elj5120

The Army and Leadership: A Skills Approach

November 18, 2023 by elj5120

Much like the definition of leadership, my personal perspective of leadership has evolved over the last two decades. When I first entered military service, I did not see myself as a leader. I had a job to do, and I did it to the best of my abilities. I learned leadership skills from subordinates, peers, and superiors on top of how to execute my assigned duties. It has taken a lot of self-reflection and self-awareness to hone my leadership skills to what they are today. This is thanks to the Army and the leadership laboratory it creates so individuals placed in leadership positions learn from mistakes in training and get it right when it matters in combat.

The Army Leadership Approach

The Army has used a skills approach to leadership for approximately the last 30 years. The Army is a proponent of leader development from the lowest ranks to the highest. Leadership skills are developed through training, education, and experience which encompass the operational, institutional, and self-development domains (U.S. Department of Defense, n.d.). Frequent training is conducted to hone individual and collective military skill sets. Formal military education is required periodically as Soldiers progress from one rank to another. Self-development takes place through individual experience and through distance learning courses. This process is supplemented by the Army Leadership Requirements Model which places attributes and competencies at the core of leader expectations and capabilities (U.S. Department of Defense, n.d.). The Army attributes are character, presence, and intellect and the competencies are leads, develops, and achieves (U.S. Department of Defense, n.d.). These attributes and competencies describe what Army leaders should Be, Know, and Do to be successful within expectations and capabilities (U.S. Department of Defense, n.d.). These concepts form the bedrock of how the Army approaches leadership.

The Skills Approach

The skills approach to leadership is a process that is developed over time. Northouse (2021) describes the skills approach as “a leader-centered perspective that emphasizes the competencies of leaders” (p.56). Leaders must possess and develop technical, human, and conceptual skills to affect organizational outcomes (Northouse, 2021, p.56). Technical skills refer to “knowledge about and proficiency in a specific type of work or activity” (Northouse, 2021, p.56). Human skills are the “knowledge about and ability to work with people” (Northouse, 2021, p.57). Conceptual skills refer to “the ability to work with concepts and ideas” (Northouse, 2021, p.58). These skills are applied to a model which involves career experiences and their effects on individual attributes and competencies (Northouse, 2021, p.60). This process is affected by environmental influences which then equates to leadership outcomes of problem solving and performance (Northouse, 2021, p.60). The skills approach relies upon experience gained by a leader to increase leader development which leads to increased leadership performance and capability.

Leadership Laboratory

The Army leadership approach and the Skills approach to leadership have striking similarities. Many Army leaders I have encountered describe the Army as a leadership laboratory. This statement lends credence to the idea of a skills approach to leadership. As a junior enlisted or officer within the Army, you start off learning individual skills from fellow Soldiers. These individual skills are then tested within a collective training environment. Technical skills are learned and then applied in a complex training environment which build conceptual skills based on the outcomes of the experience. Simultaneously, human skills are learned while interacting with subordinates, peers, and superiors. The added layer of formal professional military education takes place when officers and enlisted Soldiers are promoted to the next rank. Formal professional military education is required for almost all levels of promotion within the Army. This process continues as Soldiers progress through each rank all while gaining additional skills in the technical, human, and conceptual areas along the way. In training environments, Soldiers are almost expected to fail. However, this failure leads to the development of leadership skills in a controlled environment.

Conclusion

The skills approach to leadership is an effective approach to leadership. The Army has succeeded in its implementation for the last 30 years. There are striking similarities between the skills approach and the way in which the Army applies the Army Leader Requirements Model. The skills approach is effective at developing leaders through technical, human, and application of conceptual skills to achieve effective leadership performance.

Northouse, P.G. (2021). Leadership Theory and Practice (9th ed). Los Angeles: Sage Publications.

