New Book Provides Leadership Lessons to NCOs
Jonathan (Jay) Koester
NCO Journal
May 14, 2013
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More than 50 senior NCOs have come together and contributed to a new book of leadership wisdom, From One Leader to Another.
The book, edited by Command Sgt. Maj. Joe B. Parson, command sergeant major for Combined Arms Center-Leader Development and Education, was released digitally in late April. The book is meant to encourage self-development, Parson said.
“It’s always difficult for the new leader to figure out where all the parts and pieces of their duties and responsibilities come from,” he said. “The thought through all of this was, I am just giving a road map, a starting point, for those new leaders.
“I wanted each article to do four things,” Parson said. “First, give a historical context of the topic and how we got to where we are today. So, for example, if it was counseling, we’ve always had some form of counseling; how has it evolved over time? The next is, why is that particular topic important, both today and for tomorrow’s operating environment? Third is to provide their sage advice, whether [tactics, techniques and procedures], things good or bad they’ve seen in relation to that topic, and share their experience. And finally, to share where the individual reader should go to learn more.”
Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond F. Chandler III contributed to the book, and ended his introduction with thanks and encouragement.
“I thank the Combined Arms Center for producing this document and thank the authors of the numerous papers for initiating a discussion of leadership among our NCO Corps,” Chandler wrote. “I encourage every enlisted leader to take lessons learned here and put them in your kit bag.”
The book offers lessons on about 50 topics and should be useful to any Army leader, Parson said.
“It’s really focused on the new noncommissioned officer leader. But I guarantee that young officers who pick this up – if nothing else, they will now have an appreciation of what is expected of their NCOs – but also, they can tap from it, too,” Parson said. “It’s not only for self-development professional reading. I thought this would be a great avenue for those who have geographically dispersed organizations. They get this out to their NCOs, have them read an article, they could do an NCOPD or a professional development discussion about a particular paper.
“There are some papers in there that lead you into the development of a [standing operating procedure] for your organization, such as the article written by Sgt. Maj. Don Rose, where he’s talking unit training management. You can really set the framework for what you need to do in your organization, as far as training small units and individuals.
“This book can be used in a number of ways; I think it’s only limited by the creativity of those who receive it,” Parson said.
Read up
From One Leader to Another is currently available online at: http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/cgsc/carl/download/csipubs/FromOneLeadertoAnother.pdf
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