Last week’s post, “The Leader’s Role in Preventing Off-Duty Risk,” tackled the varying perspectives surrounding the issue of how far leaders should involve themselves in subordinate lives to prevent off-duty risk. Too much involvement, and resentment and mistrust develop. Too little involvement, and potentially destructive problems grow unnoticed. Leaders hold passionate opinions on all sides of the discussion, but it’s a safe conclusion that this area is truly the art of leadership.
Today’s post is all about The How, the methods that leaders on every side of the discussion can use to achieve their intent. The mindful leader will devote time, organizational energy, and cognitive space to figuring out how to engage his or her people in this critical area of leadership.
ROTC cadets take a break from Leader Development and Assessment Course training to engage in a question and answer session with Lt. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, commander of U.S. Army Accessions Command and Training and Doctrine Command’s deputy commanding general for initial military training, July 19, at Fort Lewis, Wash.
Link to photo.
Ah yes, the age-old question: How involved should leaders be in the personal lives of Soldiers to prevent risk?
I posed a question on Twitter that led to a discussion about mitigating off-duty risk. How can leaders protect Soldiers while still providing them autonomy? Why do Soldiers need protecting at all? They’re adults, right?
Every time I’ve witnessed a discussion on this topic, passionate people express valid points stemming from very personal beliefs about leadership. This post will examine the Twitter exchange and the next post will provide methods leaders can use to creatively mitigate off-duty risk.
To spend a few minutes with people is simply not productive. If one wants to get anything across, one has to spend a fairly large minimum quantum of time.
The manager who things that he can discuss the plans, direction, and performance of one of his subordinates in fifteen minutes – and many managers believe this – is just deceiving himself. If one wants to get to the point of having an impact, one needs probably at least an hour and usually more.
And if one has to establish a human relationship, one needs infinitely more time.
The leader must behave differently than those they lead. They are in position because their ability surpasses those around them and they can be counted on to make a difference. Leaders display elevated influence.
Now look inward, and analyze your own leadership traits in light of these questions:
If an outsider were to look in on your organization without explanation or even the capability to hear what was going on…would they be able to tell that you are the leader? What traits would they be looking for to explain who is in charge?
Soldiers from the 2nd Combined Arms Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, race for first place during an annual Physical Training Competition on Fort Riley, Kansas. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Robert DeDeaux, 1st Infantry Brigade, 1st Inf. Div. Public Affairs.
Link to photo.
Mentorship in the military is one of those concepts that everyone agrees with but almost no one does. Plenty of up and coming leaders get advice from commanders, senior leaders, and enlisted advisors, but seldom does the intensity of influence extend beyond the time served together or delve into areas of personal development.
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Jo Marie Rivera, left, and U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Rebecca Hamby provide security in the Tarnek Wa Jaldek district in Afghanistan’s Zabul province, Sept. 18, 2013.
U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Kandi Huggins
I admit it. The fault was entirely my own. I had let myself get comfortable and now I was short on time, resources, energy, and just about everything else needed to make a successful operation. I was headed straight for a crisis and I could have prevented it.
The 101st Airborne Division repositions in Bastogne during The Battle of the Bulge, December 1944.
As a follow-up to Part 1 in the Habit Series from Marshall Goldsmith’s “Twenty Habits that Hold You Back from the Top,” let’s take a look at why military leaders are routinely addicted to winning, which turns out to be both helpful and potentially destructive.
A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft assigned to the 18th Aggressor Squadron takes off for a sortie at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, Oct. 15, 2014, during Red Flag-Alaska 15-1. (
Link to DoD photo by Senior Airman Peter Reft, U.S. Air Force/Released)
On December 17, 2014 I read a post by The Military Leader that outlined General Colin Powell’s Rules. I am no General Colin Powell. However, I do have my own list. I developed this list of principles based upon experiences as an Infantryman, Infantry Officer, and more specifically during deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan as an Intelligence Officer.
Once complete, I hung this list in my office and jokingly titled it “The Phil-Osophy.” Visitors would read the list, like what they saw, and ask for a copy. Though they may seem overly aggressive, or excessively pragmatic, they work for me and I do my best to hold myself to them during times of weakness.
U.S. Marines from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit Battalion Landing Team transmit messages during an embassy reinforcement exercise at the Arta Range training area near Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, Oct. 26, 2013. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Erik Cardenas.
Link to photo.
