Tag Archives: Positive Leadership

Posted on

“The Energy Comes from You”

We had just departed the aircraft at 500 feet, landed, then assembled at the edge of the drop zone to start a multi-day training evaluation of our skills as an Infantry platoon. It was Fort Bragg, North Carolina in August, so of course the weather was blazing hot and stiflingly humid. This was the first true test of my leadership skills and I was about to receive the best piece of advice of my career.

energy

The platoon was spread out across the woodline and ready to begin the patrol to locate and destroy enemy in the area. I knelt down to verify our map position and give the order to begin the patrol when I felt an overwhelming presence over my right shoulder. My battalion commander, a Lieutenant Colonel with 18 more years of experience than I had and commander of our 750-man unit, had quietly walked up behind me and was watching my every action. When he knelt down next to me, I expected criticism…”What are you waiting for, Lieutenant?”

Instead, he locked eyes with me, leaned in, and said:  “Remember…the energy comes from you.”

The lesson immediately ‘clicked’ with me. This is what he was saying:

  • You are in charge. There should be no doubt in your mind…or anyone else’s…about who is leading this patrol.
  • You set the tone. How you react to each situation will determine how the Soldiers will react. If you bark frenzied instructions, your subordinate leaders will transmit that tension to the Soldiers. But if you remain calm in execution, you’ll infuse confidence in the formation.
  • You provide the organizational momentum. This is about to be a very long exercise with multiple challenging engagements. Fatigue will bring the platoon to a halt unless you motivate the team and set an example of discipline.
  • You are responsible. If the platoon fails, you get the blame; if it succeeds, your Soldiers get the credit.

Then, as if to immediately prove the point, he said, “Now, get after it!”

Questions for Leaders

  • What kind of “energy” does your organization get from you?
  • Do you have the pulse of the team to sense when you need to create momentum?
  • What moments in your career have provided you key lessons?

Subscribe to The Military Leader!

Complete Archive of Military Leader Posts

Back to Home Page

Note: the battalion commander I mention has continued to be a mentor throughout my career, providing priceless advice that has had direct positive impact on my career and many others.

He is retiring this year after a very successful career of inspiring and leading Soldiers.

Thanks, “Coach”

Posted on

12 Things Good Bosses Believe (Rule #8)

One of the best tests of my leadership — and my organization —
is “what happens after people make a mistake?”

Robert Sutton’s 12 Things Good Bosses Believe continues to provide insight for military leaders. Sutton explains that of his five books on business and leadership, #8 is the most important lesson:

Failure is inevitable, so the key to success is to be good at learning from it. The ability to capitalize on hard-won experience is a hallmark of the greatest organizations — the ones that are most adept at turning knowledge into action, that are best at developing and implementing creative ideas, that engage in evidence-based (rather than faith- or fear-based) management, and that are populated with the best bosses.

The military has a lineage of “no fail” leadership. There are clearly times when error, failure, or underperformance are unacceptable. (On this 70th anniversary, the D-Day landings at Normandy come to mind.)

D-Day Landings

There are also times (I’m sure you can recall from your own experience) when military leaders have exercised “no fail” leadership in situations that were slightly less decisive as D-Day. Unit meetings in garrison come to mind, where I’ve observed a commander routinely rip into the staff for minor (and often unavoidable) deviances from his perfect expectations. What is a person or team to do when they offer their best effort only to be cut down and reminded of their failings?

There are basically three responses to failure:

  1. Nobody notices. In the military, not identifying failure is worse than overreacting to it. Given the importance of our military mission, this typically does not happen in the areas of warfighting. However…don’t forget that “what doesn’t get checked often doesn’t get done.” It’s easy to assume that areas like counseling and property management are “good to go” and not identify a problem until critical system failure.
  2. The team gets crushed. In this case, the individual or team gives it their best but falls short, and the leader gives no allowance for not meeting the standard. Sometimes a leader has to intentionally do so to make a point, but leading without allowance for failure destroys creativity, morale, and learning.
  3. The leader uses failure to grow the team. Provided that failure wasn’t illegal, immoral, or unethical, the leader should use every opportunity to calmly walk the individual/team through a process to objectively capture the facts, identify successes as well as faults, and then extrapolate the appropriate lessons. This leader assumes that everyone is doing their best and wants to learn. And when the leader couples this process with positive feedback for the parts that went well, the result is immeasurably productive.

The effects of having a measured response and using failure to grow will be twofold:

  1. Productivity will increase. The team members will feel inspired to seek excellence, won’t be afraid of failure, and will be enabled to try new methods.
  2. Trickle down effect. Your subordinate leaders will follow the leader’s example and treat their teams in a similar way, which elevates the entire organization’s growth.

Questions for Leaders:

  • What determines how you react to failure? Your mood? The severity of the failure? The frequency of failures?
  • What is your threshold for what is an acceptable failure and what is not? Have you clarified your philosophy to your team?
  • Do you know how your subordinates react to their team’s failures?

Leave your comments below and be sure to share your thoughts with your team.