U.S. Department of Defense. (n.d.) Leaders Guide. Retrieved from https://media.defense.gov/2023/Jan/09/2003142493/-1/-1/0/LEADERS%20GUIDE.PDF

Servant Leadership in the Army: A Personal perspective

November 2, 2023 by elj5120

The idea of servant leadership is a relatively new approach to leadership within the military. Servant leadership started to emerge, in my professional experience, about ten years ago. Servant leadership has been an approach that has been adopted by many leaders that I have encountered. Even among hard changing military leaders, servant leadership is an accepted practice that produces positive outcomes. Servant leadership has helped me lead through challenging situations that proved difficult to overcome.

Army Culture

The Army is a fast-paced environment with a lot of tasks to complete with little time to accomplish. Competition for who can accomplish tasks the quickest or to the utmost perfection is pervasive. Unit leaders at every echelon of hierarchy brag about their Soldiers being the best in even the smallest ways. An instructor in an Army course stated to me once “all we ask is that you be fast and perfect”. Leaders and Soldiers alike are expected to learn quickly and apply what they learned rapidly. Soldiers are pushed mentally and physically beyond limits they may have thought possible on a regular basis. Soldiers conduct physical training every day, before most even wake up to start the day. Officer’s and Noncommissioned Officers hold legally binding legitimate power over their followers. Leaders are expected to get to know their Soldiers on a very personal level to ensure their needs are firmly met. In the purest form, unit leaders are responsible for everything their Soldiers do and fail to do. This creates an environment that breeds servant leadership.

Servant Leadership

Servant leadership is a unique approach that focuses on the leader and their behaviors. Northouse (2021) asserts that “leaders be attentive to the concerns of their followers, empathize with them, and nurture them (p.253). Additionally, servant leadership puts followers first in service to others and includes a strong moral basis concerning the greater good of organizations (Northouse, 2021, p.253). Servant leadership supports the development and outcomes of others for the greater good and is centered around the propensity to serve (Northouse, 2021). Spears, as cited by Northouse (2021), identifies ten characteristics of a servant leader which are listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, and building community (p.255).
The servant leadership model contains three components: antecedent conditions, servant leader behaviors, and outcomes (Northouse, 2021, p.257). Antecedent conditions are context and culture, leader attributes, and follower receptivity (Northouse, 2021, p.259). Servant leader behaviors are conceptualizing, emotional healing, putting followers first, helping followers grow and succeed, behaving ethically, empowering, and creating value for the community (Northouse, 2021, p.259). Lastly, outcomes of servant leadership are follower performance and growth, organizational performance, and societal impact (Northouse, 2021, p.259).

Army Culture and Servant Leadership

The concept of servant leadership is almost intuitive within the Army. Many followers eventually become leaders, either within or outside of the military regardless of time served. The propensity to serve in the Army, in my career experience, relates to servant leadership characteristics. Army leaders will often call for subordinates to be lifelong learners which equates to being a lifelong developer of others. Fail to show Soldiers the proper attention, care, and commitment and you will lose the respect of your Soldiers. Failure to properly train Soldiers in their specific career field results in degraded future leadership. Failure to develop others results in a loss of stewardship, growth, and community purpose within Army units. When leaders fail, the entire unit fails. Leaders must constantly be aware of their units’ strengths and weaknesses to provide vision and motivation. Army leaders must place subordinates needs and the mission first. Suffice it to say, the basic idea of servant leadership is nested within the values and culture of Army service. One may perceive the very nature of Army service would make servant leadership impossible. The rigid hierarchy alone can make servant leadership seem impossible. Tell a Soldier to do something they must legally comply, if the order is not immoral, illegal, or unethical. However, when applying the true approach of servant leadership, Soldiers will commit themselves to their limits to accomplish the mission.

Conclusion

Servant leadership is modeled in the values and culture of military service. The characteristics and servant leadership model are well practiced in Army units of today. The better the application of servant leadership characteristics and application of the model, the better the outcomes. Good unit leaders apply this concept daily, regardless of the some of the cultural norms associated with service in the Army.

Northouse, P.G. (2021). Leadership Theory and Practice (9th ed). Los Angeles: Sage Publications.

