Leadership Development Training (Sapper Leader Course)

What:

In Brad Jackson and Ken Parry’s book, A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book about Studying Leadership, the authors briefly discuss formal leadership training and development and on-the-job training (OJT). These sections move from the previous leadership theories into leadership in practice. I believe this is the most important part of the leadership process.

Theories provide a framework for leadership development. But, leadership practice provides a platform for leaders to develop these many theories into their reality. Specifically, Jackson and Parry talk about action learning and outdoor challenge programs. Action learning being opportunities for individuals and teams to conduct field projects with lessons learned in formal training sessions, and outdoor challenge programs being physical activities performed outdoors. Usually, these are team building type events.

This leadership in practice also strongly relates to Authentic Leadership as outlined in Peter G. Northouse's book, Leadership: Theory and Practice. The author discusses critical life events that influence authentic leadership. These critical life events can be defined in numerous ways. In my experience these 'life events' can be self or organizationally driven.

So What:

 

The U.S. Army offers many opportunities for Soldiers to develop their leadership skills through programs like the ones listed above. A great example of this is the Sapper Leader Course. This is a 28 day course designed to train leaders from the squad level to the company level (30 personnel per class). The course is divided into two phases. The first phase is classroom training with incorporated field exercises. The second phase is a 15 day field leadership exercise. The objective of the course is to develop leaders through team building exercises specializing in Army combat engineer techniques and battle drills.

Sapper Leader Course Training Objectives

This course is open to all military occupational skills (MOSs). It is also open to males and females; enlisted and commissioned officers. Sister services (Marines, Air Force, and Navy) may also attend.

Now What:

I graduated from the Sapper Leader Course in 2007. I apply lessons learned in this school almost every day in my leadership philosophy.  At face value, this course teaches Army combat engineer skills. But, in reality it develops leaders. Engineer skills serve as the tool for teaching.

CPT Doug Armstrong and CPT Nathan Ferguson Proudly Displaying Their Sapper Tabs

 

This course instills confidence in leaders and teaches them how and when to lead. Throughout the course, leaders are put into difficult situations numerous times daily. There is never a clear solution. The course is founded upon leading by example and leading by motivating. For example, sleep deprivation is a typical tool in this course. This forces leaders to motivate other Soldiers when everyone in the team wants to quit. Failure to motivate others typically results in additional physical exercise and/or negative evaluations. For me, Sapper Leader Course was a defining moment in my life. I gained confidence in myself and learned how to apply different leadership techinques to different situations.

This course is just one example of leader development training. I’ve seen Soldiers make the leap from follower to leader after this course and strongly encourage Soldiers regardless of their position to enroll in the training.

Personality Inventories and Team Buildings

What:

I remember my first counseling session as a Second Lieutenant. It was my first in the Army and the first with my Battalion Commander. The purpose of the counseling was to receive my first evaluation report. My commander asked me a simple question, “What are your strengths?” I stumbled around the questions and answered, “I’m a hard worker, I’m smart, I work well with others, etc.” After I answered we sat silently for a minute, then I was dismissed. This was the abrupt end to the counseling.

 

The truth was that I didn’t really know my strengths. Nor, did I feel like my commander was interested in helping me find them as apparent by the quick end to the conversation. This is a common problem. As a leader and follower, I found that leaders do not spend enough time counseling their followers and followers wind up feeling neglected.

I’ve had the awesome opportunity to take a break from the Army and attend graduate school. I’ve also had the opportunity to take many different personality tests and team dynamic tests in my small groups and leadership classes. Below is an inventory of these tests (This is a non-inclusive list):

