Analyzing the Military Leadership Essay

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Military Leadership

Over the centuries, leadership has played a major role, in the survival, success and endurance of any Army. However, in our history there exist clear examples that show lack of leadership. Developments in the conceptual and physical components have influenced campaigns and battles significantly. They have brought about great changes in the way these battles are conducted, but conflict, and particularly land conflict, remains a human endeavour. At all levels, it was good leadership that maintained morale in the trenches, held the thin red line, motivated troops and thus ensured the tactical battle field success. In the future, effective leadership will play an essential role if at all any Army is to succeed (The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, 2014).

Military Leadership

Military Leadership

Introduction

The Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst (2014), states that leadership is an intangible, yet a very powerful property. Many have attempted to give it a definition and quantify it. However, though it is apparently easy to recognise bad and good leaders, it is elusive to encapsulate its essence. Therefore, one might ask who is a leader. What are the main competencies of a good leader?

A leader's attributes include; empathy, possession of Army values, ethos of a warrior; a leader whose presence gives a military bearing, is composed, possesses physical fitness, confident and yet resilient; an intellectual capacity accompanied with mental agility, innovation, sound judgment, domain knowledge and interpersonal tact. A competent leader should lead by staying ahead of others, be a good example to the team and communicate effectively. his/her influence should extend beyond the existing chain of command; the leader is a developer; a leader ensures that the environment is positive, makes sure that he/she and the team are well prepared; the leader's achievement is in getting desired results (Sewell, 2009).

According to Sewell (2009), the character of a leader, presence, and their intellect through dedicated lifelong lessons enable them to master the vital leader competencies. The Army leader is empowered to build a cohesive and high-performing organization that is able to support land power and projects effectively. This is because they are empowered by the balanced application of the requirements of critical leadership. Positive organizational climates are also created, allowing the team and its members to learn, and empathy for civilians, all team members, soldiers and their families. The elements of emotional intelligence are inherent in each of the competencies (what an Army leader does) and the attributes (what an Army leader is).

Leader Development

The Department of the Army (2015) holds that the process of developing an Army leader should create and sustain leaders who are both, innovative as well as adaptive. Such capabilities empower leaders act boldly, with initiative in complex and dynamic situations in order to execute missions according to orders, doctrine, and training. Furthermore, these leaders should possess integrity. They should be willing to take action even when there are no orders; in case the existing orders, their own experience or the given doctrine no longer fit the situation, especially when unforeseen threats or opportunities arise. Leader development programs, designed properly produce trusted leaders who have character, are competent, and committed.

Leader development can be described as the continuous, sequential, deliberate and progressive process through which Army Civilians and Soldiers are transformed into confident and competent leaders who can act decisively, founded in Army values. This can be achieved only through synthesis of skills, knowledge, and experiences acquired through the education and training opportunities in the various operational, self-development and institutional domains throughout the leader's life. The ability to maintain focus on the leader's professionalism and those being led is very essential in a leader development program (Department of the Army, 2015)

Program Development

Without a program, and a plan for leader development, the emphasis of the organization on learning depends on the climate of the unit and the interest of the commander. Leadership development programs leverage the opportunities for development to address organizational and individual goals for development. Commanders are entrusted with the task of training and leader development in their respective units while providing a culture that encourages learning. They ought to deliberately prepare, plan, execute, and assess leader development and training as an inclusive part of their operations. Leader development must be integrated into the Commanders' and leaders' development programs or organizational training plans. Army leader's development at military and civilian levels is the best way to ensure that the Army will cope with any uncertainties that may arise in future (Department of the Army, 2015).

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The most effective leader development programs are those that have both, multi-levelled dimensions and are, at the same time individualized. The leader development programs content should have accountability for an individual's character, competence, and commitment. Leader development plans in an organization must fit into the guidance and purpose of the higher plan of the organization. Plans should be consistent with Army strategy, enterprise concepts, and guidance on leader development. Leader development plans should guide the subordinate units while giving them the freedom to determine schedules and practices that are most relevant to their missions (Department of the Army, 2015).

Fundamentals of Development

The Department of the Army states that the principles that act as guides to leader development programs should simplify and span the activities of leader development that are formally advocated by the Army. These include counselling, coaching, broadening, mentoring, assessing, and team building. These fundamentals are shared across all activities of leader development, whether formal or informal. Their aim is to strengthen a culture that is Army developmental and a mind-set that is developmental. Integrating these fundamentals into the organization leads to the creation of a learning climate, which is positive, and creates a mind-set, that prioritizes development among leaders. Despite experience being a powerful learning tool, it cannot be guaranteed that one will learn through experience. In accordance with the conveyance of tenets of leader development one must have a purpose and be committed in order to learn. Correctly interpreted experiences enable learning to take place.

The following are the focus of the fundamentals of leader development: establishing conditions and requirements for leader development and giving feedback on the actions of a leader gives opportunities for assessment, observation, and feedback. This enhances learning and creation of opportunities (Department of the Army, 2015).

Self-Development

Self-development plays the role of bridging the gaps that exist between institutional and the operational domains, thus setting the conditions necessary for growth and learning to occur continuously. To improve their capabilities for the positions that exist currently and those that may arise in the future, army civilians and military personnel undergo the process of self-development. Knowledge of self is a vital part in the development of a leader. It is the responsibility of the individual to undergo self-development. However, leaders should support self-development efforts and practices and create supportive and favourable conditions. Leaders should actively observe, monitor and improve their own development and that of their colleagues. Practice and study are essential components of development. Through the exchange of discoveries, professional development information, and opinions, leaders can support the self-development of others (Department of the Army, 2015)

The Department of the Army (2015) claims that self-development encourages goal-oriented and planned learning to reinforce and expand the scope of a person's knowledge. This includes situations experienced by that person, themselves and the performance of their roles. There are three types of self-development acknowledged by the army: Guided self-development, personal self-development and structured self-development. There are four main phases in the process of self-development: determining strengths and the need for development, setting goals, self-enhanced learning and finally active learning.

Unique Aspects for Development

Capabilities that are particularly valuable to team members and leaders in special situations include; judgment and solving problems, character and adaptability. They enable leaders and teams to handle ambiguous, complex, and chaotic environments in which military operations usually take place. The expert leaders must find a way to act in the right manner and take the right action, be it critical thinking to resolve uncertainty, making decisions that are morally tough, adapting to unprecedented circumstances or having to think from a broad and strategic perspective. These capabilities and unique aspects of enhancing, developing, or fostering them in teams and leaders are described in this chapter (Department of the Army, 2015).

The dedication of Army professionals and their ability to adhere to the Army values and the Army Ethic is a reflection of character. Judgment, being a primary component of intellect, is the ability to come to reasonable conclusions after making considered decisions. Leaders can foster others' development of judgment as they reflect on how they themselves think. Critical and creative thinking, problem solving, and ethical reasoning are believed to be the processes involved in visualizing, understanding, and directing. Imagining (visualizing), converging on a solution (directing) and situation assessment (understanding) are major components in problem solving capabilities. Adaptability is effectively changing one's behaviour to respond to a situation that was not expected or altering self-behaviour in order to.....

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