Toxic Military Leaders: The Dark Side of LMX Theory

October 18, 2023 by elj5120

Serving in a leadership position of an organization brings a leader’s actions to the forefront of conversation when things go wrong. The nature of military service can sometimes bring an unwanted spotlight when leaders are removed from their assigned positions. This begs the question of what when wrong? How did these circumstances spiral to the point where a military leader had to be removed from their assigned duty position? Applying the perspective of Leader Member Exchange (LMX) Theory to these leaders provides interesting insight to the potential negative outcomes of LMX.

Toxic Leaders in the News

There are an abundance of news articles highlighting the removal of leaders from positions of command due to poor leadership. Colonel Schoenfeldt was removed from command due to a bullying leadership style (Vandiver, 2021). Brigadier General Johnston was removed from her position because of workplace hostility (Winkie, 2022). Lieutenant General Gamble was suspended from his position due to allegations of a toxic command climate (Britzky, 2022). More recently, Colonel Chung was relieved of command due to a loss in confidence in his ability to lead which stemmed from a formal investigation into his leadership (Schogol, 2023). In all these instances, there were members of each of these leaders’ organizations that accused them of some type of counterproductive leadership behavior. Applying LMX theory to these circumstances offers some clarity surrounding these leaders’ removal from their assigned positions.

Leader Member Exchange Theory

The relationships established between leaders and members of the organizations play a significant role in organizational outcomes. Relationships, from a leadership perspective, are created between leader and follower. Northouse (2021) describes Leader Member Exchange theory “as a process that is centered on the interactions between leaders and followers (p.157). LMX theory is focused on a dyadic relationship between leader and follower (Northouse, 2021, p.157). As leader members work through the stranger phase, acquaintance phase, and finally to the mature partnership phase, organizational members separate into the in-group or out-group (Northouse, 2021). Members separate themselves into these groups based upon personality, personal characteristics, and the quality of exchanges between leader and member (Northouse, 2021). These groups represent subsets within an organization that receive either increased support, feedback, and higher quality exchanges with the leader (in-group members) or those that receive no special attention (out-group members) outside of the formal work contract (Northouse, 2021). Additionally, in-group members find themselves expanding their roles within the organization, whereas out-group members find themselves performing based upon job specifications (Northouse, 2021). When applied effectively and fairly, LMX theory can produce citizenship behaviors and increase productivity within an organization (Northouse, 2021). Conversely, if not applied effectively, LMX theory can be viewed discriminatory depending on how the perspective is applied (Northouse, 2021).

The Dark Side

In each of the examples of military leaders being removed from their leadership position, there are examples of LMX theory gone wrong. Schoenfeldt was quoted as “having a bullying leadership style” and one of his subordinates stated that his personal treatment as being the worse he ever experienced (Vandiver, 2021). Johnston’s case showed substantiating evidence of a leadership style that violated Army regulations (Winkie, 2022). Johnston was additionally accused of “belittling and demeaning of subordinates (Winkie, 2022). Gamble is quoted as creating a “very toxic environment” and that he had “sort of a Jekyll-and-Hyde personality” (Britzky, 2022). Chung allegedly used bullying tactics to get subordinates to work harder, requested subordinates to accomplish unjustifiable tasks, and screamed at other staff members (Schogol, 2023). In each of these cases, there is evidence that showcases the discriminatory nature of ineffective use of LMX theory. Johnston, Gamble, and Chung’s case each reference individuals who either supported their leadership style or disliked their leadership style. The most interesting of these four cases is that of Colonel Chung. He had individuals arguing both sides of the spectrum either for, or against accusations of poor leadership (Schogol, 2023). In Chung’s case, he had over 200 letters of support challenging the accusations against him (Schogol, 2023). These individual examples provide insight to some of the negative effects LMX theory can have when not properly applied.

Practical Application

The examples provided highlight the need to apply LMX theory fairly and without discrimination in an organizational setting. I acknowledge there are some other underlying variables at work with Schoenfeldt, Johnston, Gamble, and Chung that led to their removal. However, these examples provide interesting case studies to examine how the effects of LMX can be taken to the extreme. LMX must balance the dyadic relationship created between leader and member regardless of their group classification. Otherwise, leaders can create turmoil which will reduce the effectiveness of their organizations.

