To a Marine’s ear, this statement rings volumes. Especially in a time of war, we must be prepared for anything and everything. There is no way to properly predict what the enemy may throw at you (literally). In order to be best prepared, we spend months honing our skills as leaders and followers. Being able to follow a direct order without hesitation can be just as important as a leader hesitating before making a decision. Lives are either lost or saved through this process. The ability to make these split second decision’s comes from intense training and the development of skills. If something goes wrong, we have to be able to adjust on the fly and make the right call. Adapt and overcome. We were given the skills needed to complete our job.
On the other hand, contingency theory is an effort to match leaders to appropriate situations. How exactly would you do this in a war setting? Northouse goes on to say, effective leadership is contingent on matching a leader’s style to the right setting. Contingency theory is concerned with styles and situations. It provides the framework for effectively matching the leader to the situation (Northouse 2013). Does contingency theory even qualify in this situation? It’s interesting because in the Marines, you have such a variety of traits, intellects, and other strengths and weaknesses. By indoctrinating us as Marines, does our training and skills supersede any other type of leadership theory? When I hear contingency theory defined, I feel as if it opens a door to failure. The fact that some leaders are specifically designed to handle certain situations and that the others would fail, is simply not possible at war. “Failure is not an option,” is a common quote that we hear growing up. It applies even more to leadership at war. If failure is staring you in the face, adapt and overcome. Don’t rely on contingency theory and delegate the task to another individual. Make the decisive decision yourself and learn from it. That is how true leaders are forged, especially on the battlefield.