Test:  Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI 360)
Application:	Online Test, Self-test and observer questionnaires
Results:	Measures the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership
Cost:	~$40.00
Uses:	360 inventory
Test: DISC (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Compliance)
Application:	Online Test
Results:	Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Conscientiousness
Cost:	Free
Uses:	Increases self-knowledge, Conflict Management, Motivations, Stressors, Problem Solving, facilitates better team work and Group interaction
Test: Myer-Briggs Personality Test (MBTI or other Jungian Test)
Application:	Online Test
Results:	Four dichotomies extraversion-introversion, sensing-intuition, thinking-feeling, judging-perception
Cost:	Free
Uses:	Personality type, how personality type fits into the ‘team’
Test:  Emotional Intelligence (EQ-I 2.0)
Application:	Online Test
Results:	Measures individual capacity of self-perception, self-expression, interpersonal composite, decision making, and stress management on a scoreable scale.
Cost:	$66.00
Uses:	Individual self-knowledge and actualization
Test: Strengths Based Leadership (Strengths Finder)
Application:	Online Test and book
Results:	Identifies top five strengths in the categories of executing, influencing, relationship building, and strategic thinking.
Cost:	$24.00
Uses:	Individual self-knowledge and actualization, team strengths.
Test: TKI (Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Test)
Application:	Online Test
Results:	How to deal with conflicts and group dynamics
Cost:	$15.00
Uses:	Team dynamics

So what:

I am always looking for different ways to counsel my subordinates and develop my teams. The Army uses the Multi-Source Assessment and Feeback 360 (MSAF 360) tool to help leaders develop their self-awareness. The limitation with this tool is that only the Soldier sees the result (which is as it was designed). The problem is that Soldiers do not have to use this information for any purpose in team development or professional counseling. I want to develop a system for myself to use the tools listed above to develop my own counseling and team building plans. I propose the following:

 

Now What:

It’s important to note that this list is non-inclusive. Each leader must define his or her own style. Each of these tests has different purposes and applications. I want to use them to build my team, identify strengths and weaknesses, organize for efficiency, and help my subordinates develop their self-awareness and actualization.

These are great tools for my leader “toolbox”. I will continue to refine this system and test it with my teams. I will face the challenge of using the right tools at the right time and bring each team member on board with this idea. However, I think that in the future my teams will find the results useful and will hopefully understand each other and the team dynamics better.

Follower-Centered Perspectives on Leadership

What?

I have really struggled with Boas Shamir’s notions of Follower-Centered Perspectives on Leadership as described in Brad Jackson and Ken Parry’s book, A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book about Studying Leadership. As an Army officer, who’s been a platoon leader and company commander, I have struggled with the idea that followers essentially mold leaders and their leadership. This short video briefly and humorously lays out the perspectives.

The U.S. Army is in the business of leadership. Leaders at all levels are expected to lead their units successfully no matter the conditions. We are taught that success or failure of the mission lies with the leader and his or her ability to motivate their unit to success. I honestly can not recall having a discussion of follower-centered perspectives on leadership.

So What?

 

I particularly like the ‘follower as leaders: shared leadership’ perspective. This perspective involves the concept of ‘co-leadership’. Jackson and Parry’s book says, “the notion of ‘co-leadership’, which recognizes that leadership is rarely the preserve of one individual but frequently is exercised by a pair of individuals, a ‘Number one’/’Number Two’ combination such as a CEO and CFO or a group of individuals such as a top management team.”

During my time as a company commander I found this to be especially true. Though I was the ‘leader’ of the company, I was accompanied by a senior Non-Commissioned Officer (1SG Marcus Richardson) and an Executive Officer (XO) (1LT Richard Miller). The 1SG addressed Soldier issues and essentially took care of their daily issues and training. The XO addressed administrative and logistics needs of the company. Though both positions managed the company, both positions required great leaders to make the company successful.

1SG Marcus Richard and CPT Doug Armstrong

1LT Richard Miller (XO Extraordinaire)

 

Looking back on the situation, my company never would have been successful with only me as the leader. All three of us working in unison drove the company to success. I am a very logical and analytical person. I am good at coordinating large scheme efforts and planning operations. However, I am not a very good 'people person'. My 1SG, on the other hand, was a great 'people person'. He always knew the best courses of actions in regards to taking care of people. My XO was extremely good a working out the details. He would pick up the pieces that my 1SG and I would leave behind. At times, like during training, my 1SG was best suited to lead. At other times, like coordinating administrative activities, my XO would be best suited to lead. I was best suited to provide a moral compass to the company and lead during combat operations (though we can argue that my 1SG had more experience than I and may have been best suited).

