Leadership Defined

March 5, 2008 By CJ
Posted in Top Posts, Life in the Military

As a First Sergeant, I have the privilege to assist the commander in promoting deserving Soldiers.  I have always been a Soldier-oriented leader, even when I was a Soldier myself.  There is nothing so important that I cannot be there to personally promote a Soldier or present an award.

This week I was able to promote one of my Soldiers to the rank of Staff Sergeant (SSG).  The rank of SSG is an interesting one - you’re a junior NCO technically but viewed by others as a senior NCO.  It’s not uncommon for career Soldiers to retire with the rank of SSG.  It’s a prestigious rank that signifies that the wearer is no longer “learning” to be an NCO.  Hopefully, by this time he or she already understands their role. 

 SSG’s are generally squad leaders or platoon sergeants.  They typically lead and mentor between 7 and 30 troops, depending on the MOS.  When they speak, Soldiers listen.  Their counsel and advice is taken seriously and they are looked to as examples of what good Soldiers should be.  Naturally, there are those that violate that responsibility by doing stupid things, but they quickly learn what it’s like to be a Soldier again when they surrender their stripes.

In the past few years, the Army has changed promotion standards.  It started with automatic promotions of Specialists (SPC) to the rank of Sergeant (SGT).  The problem, in my eyes, was that senior NCOs were not properly mentoring Soldiers and providing them with sufficient training and guidance.  As a result, Soldiers were not “ready” to wear the stripes of a Sergeant.  Unfortunately, counselings rarely backed up this view of their worth to be promoted.  Senior NCOs took a back seat to mentoring and typically just barked out orders and micro-managed how those orders were accomplished.  The Army faced a vaccuum of Soldiers in the rank of SGT and took it upon themselves to just promote anyone with the “time in service”.  A commander had the option of denying that promotion, but had to back it up with reasons.  The usual answer was “he’s not ready”, but the follow up “why not?” was never asked and the commander’s hands were tied.

This process has now trickled into the SSG promotion process.  The Army has decided now that SSGs will be automatically promoted unless there is a valid reason not to, thus taking more responsibility from Senior NCOs and commanders.  This decision ultimately erodes the authority of those SSGs and other Senior NCOs up the chain. 

The fix is easy:  we Senior NCOs need to get back to the basics of true leadership.  We need to “be, know, and do”.   We need to to set the example.  By mentoring our Soldiers and Junior NCOs, we prepare for advancement to the next rank.  By setting tough, realistic standards and holding firm on enforcing those standards, we’ll have no problems promoting deserving Soldiers and eventually getting rid of sub-standard ones.  

Counseling needs to be a desire not a mandate.  We should be able to take leave and not worry about whether or not our job will get done while we’re gone because we’ve prepared our subordinates in their jobs in addition to the responsibilities of the next rank.  We should train Privates to be Specialists.  We should train Specialists to be Sergeants, and so on. 

We can’t be afraid to tell our Soldiers when they are not meeting the standards.  A desire to avoid confrontation is not an acceptable attribute of a good NCO.  Confrontation is practically what the “C” in NCO stands for.  But, those confrontations need to be just as positive as they are correctional.  We also need to provide opportunities for them to succeed under stressful circumstances.

In today’s combat environment it’s easy to become personally attached to our Soldiers.  There is nothing wrong with that as long as those Soldiers also know that they are subordinate to us.  We must also use that authority to be righteous leaders and refrain from abusing both the authority and the Soldiers we are charged to lead.  We need to be “fair and impartial in recommending both rewards and punishment” without hesitation.  We have standards for a reason.  We just need to enforce them.  We need to KNOW our Soldiers.  We need to know who their spouses are and the names of their children.  We need to know what their hobbies are and what they’re with their free time. 

Finally, as NCOs we need to realize that ALL Soldiers are our Soldiers.  If we see a Soldier failing to meet established standards it is our duty to make the on-the-spot correction.  We must also be mindful of our limits when dealing with Soldiers that don’t “belong” to us.  That doesn’t mean ignoring those that are ignoring standards. 

Our attitudes must always be positive, even when our experiences are purely negative.  As leaders, we need to encourage and motivate our Soldiers.  We cannot do this by complaining about every tasking that comes down from our higher headquarters.  Yes, it sucks.  Yes, there are some complete morons assigned to positions of authority above us.  It is our job to filter out the crap and try to find the “why” to every order we receive.  That doesn’t mean always asking why, though.  Our experience will provide those answers without having to vocalize the question.  If we have negative attitudes towards our military service or experience, we need to ensure that it doesn’t rub off on those below us.  Oftimes those attitude come from our own personal biases, experiences, and personalities and are not reflective of the military as a whole.  When we present our own personal views of life in the military as broad, sweeping descriptions of military service we do our Soldiers a disservice.  I’ve had some good times and I’ve had some very bad times.  I’ve felt like walking out the door many times, but I’ve also tried to make the most out of every bad situation I’ve found myself in.  My mantra is “It’s a temporary pain.”  I’ll get through it. 

My experiences are unique to me.  And if they are not, as a Senior NCO it is my responsibility to try and fix it.  My commander has a great philosophy when dealing with what he perceives as nonsense.  Instead of just complaining, he’ll contact the responsible individual and try to fix the problem in a “issue/discussion/recommendation” format. 

Issue:  he brings up the issue as he sees it from his vantage point - the area he thinks is “jacked up”.  Discussion:  he describes why he thinks the decision is a bad one and provides his view on the issue.  He will discuss historical aspects of the issue if it is not a new one.  Recommendation:  at the end of the discussion he will make a recommendation on how he thinks it could be made better.  Sometimes the recommendation is adopted and sometimes it is not.  But, the point is that he didn’t just complain.  He tried to provide well thought out and researched solutions to the problem.  He didn’t accept the issue as a “norm” and accept it.  Neither do I.  When I think something is jacked up I ask for that “purpose and direction” behind the issue.  If the answer I get back is “because we’ve done it like it for a long time”, then I ask more questions and move into the issue/discussion/recommendation mode. 

There’s a story about 5 monkeys that I heard when I recently attended an OCS graduation at Fort Benning.  It goes like this:

Start with a cage containing five monkeys.

In the cage, hang a banana on a string and put stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana.

As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the monkeys with cold water.

After a while, another monkey will make an attempt with the same response - all of the monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Keep this up for several days.

Turn off the cold water.

If, later, another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it even though no water sprays them.

Now, remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one.

The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.

Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm.

Replace the third original monkey with a new one. The new one makes it to the stairs and is attacked as well. Two of the four monkeys that beat him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs, or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.

After replacing the fourth and fifth original monkeys, all the monkeys which have been sprayed with cold water have been replaced. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs.

Why not?

“Because that’s the way it’s always been done around here.”

We need to make sure we’re not being monkeys! 

We succeed when our Soldiers succeed.  It is rare that a Senior NCO gets to where he/she is completely on their own merit.  Behind practically every Senior NCO are many Soldiers who did their jobs honorably and with pride.  Under the black enamel of our stripes rests the hard work and dedication of those troops we led and mentored.  They made us look good enough that the Army saw fit to promote us to the highest ranks of enlisted service.  As we execute our duties, we must remain mindful of them and prepare them to fill our shoes when we are gone.  We cannot afford to leave the future Army to chance. 

H/T to Mike T for the inspiration to write this.  You really need to read HIS take on leadership as well.