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The Army Leadership Framework

A statement on the seriousness of the topic: the success of the army depends on the competence of its leaders, in life-or-death situations, and in situations that are critical to the security and survival of our nation.

"BE" are the values of the organization (loyalty, duty, respect, service, honor, integrity, and courage) and the personal attributes that support them

"KNOW" are the skills of a leader: interpersonal, conceptual, technical, and tactical

"DO" are the actions: influencing (communication, decision making, motivation), operating (planning, executing, and assessing), and improving (developing, building, and learning).

Leadership Defined

Leadership is influencing people, by providing direction and motivation, while operating to accomplish the mission and improve the organization.

Influence, getting people to do what needs to be done, is the means by which leaders accomplish their objectives.

Having a clear sense of purpose is key - people follow your orders because they know (and come to trust) that there is a greater reason, and that reason is essential to accomplishing a mission. A new leader will need to explain his rationale, even for basic tasks - and by doing so, he gains the trust of his men, who will trust in his wisdom even when the situation is tense and there is no time to explain. This trust is the basic bond of leadership.

Direction is slightly different from purpose, involving the "how" more so than the "why." The short version: give them the resources they need and a clear vision of what to do, then leave them alone to do it.

Motivation is a matter of desire. The work should be challenging, but surmountable. Praise success, coach failure, but keep a distance. The test of leadership is whether your people can do the job without a need for someone to watch over them and spoon-feed them. In many cases, motivation is a matter of getting people to do what they know is right, even when the situation is stressful.

Actions speak louder than words: lead by example, and stand by your men in times of adversity. Be where the action is, without getting in the way, whenever possible.

Of particular importance, influence is used to accomplish action - to operate. Use of influence for any other purpose is misuse of influence, and decreases your charisma.

Improvement is also a key factor: a leader should seek to improve everything entrusted to him: their people, facilities, equipment, and resources.

Reflection is also important: look back on every mission, successes as well as failures, to see what could have been differently to achieve a better outcome. To learn from your mistakes and shortcomings, you must first recognize them.

Be, Know, Do

These are the three characteristics of a military leader.

"Be" is his character: knowing what is right, and acting according to your values. Trust is essential to leadership, and no man is trusted less than the one whose words and actions are not in synch.

"Know" is competence: the interpersonal kills to manage people, the conceptual skills to understand concepts and apply them, the technical skill to do the task at hand, and the tactical skills to make the right decisions as the landscape changes. Master your job, and be prepared to step up to the next level.

"Do" are the actions: influencing, operating, and improving. It is stressed that making a habit of doing the right things when there is no pressure is critical to being able to do them when the heat is on.

Levels of Leadership

Leadership is applied on three levels: directly, organizationally, and strategically. Generally, one progresses through these levels of leadership as one rises in the ranks, but this is not always so: it has more to do with one's assignment and situation, and the lowest-ranking officer who works at a headquarters job may be practicing strategic leadership.

Direct leadership is front-line leadership, providing direction to people in a face-to-face situations. Even at the highest levels, a leader practices direct leadership when working with his immediate subordinates. The benefit of direct leadership is immediate feedback - the ability to assess right away how well things are working and deal with the problems that arise in real time.

Organizational leadership is the management of a larger organization through one or more levels of subordinates. The domains remain the same, but the scale and complexity is larger, the feedback less indirect, and the time scale tends to be broader. Getting out of the bunker and seeing things first hand becomes of greater importance in closing the distance.

Strategic leadership occurs at a very high level, setting a vision for a large and complex organization, itself comprised of many smaller organizations. There is yet another level of complexity, scale, and distance than on the organizational level.

Leaders of Leaders

An important component of organizational and strategic leadership is that one leads leaders rather than working on the front lines. This is generally true at even the lowest levels: a rifle company leader leads through platoon leaders, who lead squad leaders, who lead team leaders.

There are times when a leader must step directly to the front, eschewing the layers of command, and take direct control over a situation; but more often, one must empower subordinate leaders to get the job done, and trust them to do so.

Of critical importance is knowing the capabilities of one's subordinates, and pushing them just beyond their comfort zone. Only by doing so will they learn and grow, and gain the confidence to show initiative. The potential for failure is the opportunity to succeed.

Naturally, this will mean there are failures and mistakes along the way: you must decide what risks are tolerable, what degree of failure in a subordinate task will not jeopardize the larger mission. Failure is part of a learning process.

The failure of subordinates is the failure of the leader to enable them to succeed: to give them the resources, authority, and coaching necessary to success. The failure to trust is the failure to have earned trust.

Especially in military situations, empowerment of subordinates is mandatory: if the unit cannot operate without its leader, the loss of a leader is the loss of the unit, and the failure of its mission.

The example of the Normandy invasion is given to support this: cut off from their commanders, small-unit leaders were not paralyzed, but understood what they needed to do to succeed in their individual missions. Were it not so, the invasion, and perhaps the war, would have failed.

Leadership and Command

The term "command" has a specific definition in the military: it pertains to the accountability for the accomplishment a specific mission and the custodianship of specific resources. It is referred to as a "sacred trust," not to be taken lightly.

Subordinates

All leaders are also subordinates, and the duty of a subordinate is supporting the chain of command. This is not accomplished through mindless obedience to orders, but through understanding the mission and one's role in accomplishing it. It may necessitates objecting to orders, and counseling one's superiors (in an appropriate manner). In rare instances, it may mean doing your duty the best you can, in spite of your disagreement.

Respect for superiors and the chain of command is essential to maintaining your own authority: your actions in this regard teach your own subordinates how to regard you. Treating your subordinates with respect, as you expect to be treated by your own superiors, is also key o maintaining their support.

The Result: Organizational Excellence

When leadership excels, at all levels, the organization excels: it accomplishes its mission effectively and honorably, with an eye not toward the task, but toward the ultimate purpose.

Of importance to the military is keeping in mind that the end of war is not victory, but the restoration of peace and the resumption of normal life


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