“But military leadership is so different than the civilian world!”
Several of us were standing around a table discussing the good and bad of young people in the workplace. When a member of the group complained that his young workers were not as productive as he wished and just didn’t seem to “get it,” I suggested my technique of creating a motivational environment using a technique to lead people through mutual understanding of mission and goals and helping the younger workers learn as a method of engendering loyalty. I mentioned that, in some ways, older generations have abdicated a responsibility to teach, opting instead to change our behaviors to meet their desires.
One of the members of the discussion immediately referred to my military experience saying that it was easy in the military to make people do what you want them to because they have to obey. He professed that it wasn’t as easy without military law as an overriding threat to non-compliance.
That statement was at once correct and incorrect.
Correct in that military members do have a legal obligation to follow orders and superiors often have legal remedies for non-compliance.
Incorrect in that the legal sledgehammer is a very ineffective and inefficient way to obtain loyalty and effective behavior from subordinates.
Yes, I’ve known military leaders who accomplish their goals through the brute force of legal authority. Sometimes they are successful and some even make it to the top ranks of the service. However, more commonly they stall out somewhere because that approach alienates their subordinates and does not engender the sort of loyalty that makes an organization excel. I’ve also known non-military leaders who use this approach; usually with the same results.
So, what makes a good leader?
The good military leadership I learned is based on a belief in the importance of the mission and the importance of the service of each individual member. The best leaders have three essential characteristics.
1. They are values based. They know who they are and what values they hold.
2. They are purpose driven. They know why they and the team are there and are focused on success of that purpose.
3. They are people centric. They understand that it is the people on their team that are important to success and they make every effort to know and understand their team members.
These are the qualities of a good leader, and they aren’t unique to the military. They apply just as much to the civilian sector.
It is the leader who understands their duty to the organization; who knows they are serving that organization and the people in it; and who is willing to sacrifice their own desires for the greater good that will be successful.
In my military service I was twice in unusual situations where I did not have the normal legal (or financial) sledgehammer, but still had broad responsibilities to accomplish a specific mission. In both cases I had small staffs (most of whom had no particular motivation to follow me, at least not in the normal military sense) but national, and even international, responsibilities for which I had no real authority. I found in both cases that one didn’t need brute force to accomplish goals. By treating people with respect, learning their needs and motivations, and doing my best to meet them while ensuring we all accomplished the overall mission, we were able to meet our goals and move the entire organization forward.
The military services have learned that a leader who works to understand and inspire his or her subordinates will be more successful than a leader who relies only on the brute force tools that may be available.
They also understand that the troops, whether military or civilian need a leader who will stay with them; who understands and shares their hardships. Not all military or civilian leaders get it.
But, the good ones do.