Britzky, H. (2022). Army 3-star general suspended amid investigation into toxic climate and racist comments. Retrieved from https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-general- duane-gamble-suspended-toxic-climate/

Northouse, P.G. (2021). Leadership Theory and Practice (9th ed). Los Angeles: Sage Publications.

Schogol, J. (2023). Army fires former 5th SFAB commander following investigation. Retrieved from https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-fires-5th-sfab-commander-investigation/

Vandiver, J. (2021). Fort Hood-based brigade commander under investigation after allegations of toxic leadership, flouting coronavirus rules. Retrieved from https://www.stripes.com/theaters/europe/fort-hood-based-brigade-commander- under-investigation-after-allegations-of-toxic-leadership-flouting-coronavirus-rules- 1.667669

Winkie, D. (2022). Top army public affairs officer retiring after command climate inquiry. Retrieved from https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2022/02/22/top-army- public-affairs-officer-retiring-after-command-climate-inquiry/

Leadership in the Gaming Industry

September 30, 2023 by elj5120

Few corporations in the gaming industry look outside of their monetary ambitions to drive the success of their business model. However, one small studio stands out among the rest as an industry leader to emulate. Bungie studios has modeled itself as a flexible, adaptive, and evolving company in an industry that is plagued by leadership failure. Bungie’s leadership in the gaming industry provides an interesting perspective on application of the skills approach to leadership as they evolved from a small studio to a major industry influencer over the course of three decades.

Bungie: Then and Now

Bungie studios has developed multiple games as they have grown over the last three decades. Some of their titles include Marathon, Halo: Combat Evolved, and the Destiny series. Bungie was established in 1991 as a software products corporation (Mastery, 2023). Marathon served as Bungie’s breakthrough game that helped establish them in the gaming industry (Mastery, 2023). By the early 2000’s, they partnered with Microsoft and in conjunction with them, the developed the highly acclaimed Halo series (Mastery, 2023). The first installment of the Halo series helped to revolutionize the first-person shooter genre within the gaming industry (Mastery, 2023). In the late 2000’s, bungie separated from Microsoft and became an independent studio once again (Mastery, 2023). Bungie sought to pursue development on another title, the Destiny series, which was made available on all platforms (Mastery, 2023). By the early 2010’s, Bungie partnered with Activision to collaborate on the production of Destiny (Mastery, 2023). In collaboration with Activision, they were able to create a massive multi-player online game that has evolved extensively since its inception (Mastery, 2023). In 2019, Bungie split from Activision and retained full publishing rights to the Destiny franchise (Mastery, 2023). In 2022, Bungie reached a deal to add themselves to the Sony universe as they look to the development of their future releases. Bungie has evolved over time while recreating and growing themselves along the way.

The Skills Approach

The skills approach to leadership is applicable to many different leadership situations and Bungie’s approach to game development provides a unique perspective. Northouse (2021) highlights that “the skills approach provides a structure for understanding effective leadership” (p.69). This approach is primarily descriptive and not prescriptive (Northouse, 2021). This approach combines technical, human, and conceptual skills as it applies to attributes and competencies (Northouse, 2021). The skills model asserts that leadership can be learned through knowledge and skill attainment (Northouse, 2021). Additionally, the skill approach is viewed as a capability model (Northouse, 2021). This capability model leads to the effective performance of leaders through problem solving based upon knowledge and skill attained through experience (Northouse, 2021). Bungie has effectively applied the skill approach on a collective scale to drive their game development.