“12 Things Good Bosses Believe” was published on the Harvard Business Review online leadership blog May 28, 2010.

Subscribe to The Military Leader

Complete Archive of Military Leader Posts

Back to Home Page

Posted on

12 Things Good Bosses Believe (#7)

I aim to fight as if I am right, and listen as if I am wrong —
and to teach my people to do the same thing.

#7 of Robert Sutton’s 12 Things Good Bosses Believe should be a no-brainer. Military leaders generally don’t have a problem fighting as if they’re right, but what does “listen as if I am wrong” mean for leaders who are driven, experienced, and trained to perform with total confidence? Let’s start by looking at the antithesis.

good bosses

Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, talks with members of the Marine Guard Detachment at the U.S. embassy in Cairo, Feb. 20, 2016. Link to photo.
Posted on

10 Easy Ways to Develop Your Leaders

You’re overthinking it! Leader development doesn’t have to be the big “thing” it sounds like when you say it.

When I became a platoon leader, I struggled with what type of development program to implement. Should I create a formal development plan with events and steps?…or should I simply model effective leadership and hope the Soldiers learn by example? I engaged a mentor on the topic, who gave me priceless advice that I remember to this day. She said, “Just look for teachable moments.”

Too often, leaders adopt the belief that leader development has to be a lengthy program that takes hours or weeks to develop. The “unit leader development program” sounds like a monstrous effort that integrates technical training, tactical education, lofty discussions, resource products, and lots of time. Most of us shudder when we think about having to create one.

Here’s the unfortunate result…our flawed perception of leader development consequently prevents us from doing ANYTHING.

develop

U.S. Army 1st Lt. Arrio Granum, center, a platoon leader assigned to Bravo Troop, 4th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, briefs his Soldiers prior to a presence patrol around Forward Operating Base Fenty in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, Aug. 22, 2013. The morning patrol was to check the security of the base’s perimeter and to engage area residents. U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Margaret Taylor.

Posted on

Video: TED Talk – The Impact of Leadership

“As long as we make leadership bigger than us, as long as we keep leadership beyond us, as long as we make it about changing the world…we give ourselves an excuse not to expect it everyday from ourselves and from each other.”
Drew Dudley

“Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate…our greatest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light and not our darkness, that frightens us.”
Mary Ann Williamson

In the majority of the time that military units aren’t specifically training to win wars, we spend our time trying to make the unit and its people better. We do this through organizational policies and decisions…and we do it by personally influencing people.

This short TED video reminds us that our influence and our impact on others is deeper than we realize…or give ourselves credit for. All leadership boils down to making people better, and the nature of our profession gives military leaders significant power to do that.

Posted on

Video: A New Look at Rewards and Motivation (TED – Dan Pink)

TED – Dan Pink: The Puzzle of Motivation. Here is an illuminating talk that challenges the way we view rewards and performance.

– The promise of reward only works when performing basic or mechanical tasks.
– Reward actually impairs performance of even rudimentary cognitive tasks and stems creativity.
– Members perform best when they are given Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose.

What place does Autonomy have in military organizations?
When do you incorporate rewards when leading your team? 

Posted on

Wisdom from Doctrine (ADP 6-22 – Army Leadership)

doctrine

“Encouragement and inspiration characterize leadership whereas coercive techniques run counter to Army leadership principles. Subordinates respond well to leadership that encourages commitment to achieve shared goals, thus improving the leader’s ability to use indirect influence in situations where clear lines of authority do not exist. Leadership seeks to influence others through the communication of ideas and common causes. Positive, empowering influence comes by knowing how to lead, relate to others, and free other to manage tasks.”

– Army Doctrine Publication (ADP) 6-22 Army Leadership

Two points are worth noting about this paragraph from ADP 6-22 – Army Leadership.

  1. When was the last time you encouraged and inspired your team? The guidance clearly states that Army leaders are to develop their leadership styles based on “encouragement and inspiration” and that coercive influence is not acceptable. It’s very easy to focus on task accomplishment and forget the emotional component of performance. Truth is, that’s what most people respond to; we all like to find encouragement and inspiration. And it doesn’t have to be the soft and cuddly encouragement; your team likely won’t respond to that. Connect your team to the unit’s or the Army’s history; remind them of the higher purpose of serving; or highlight the long line of sacrifice that others have made. In accordance with ADP 6-22, find ways to create a positive environment…not one that is simply absent of negativity. There’s definitely a difference.
  2. The other interesting point within the text is that leaders who create trust through positive leadership and shared values create the impetus to accomplish the mission when “clear lines of authority do not exist.” Essentially, this builds an environment where team members excel even when they aren’t required to, which can be powerful for an organization.

Bottom Line

“Not being toxic” is not enough for Army leadership. Our Soldiers and officers deserve more. They deserve leaders who build their leadership personas on positivity and inspiration, knowing that such an environment will allow their teams to accomplish more.

Subscribe to The Military Leader

Complete Archive of Military Leader Posts

Back to Home Page