Tag Archives: Trust

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Three Leader Sins to Avoid

by Lance Oskey

Despite the breadth of the Army’s leader development journey, leaders often serve for years without learning those intangible skills we all recognize in great leaders. What classroom can teach a leader to “understand context” or “communicate appropriately” or “inspire the best in people?” The leader talents I describe here are among those qualities. They’re nuanced and underrepresented during formal and informal leader development training.

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Marine Corps School of Infantry East students detonate an explosive charge during a breaching exercise at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., April 18, 2018. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Ginnie Lee.
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Build Your Team with a Little Gift Giving

by Jeff Barta

The holidays are always associated with presents and the positive feelings associated with both giving and receiving a gift. Recently as I was unpacking holiday boxes and trimming the tree, I grew nostalgic reflecting on the ornaments given to me by my Leaders across various assignments. As a new leader of an organization, this year I was responsible for creating and sharing this year’s ornament.

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27 Questions to Identify Culture and Define Vision

I’ve had a lot of conversations lately about organizational culture and vision. [To me, vision is where the team is going and culture is the behavior, beliefs, and norms that get it there.] One point of dispute deals with when the new leader of an organization (say, an incoming commander) should begin shaping the culture and setting the vision.

Some feel that culture-setting is a ‘Day 1 activity’ that centers on the leader’s influence…“I’m the new leader and here’s how I want things to run.” Others feel it is haphazard and potentially disastrous to join a team and immediately set it off on a new course…“I need to understand the culture before I know what to change.”

Regardless of your personal preference, it’s tough to argue that leaders should ignore culture and vision. Even a leader who immediately drives vision and culture will have to assess whether or not the team is meeting the intent. Identifying and understanding culture, for all leaders, is a critical task.

culture

Soldiers participate in a sunrise run during annual training at Fort Stewart, Ga., Jan. 11, 2017. The soldiers are assigned to the Georgia National Guard’s 78th Troop Command, 110th Combat Services Support Battalion. Army National Guard photo by Capt. William Carraway
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Picking Which Ball to Drop

by Harlan Kefalas

As the saying goes, when everything is a priority, nothing is. In a system that heaps requirements and tasks on subordinate units, leaders routinely struggle to reach 100% compliance. Though some try, leaders cannot do it all themselves. They must prioritize tasks and delegate work to subordinates. But what tasks are appropriate to delegate? Which ball drops when there are conflicting priorities? It would be helpful to have a framework to sort it all out.

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The Soldiers are assigned to the Fort Bragg Warrior Transition Battalion who completed training for Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification. U.S. Army Forces Command and U.S. Army Reserve Command partnered to provide the training to the Soldiers over several weeks in March and April 2012. Photo by Bob Harrison, FORSCOM Public Affairs.
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11 Tips for Succeeding as Aide-de-Camp

by Andy Brokhoff

Congratulations on being selected as an aide-de-camp. This assignment is like no other assignment you have had. You were selected because of the successful career you’ve had thus far, but also for your potential to continue service for years to come. Being an aide is an amazing broadening assignment where you will get a glimpse into senior level military leadership. But it’s also difficult to prepare for.

Before you do anything else, read the Army’s guidance on serving as aide-de-camp:  Officer/Enlisted Aide Handbook. Next, I encourage you to consider the following advice.

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U.S. Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, walks with Vietnamese Chief of Defense Lt. Gen. Do Ba Ty at the Ministry of Defense in Hanoi, Vietnam, Aug. 14, 2014. Link to photo.
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The 5 Leadership Love Languages

By Christopher Manganaro

Leadership and love go hand in hand. Just as leadership has both direct and indirect influence over others, love behaves the same way. How you express this love is unique to how you interpret the relationship. The stern drill sergeant provides “tough love” to young recruits to turn them into Soldiers. The chaplain will provide words of encouragement to reveal a different perspective. We often see them on opposite ends of the leadership spectrum, but the drill sergeant and the chaplain share one key understanding. They both understand how to employ the five love languages based on their situation.

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U.S. Marines fire an M240B medium machine gun during exercise Blue Chromite 15 on the Central Training Area in Okinawa, Japan, Nov. 2, 2014. Marines rode in assault amphibious vehicles in a ship-to-shore assault from the USS Germantown to Oura Wan Beach, and then advanced inland to the training area. Link to DoD photo.
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Speaking When Angry (Habit Series #7)

The best leaders don’t use anger as a leadership tool. Anger is not a mandatory component of leadership because there are countless examples of successful leaders who never get angry. Yet, we can think of many leaders whose anger has compromised their effectiveness. The question is: what does anger get you? And then at what cost?

angry

Marine Corps Cpl. Benjamin Peagler yells out an order to his team while participating in a platoon assault drill as a part of Exercise Cold Response 16 on range U-3 in Frigard, Norway, Feb. 23, 2016. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Rebecca Floto.

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Prevent Power from Corrupting Your Leadership

We are all familiar with the warning that “power corrupts.” And if you’re like me, when you hear the phrase the first type of corrupted power you think of is greed. The ruthless Gordon Gekko from Wall Street comes to mind. If you shift the phrase to the military frame of reference, you might think of generals breaking joint ethics regulations on TDY travel and contracting, or perhaps the senior leader with the moral lapse.

The commonality among them is a feeling of invincibility that either distorts judgment or severs behavior from prudent thought. When power is involved, we are all at risk.

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A U.S. soldier stands in formation during Exercise Rapid Trident’s opening ceremony in Yavoriv, Ukraine, Sept. 15, 2014. The soldier is assigned to U.S. Army Europe’s 173rd Airborne Brigade. Link to photo.