Bungie and the Skills Approach

Bungie has a unique way of interacting with their gaming community that stands out above the rest. Over time, they have adapted their game to meet the demands of the community they have created. They have managed to do this by learning from mistakes, as well as taking risk in the gaming development. Their adaptation to their community is best analyzed from the three-skill approach to leadership. The skills approach utilizes technical, human, and conceptual skills as they apply to capabilities and problem solving (Northouse, 2021). Northouse (2021) asserts that through learning, people can gain leadership skills and gain further capacity to lead (p.59). Their most recent spectacle of failure led to an uproar in the community over the roll-out of their Lightfall expansion in the Spring of 2023. Bungie’s response to the failed roll-out of the Lightfall expansion to their game goes into detail on addressing community feedback to improve player experience and what the community has come to know and love about their game (Clark, 2023). Albeit on a collective scale, Bungie is applying general cognitive ability, crystallized cognitive ability, motivation, and personality in their response (Northouse, 2021). Bungie is combining technical, human, and conceptual skills to solve problems related to the consumption of their game. They are applying their technical expertise to upgrade the game based on community feedback. They are adapting to other perspectives on gameplay and making changes to satisfy their community. Bungie is also modifying the vision of their game to fit the market they have developed and strategize ways to improve upon it in the future. Outside of the obvious marketing stunts, this response from a corporation such as Bungie is interesting as it showcases one of many instances of their skill approach to leadership among employees and their gaming community in which they creatively solve problems.

Bungie Engagement and Problem Solving

As Bungie applies the skills approach, they solve critical problems to keep their community engaged and ensure future success of their gaming experience. As problems from Bungie’s roll-out of Lightfall progressed, community sentiment grew increasingly negative, and Bungie’s response provides a curious glimpse of applying problem solving skills. By August 2023, Bungie was further backed into a corner with their game development failures and game director Joe Blackburn addressed community concerns directly (Clark, 2023). In his video, Joe Blackburn goes on to address many of the complaints and community feedback regarding their game (Clark, 2023). He lays out the different technical changes that will be made to address player complaints (Clark, 2023). He also provides a clarified vision for the game moving forward which helped to restore community faith that they were addressing feedback (Clark, 2023). Bungie clarified problems with their game through community feedback. Then analyzed their goals along with player goals in the constraints of their game development. Planned and forecasted against their combined goals based on development constraints. Then, as showcased by Joe Blackburn, developed creative ways to tackle game development problems that satisfied corporate and consumer needs. Lastly, Joe described the future of what Destiny will be for Bungie and the community’s part in making the game what it has become, now and in the future.

Conclusion

Bungie studios provides and interesting look into the application of the skills approach. Though not on an individual level, the complex corporate processes at work can be viewed within this perspective. Applying technical, human, and conceptual skills to problems solving can be an effective way to tackle problems. It takes the right approach to leadership to, given the right circumstances, to ensure success. Bungie’s leadership provides a roadmap to this approach on a larger scale for the gaming industry to adopt.

Clark, T. (2023). Bungie responds to Lightfall complaints and details improvements to come: The initial experience we delivered didn’t provide the clarity we planned for. Retrieved from https://www.pcgamer.com/bungie-responds-to-lightfall-complaints-and-details- improvements-to-come-the-initial-experience-we-delivered-didnt-provide-the-clarity- we-planned-for/

Clark, T. (2023). Joe Blackburn on Destiny 2 conspiracy theories, what happened to the PvP team, and the Witness being able to 1v1 anyone in the universe. Retrieved from https://www.pcgamer.com/joe-blackburn-on-destiny-2-conspiracy-theories-what- happened-to-the-pvp-team-and-the-witness-being-able-to-1v1-anyone-in-the-universe/

Mastery, T. (2023). Bungie Inc. – Top Ten Powerful Things You Need to Know. Retrieved from https://dotcommagazine.com/2023/05/bungie-inc-top-ten-powerful-things-you-need- to-know/

Northouse, P.G. (2021). Leadership Theory and Practice (9th ed). Los Angeles: Sage Publications.

