A young man raises his right hand and swears allegiance. He is placed on an airplane with no itinerary. He disembarks from the plane to find some very unpleasant, surly men in uniforms barking at him as he is corralled unto a bus. He is crowded together, full of trepidation, with others like him. In the darkness, the Greyhound lumbers through gates guarded by armed men. Finally, the vehicle sputters to a halt and a single, very large man with a very large hat boards the bus and tells the passengers that they have thirty seconds to get off of the bus and unto the yellow footprints painted on the sidewalk outside. Then all hell breaks loose.
For many, many young men this how service in the military, specifically The Marine Corps, begins. For many, many young men this is the greatest crisis of their young adult lives. And crises are veritably the ideal circumstances for transformational leadership to succeed (PSU WC, 2013; Northouse, 2013). The goal of the armed services is to metamorphose their new civilian recruits into militarized fighting men (and women). That is a process, which truly transforms people; as such it requires a unique ilk of transformational leadership, one that will often change the followers’ values, standards and sense of self irrevocably (PSU WC, 2013).
For thirteen weeks, the Marine Drill Instructors (D.I.s) will bombard the new recruit with their own special brand of transformational leadership. The D.I.s are definitely, “… leaders [who] are passionate, driven individuals [and] who are able to paint a compelling vision of the future,” (PSU WC, 2013, p. 3) as demonstrated by their zealous and animated method of instruction coupled with their ability to move recruits to truly want to become Marines. Further, D.I.s change the status quo (PSU WC, 2013; Northouse, 2013) for recruits from that of civilian life to something higher, and more venerable as provided by their example of high morality and their display of self-confidence (PSU WC, 2013) to the point of cockiness, and that they are a perfect representation of the exemplary military man. And while it’s not the boot camp way for D.I.s to develop the traditionally transformational personal bonds (PSU WC, 2013) with recruits, the recruits develop personal bonds amongst themselves via cohesion through shared privation. These bonds, combined with the admiration for the D.I.s (and by extension for the organization itself), become manifest as recruits identify with the vision they’re washed in day-in and day-out and with the D.I.s themselves. This identification is another component of the transformational leadership (PSU WC, 2013; Northouse, 2013).
Too, while Marine boot camp is thick with the sharp din of D.I.s screaming and yelling, which may not be readily thought of as the variety of rhetorical skill typically associated with transformational leadership (PSU WC, 2013; Northouse, 2013), it is highly effective. Particularly it is effective in raising the recruits emotions and, in part, bringing about subordination of their own accord, as the Transformational Leadership Theory further posits (PSU WC, 2013; Northouse, 2013).
After weeks and weeks of hard and grueling training during which the recruits often meet defeat, eventually these young adults begin to master their circumstances. Soon, marching as a unit becomes fluid and easy. Disassembling and reassembling a rifle is second nature. The other members of the platoon who started as strangers, with whom the recruits felt they were forced to live, are now brothers. And, although upon arrival it seemed running three miles would be fatal, running twelve miles becomes not only possible, but something to be looked forward to. When such things come to fruition, the recruits feel empowerment that they have likely never experienced before, sealing the transformation (PSU WC, 2013; Northouse, 2013).
When I spent my thirteen weeks at Parris Island many years ago, it would’ve never crossed my mind that what the Drill Instructors were doing could fit into the paradigm of some psychological theory. Yet, there it is.
Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice (Sixth ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Penn State World Campus (2013). Psych 485 Lesson 10: Transformational Leadership. Retrieved from: https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/sp13/psych485/001/content/10_lesson/01_page.htm l