Category Archives: Military Leadership

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The Post-Active Duty Leadership Environment – Part 1 (Service/Excellence)

The Military Leader is pleased to offer this guest post by an Air Force Major with more than 14 years flying experience. It is a thought-provoking look at how the leadership environment changes after leaving active duty and challenges our basic beliefs about why we serve.

This is the first in a series of articles that seek to answer the question, “How does organizational leadership differ between my experience on active duty in the U.S. Air Force and my new career(s) as an airline pilot and citizen airman in the Air National Guard?” I will answer the question by focusing on three areas:  1) the concepts of service and excellence, 2) the leadership environment, and 3) leader development.

My comments will be relevant both for those considering transitioning from active duty, as well as leaders/mentors of subordinates who face that decision. My opinions are my own and do not represent the official positions of my Air National Guard unit or civilian employer.

Leadership

An Afghan air force pilot and Air Force Maj. Chris Garcia fly an advisory mission March 10, 2014, near Kabul, Afghanistan. Airmen of the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing/NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan play a vital role in Operation Enduring Freedom as advisers tasked with aiding the Afghan government in establishing an operational and sustainable Afghan air force. Garcia is a 438th Air Expeditionary Wing/NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan C-130 Hercules advisor. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Jason Robertson)
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3 Leadership Lessons from Ferguson, MO

I have intentionally structured this blog to focus on leadership principles and to prevent it from becoming an opinion board for political hot button issues. I think the media already has enough stone-throwers and I have no desire to join the fray.

Nonetheless, there are apolitical lessons we should draw from the events of our time, and the recent sad events in Ferguson, Missouri provide a few. (See “Tragedy and Readiness – Fort Hood’s Lesson” for more lessons from current events.)

What you won’t read here is my judgment of who is right or wrong in the death of Michael Brown. Why?…because I am neither the investigator nor the judge, which brings me to the first lesson.

People stand in prayer after marching about a mile to the police station to protest the shooting of Michael Brown, Aug. 20, 2014, in Ferguson, Mo. Photo by: Charlie Riedel, AP Photo

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12 Things Good Bosses Believe (#11)

Simplicity resonates from #11 of Robert Sutton’s “12 Things Good Bosses Believe.” This belief is so basic that it is often overlooked and rarely discussed, but might very well be the belief that distinguishes great leaders from the rest.

Sutton’s #11 belief of good bosses is:

How I do things is as important as what I do.

bosses

Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, center left, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaks with Army Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, commander of Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, at Besmaya Range Complex in Iraq, April 21, 2016. DoD photo by Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Dominique A. Pineiro.
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5 Steps to Effectively Communicating Your Message

Military leaders know that information operations can be decisive in influencing populations, particularly in counterinsurgency operations. Commanders create entire staff sections devoted to analyzing populations and crafting targeted messages that will influence people groups to support coalition efforts.

Information is clearly an important part of combat operations, but what about back at home station? How can leaders communicate their message to the organization to do things like meet unit goals, achieve a shared vision, or simply influence subordinate behavior?

message

Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Capel, International Security Assistance Force senior enlisted adviser, speaks to Soldiers in 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, after awarding combat infantry badges, combat action badges and combat medical badges at Forward Operating Base Shank, Afghanistan, May 28, 2013.
Photo Credit: Sgt. Julieanne Morse, 129th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
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General Mark Welsh Gives “Intensely Personal” View of Combat

I was fortunate enough to be a cadet in the audience at the US Air Force Academy when (then) Brigadier General Mark Welsh, the Commandant of Cadets, gave a sobering and deeply personal account of his combat experience in the Gulf War.

He was the commander of an F-16 Fighter Squadron at the time and, being a full two years before 9/11, few service members (and none of us cadets) had any insight into real combat. General Welsh brought it into focus with this speech.

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Leadership Lessons from an Airborne Commander

Revisiting the book Military Leadership:  In Pursuit of Excellence led me to an article by General Matthew Ridgway that appeared in the October 1966 edition of Military Review. Entitled “Leadership,” it is a strikingly poignant and upfront summation of basic elements of good leadership, in and out of combat. I recommend that everyone read the entire article, but here are some points to consider.

Leadership

Generals and Grenades: Said General Ridgway, “some people thought I wore the grenades as a gesture of showmanship. This was not correct. They were purely utilitarian. Many a time, in Europe and in Korea, men in tight spots blasted their way out with grenades”.
(Ridgway Photograph Collection) Photo Credit: USAMHI
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Battalion-Level Leader Development Overview

Thanks to a recent squadron commander for providing these comprehensive slides. He used them to introduce his leader development program to his officers and senior NCOs, which drove hours of educational discourse.

You can click through and download the slides below, but highlights include:

  • Slides 4-5:  Reference slides for professional discussion
  • Slides 10-13:  The definition of leadership and who we are trying to develop
  • Slide 17:  A valuable graphic depicting the Army leader development timeline
  • Slide 21:  The commander’s personal philosophy on leader development
  • Slides 22-24:  A comprehensive model for the squadron’s leader development activities, organized by rank, topic, and event
  • Slide 25:  A Shared Vision Statement worth adapting for your own unit

Download the PowerPoint version here: Battalion-Level Leader Development Overview.pptx
Download the PDF version here:  Battalion-Level Leader Development Overview.pdf

View and download the slides on SlideShare here:

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With Freedom Comes Responsibility

In 2011, at the commissary of all places, I had an experience that showed me the importance of our public duty as service members. I captured my thoughts about the incident, which I think are still relevant.

Following his imprisonment in Nazi concentration camps, neurologist and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl wrote:

“Freedom, however, is not the last word. Freedom is only part of the story and half of the truth. Freedom is but the negative aspect of the whole phenomenon whose positive aspect is responsibleness. In fact, freedom is in danger of degenerating into mere arbitrariness unless it is lived in terms of responsibleness.”

The other day, I encountered two people on opposite ends of the responsibleness spectrum and have some thoughts about how we, as military service members and families, should behave.
 My first encounter was a positive one.

freedom

Staff Sgt. Skipper J. Smith of the 39th Infantry Brigade’s Benton based Echo Company, 1-153rd Infantry Regiment assists in the cleanup after the Vilonia tornado. Photo Credit: Sarah Jones