Tassi, P. (2022). So What Changes With Sony’s Acquisition of Bungie Finalized? Nothing, Allegedly. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2022/07/16/so- what-changes-with-sonys-acquisition-of-bungie-finalized-nothing- allegedly/?sh=89cfdd55e142

Manager or Leader: An NCO’s perspective

September 10, 2023 by elj5120

Service in the Army, or any branch of military service, provide a full spectrum of leadership opportunity. Leadership opportunities range from complex to simple depending upon the subjective lens in which leadership is viewed. One situation a Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) is viewed or treated as an Army leader and the next situation they are a manager of people. So, which is it; are NCO’s leaders or managers? Some could argue that NCO’s are leaders and still others could argue they are managers. The answer isn’t a simple one.

Army Hierarchy and Structure

It is worth briefly exploring the typical leadership hierarchy and structure of Army organizations before diving into whether NCO’s are leaders or managers. A vast majority of Army units are comprised of Platoons which are led by a Platoon Leader. The next higher echelon is a Company, then Battalion, Brigade, and Division. Each of these levels, from Platoon to Division have a commanding Officer in charge along with an NCO who act as a senior enlisted advisor. Army leadership structure extends beyond the Division level. However, this is beyond the scope of this topic. More information regarding Army leadership hierarchy and structure can be found here. Looking closer at the Platoon level there are two additional hierarchy structures of leadership. They are the team and squad. The team and squad level are the only levels of leadership that an NCO is truly the assigned leader. At the Platoon level and higher, an NCO is considered a senior enlisted advisor. NCO’s must meet professional military education requirements as they ascend the ranks. First the Basic Leader Course, then the Advanced Leader Course, next the Senior Leader Course, Master Leader Course, and finally the Sergeants Major Academy. Each level of professional military education builds upon the other and is respective to a particular grade. Each of these courses contain the word leader, but NCO’s often find their functions within an organization blended at any given point in time.

Leader or Manager

There are similarities and differences with what leaders and managers do functionally. Similarities include influencing, working with people, and effective goal accomplishment (Northouse, 2021). The differences are that management is put in place to “produce order and consistency” whereas leadership “produces change and movement” (Northouse, 2021, p.16). These perspectives for managing and leading can be further described in activities conducted. Managers plan and budget, organize and staff, as well as control and problem solve (Northouse, 2021). Leaders on the other hand establish direction, align people, as well as motivate and inspire (Northouse, 2021). Army officers tend to be more aligned with a leadership perspective in this sense and NCO’s tend to be more aligned with a managerial perspective. Army officers establish the vision and direction of the organization whereas NCO’s at the platoon level and above execute the vision and direction. Only at the team and squad level are NCO’s truly free, in a limited sense, to establish vision and direction of their assigned leadership position.

Diving Deeper

The role of an NCO in the Army is broad in scope and relative based on interpretation of perspectives. At the team and squad level, NCO’s often lead individuals and groups through training events, establish group goals, build teams through shared hardship, and empower followers (Northouse, 2021). Additionally, from a managerial perspective, NCO’s establish rules and procedures, generate creative solutions, and take corrective action (Northouse, 2021, p.16). Examples of these include procedures for submitting paperwork, generating solutions to individual soldier issues, and providing additional training instruction for substandard task completion. NCO’s at the platoon level and above share similar functions, and their influence scales as they climb the leadership hierarchy and structure. The difference at the platoon level and above is there is an assigned officer in charge and the NCO serves as a senior enlisted advisor.The senior NCO is where the waters are muddied even further. At times, a senior NCO is allocating resources for training, providing structure, and staffing for day-to-day operations, or developing incentives for soldiers to perform better. These functions fall within the activities of a manager. Yet in same capacity, an NCO can be creating vision, setting strategies, building teams, inspiring, and empowering followers (Northouse, 2021). The common theme that emerges on deciding whether NCO’s are leaders or managers depends upon the situation and perspective.

Which one is it?

Given that NCO’s activities are blended between the functions of managers and leaders, it’s safe to assume they are both leader and manager. Most would argue that NCO’s are leaders given the scale their influence can provide. Additionally, NCO professional military education provides the tools necessary to apply leadership fundamentals. It just depends upon the situation and the perspective.

Northouse, P.G. (2021). Leadership Theory and Practice (9th ed). Los Angeles:Sage Publications.