Now What?

These six perspectives of follower-centered leadership all have a purpose and appropriate applicability. I think the overarching ‘now what’ is that I need to start viewing leadership more in terms of followers than in terms of myself as the leader. Leadership is a process. It’s not restricted to ‘leaders’ in the traditional sense of the word. In the future I need to address each position I am in from the perspective of the followers to fully understand my role as a leader.

Complexity Leadership Theory and the Hierarchy of Company Operations

1SG Marcus Richardson (second from left) and CPT Doug Armstrong (far right) with Iraqi Army Leadership.

What?

In 2009, I commanded the 591^st Engineer Company in Iraq. Our mission was to clear routes of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). We also had a mission to partner with an Iraqi Army Engineer unit to train them on military engineering. Due to the various missions we had, our company relied on the empowerment of leaders and the ability of leaders to make decisions independent of a command from higher. My company had a typical military hierarchy leadership organization. But, within this organization there were many non-hierarchical leadership relationships.

Typical Organizational Structure of an Army Engineer Company

 

In recent times military leaders have become more aware of non-hierarchical leadership processes. Due to the Global War on Terror, we have found over the past 10 years that the need for decentralized decision making is necessary to immediately affect decisions made on the ground. In a sense, Soldiers don’t have the luxury of waiting on orders or guidance anymore. Action must be taken with or without a command decision.

Though this isn’t a new concept, this decentralization can be likened to the complex leadership theory. Avolio, Walumbwa and Weber touch on this subject in their research review, “Leadership: Current Theories, Research, and FutureDirections”. Citing Unl-Bien’s complexity leadership theory: complexity leadership, 

 

“(is) an interactive system of dynamic, unpredictable agents that interact with each other in complex feedback networks, which can then produce adaptive outcomes such as knowledge dissemination, learning, innovation and further adaptation to change (Uhl-Bien M, Marion R, McKelvey B. 2007. Complexity leadership theory: shifting leadership from the Industrial Age to the Knowledge Era. Leadership. Q. 18:298–318).”

So What?

Prior to our deployment I used Dr. David Kilcullen’s article "Twenty-Eight Articles: Fundamentals of Company-Level Counterinsurgency" to shape the leader training for my company. Kilcullen is a master of counter-insurgency operations. In his article he identifies some principles to direct company grade leadership in organizing, preparing for and executing counter-insurgency operations. Two of his points are especially true when discussing complex leadership.

 

 

“Rank is nothing: talent is everything” – Place Soldiers in positions where they will naturally excel due to natural or learned talents.

 

“Train the squad leaders—then trust them” – Empower leaders to make decisions. Teach them what right looks like.

 

SSG Ochoa (the one with the bunny ears), Liaison with Iraq Army

 

As a company commander, I ingrained these lessons into my company. When we had to make some changes to the unit’s organization, I did so with little resistance. Leaders were empowered to make decisions based on an overall philosophy that I provided. What emerged were various ‘leaders’ excelling in formal and informal leadership positions. We were also able to accomplish more with less due to the decentralization of decision making.

 

Caveat: I am not arguing that the military hierarchy doesn’t work. Without the strict formal command relationship, the military would have a drastic breakdown in discipline. However, I believe that there is a delicate balance of command and control through the military organization and using our best talents in fields where they are most likely to succeed. HOWEVER, this requires trust between leaders and their subordinates. The leader must also provide constant oversight to ensure his/her philosophy is being followed.

 

 

Now What?

 

 

Many studies have been and are being conducted on leadership in the military. I believe that the experiences of younger NCOs and officers like me will benefit the leadership studies of the military in the future. I believe that our military is producing some of the most adaptive leaders of all time.

 

 

On my personal leadership journey I have discovered that one of a leader’s greatest strengths is to listen to other members of his team and employ each team member according to their strengths. A leader can best affect the outcomes by simply being adaptive and communicating his vision clearly early on.