Growing Tomorrow's Leaders
By Sgt. 1st Class Nathan P. Feinberg
3rd Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment
June 04, 2021
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A key challenge facing today’s U.S. Army is rebuilding
trust between leaders and Soldiers, and
the Army and American people. That process
won’t happen overnight. Similar to apple trees, which
take about 10 years from planting to produce fruit,
developing trustworthy leaders requires time and effort.
Building trust involves thousands of positive small interactions
over time. As noted in Army Doctrine Publication
(ADP) 6-22: Army Leadership and the Profession,
“Teams develop trust through cooperation, identification
with other members, and contribution to the team
effort,” all of which are fostered as a team handles normal
tasks, training events, and missions (Department of
the Army, 2019, p. 5-8). As noncommissioned officers
(NCOs), we need to plant the seeds today to grow a new
generation of leaders ready to face future challenges.
Growing Leaders Who Are Not Afraid to Fail
To provide good soil for growth, leaders need to be
with their Soldiers, whether at the motor pool, range, or
in front of a white board. The presence of leaders is critical
and it’s important they actively and consistently engage
with their Soldiers. According to ADP 6-22, “Leaders
build trust with their followers and those outside the organization by practicing the leadership competencies
and demonstrating character, presence, and intellect.
Leaders need to be competent, of good character, and
fair and reliable to generate trust” (Department of the
Army, 2019, p. 5-8). Soldiers need to see these attributes
and competencies in action to embrace and internalize
them and become good leaders themselves.
More than just simply observing their leaders, Soldiers
also need space to act — and fail — in a realistic,
but risk-mitigated environment. Allowing for failure
or success is important for junior leaders because they
need “opportunities to practice leading others as often as
possible” (Department of the Army, 2019, p. 6-1). While
these opportunities come with risk of failure, they also
provide moments to grow leadership competency. Subordinates
will be more willing to exercise initiative if they
believe their leader will accept and support the outcome
of their decisions (Department of the Army, 2019). More
Soldiers and junior leaders will be willing to take initiative
if they’re allowed to make mistakes while breaking
old processes and pushing the standard ever upward.
Providing Challenging Opportunities
Soldiers need “multiple challenging and interesting
opportunities to practice leadership with meaningful
and honest feedback” (Department of the Army, 2019, p. 6-1). Feedback
from leaders and mentors during these opportunities
is critical. As a former Basic Leader Course instructor,
I know Soldiers crave honest feedback about what
they did well and could have done better. Leaders
need to break the old habit of only giving attention to
deficiencies and failures. They should lay out things
done well, things that need improvement, and solutions
during counseling sessions.
All too often because of operational tempo or pressing
timelines, counseling, especially a monthly performance
review, does not happen as often as it should. For the
apple tree to produce fruit — and subordinates to become
effective leaders — they require care and nourishment. Underdeveloped
leaders lack flexibility, adaptability, and resiliency
to weather the storms of changing priorities and
missions. In its 2020 report, the Fort Hood Independent
Review Committee identified ongoing issues ranging
from increased crime rates to sexual harassment due to leader inaction (Swecker et. al, 2020). This is a reflection
of leaders not consistently engaging with or developing
their subordinates.
Provide Personal Counseling
Developmental counseling must be endorsed from
the top down and shouldn’t just repeat the same informational “check the block” style month after month. Additionally, senior leaders
must make time to personally counsel Soldiers, regardless
of what the squad leader is doing. Squad leaders
need to counsel their team leaders, despite what the
platoon sergeant is doing, and so on. We owe it to our Soldiers to mentor them properly so they will mentor their future Soldiers properly.
Leaders should know each of their Soldier’s strengths
and weaknesses, understand where the individual wants to
be, and recognize what they can contribute to the organization.
They owe it to their Soldiers to be fair and firm in
their career advice, but also understand a Soldier may not
be inclined to follow a designated career path. Not every
Soldier is destined to be Sergeant Major of the Army; but
nearly all Soldiers have the potential for that height – with
help and support from their own strong leaders.
ATP 6-22.1 (2014) indicates counseling is “one of the
most important leadership and professional development
responsibilities,” helping junior leaders strengthen their
weakest areas and reinforce their strongest to become
more capable, resilient, satisfied, and better prepared for
current and future responsibilities” (Department of the Army, p. 1-1). Just as a tree
takes years to grow, so does a Soldier’s leadership skillset.
All leaders, new and experienced, should continue to
develop themselves through new experiences, honest feedback,
and personal and professional growth opportunities.
Growing Tomorrow’s Strong Leaders
The Leadership Requirements Model (LRM) in ADP
6-22 provides a basis for recruiting, selecting, developing,
evaluating, and cultivating tomorrow’s Army leaders
(Department of the Army, 2019). Nurturing subordinates
into strong leaders who aren’t afraid to fail is one of
the pillars of the NCO Creed: “I will not forget, nor will
I allow my comrades to forget that we are professionals,
Noncommissioned Officers, leaders” (Department of
the Army, 2020, p. vii). The best time to start growing
tomorrow’s leaders is today. Grab a shovel and start
planting those seeds.
References
Department of the Army. (2014). ATP 6-22.1: The counseling process. https://armypubs.army.mil/ProductMaps/PubForm/Details.aspx?PUB_ID=104195
Department of the Army. (2019). ADP 6-22: Army leadership and the profession. https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/
DR_a/ARN20039-ADP_6-22-001-WEB-0.pdf
Department of the Army. (2020). TC 7-22.7: The Noncommissioned Officer Guide. https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/pdf/web/ARN20340_TC%207-22x7%20FINAL%20WEB.pdf
Swecker, C., Harmon, J., Ricci, C., Rodriguez, Q., & White, J. (2020). Report of the Fort Hood Independent Review Committee. https://www.army.mil/forthoodreview/
Sgt. 1st Class Nathan P. Feinberg is currently serving as a platoon sergeant in 3rd Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment at Fort Hood, Texas. He received his bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in economics from American Military University. He is currently working to complete a master’s degree in organizational change leadership from the University of Wisconsin.
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