Ryan Owen, left, attempts to clinch Staff Sgt. Aaron Price during a one-minute bout of hand-to-hand combat Dec. 16. Owen is one of 32 Basic Combat Training Soldiers in Company F, 2nd Battalion, 39th Infantry Regiment who were certified in Modern Army Combatives.

Doesn’t sound like your typical close-out formation, does it?

The battalion commander had ordered each company to offer up 5 Soldiers at the monthly close-out formation challenge, but the teams never knew what the competition was until after they were selected. It was a brilliant way to reinforce a crucial aspect of the unit’s Vision Statement, “Be ready to fight, anytime, anywhere.”

Most units view close-out formations simply as a venue to communicate information and give the mandatory safety brief. But with a little creativity, leaders can turn them into competitive, team-building events that build cohesion and give permanency to the leader’s message. Here are a few ideas.

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12 Things Good Bosses Believe (#12)

 Because I wield power over others,
I am at great risk of acting like an insensitive jerk — and not realizing it.

Robert Sutton closes out “12 Things Good Bosses Believe” by citing what I think is the most often overlooked (and potentially the most destructive) aspect of leadership on this list. It is the idea that the very position of influence blinds the leader from truly realizing how his actions impact subordinates.

When you think about it, there is nothing more elemental in human interaction – to understand how we affect other people – but this awareness is often hidden even from those who base their professions on influencing others.

bosses

Army Reserve Soldiers and competitors listen to a class on rifle marksmanship before the inaugural Army Reserve Small Arms Championship hosted at Camp Robinson, Arkansas, Sept. 22. Approximately 70 Soldiers, making up 14 teams, came from all over the country to compete. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Michel Sauret)

The essential tasks of the military leader, summarized by Dick Winters (2/506 Airborne Infantry Regiment, WWII):

“I may not have been the best combat commander, but I always strove to be. My men depended on me to carefully analyze every tactical situation, to maximize the resources that I had at my disposal, to think under pressure, and then to lead them by personal example.”

Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters (Berkley Trade, 2008)