Military

Instructions: You are writing an article to submit to ARMY Magazine on 1 of the following topics. Construct a 2- to 4-page Argument Paper responding to the prompt of your choice in accordance with the Army writing style and additional provided guidelines and using an active voice.

1. Leader Development: Identify 1 area of weakness in U.S. Army subordinate leader development programs, and argue for 3 methods of improving upon that weakness. Consider how to implement them, needed costs/resources, and potential counter-arguments. Read Col. (Ret.) Frank Wenzel’s “Developing Leaders,” published in Military Review, dtd. July-August 2015, for context and inspiration.

ANSWER

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT IN THE MILITARY

Leadership Development in the Military

The army is the fundamental entity of the patriotism of our nations. The men and women who devout their efforts, time, and skills, unselfishly represent the pride of this great nation. For them to be fully equipped with the skills required for active duty within or outside the country, training is important, and the programs applied in their teaching draw a definite line between errors and success. However, a look at the current programs being taught to military people tends to reveal a certain leadership deficiency teaching, making it less emphasized as integral teaching programs within numerous academies.[1]. In this case, the problem found in most programs is the lack of emphasis on teaching about the importance of leadership, the prevailing attitudes, and more emphasis on skills.

The prevailing models of teaching about leadership contradict what leadership training actually is. For instance, commanders each new recruits in various ways, including classes, warfighting doctrine events, career development, exercises, among others. These programs are taught with the idea of synonymously teaching leadership skills. Yet, in reality, this approach does not really emphasize leadership but are only skill-oriented[2]. For instance, leadership can not be obtained through career development and management. Warfighting doctrine only teaches troops about coordination, attaining the mission, and protecting each other as a unit. However, the unit cannot be protected without proper leadership. The effectiveness of every other activity is automatically compromised if leadership skills lack within a troop[3]. Chances of a mission going wrong and making split and wrong decisions not only compromises the mission but put the troop’s lives at risk, who many of them have loved ones anxiously waiting for them at home.

The art of leadership is often overlooked, as skills are regarded as more important. According to the ADP 7-0 program, leader development is taught in three main domains. These include operational domain, institutional domain, and self-development domain[4]. Yet, the three domains focus on training, experience, and education, none of which is centered on leadership. The program is, therefore, a faulty one, and change needs to be initiated immediately, as it has become a norm that participation in unit training activities equals leadership training.

Proposed Solutions

One key aspect that is lacking in the training programs and that should be introduced is teaching trainers to identify mentors. Mentors play a fundamental role in the leadership development of new recruits.[5]. They have a better understanding of the military’s operations and have experiences generated from the detours. Teaching trainees to identify mentors should be introduced in the early part of training, once trainees’ potential trainees exhibit leadership skills are noticed. This will help them better understand their functions and how best to execute them. They will learn to deal with their troops, make certain decisions under high stress and pressure, and how best to protect their teams.

Another key aspect that should be introduced is teaching them to work on their people skills. Being a leader entails cohabitating with others and leading them. However, this cannot be achieved with a timid attitude but a focused, decision-making personality. The best leaders are those who can understand different characters and cope with them. Teaching about people skills will equip them with the means of deescalating situations and giving advice if need be.

The final proposal would be teaching about the value of failures and mistakes[6]. This is not a sought-after conversation, as most of the failures are hard to address, as many officers mainly deal with PTSD during these situations. However, it should be included in the program prior to any detours for it to be effective. According to a study conducted by the center for Leadership about the military, Teaching about failures and mistakes is a fundamental aspect of leadership. It enables officers to understand errors and learn for them so that they can be avoided in the future.

Bibliography

Kark, Ronit, Tair Karazi-Presler, and Sarit Tubi. “Paradox and challenges in military leadership.” In Leadership Lessons from compelling contexts. Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2016.

Kowalski, Capt Evan, and Jody M. Prescott. “Hybrid Conflict and Effective Leadership Training.” military learning (2019): 74.

Simon, Sheldon. “Abandoning Leadership.” Comparative Connections 19, no. 3 (2018): 41.

Flowers, Michael. “Improving strategic leadership.” In Military Leadership, pp. 233-244. Routledge, 2018.

[1] Kark, Ronit, Tair Karazi-Presler, and Sarit Tubi. “Paradox and challenges in military leadership.” In Leadership Lessons from compelling contexts. Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2016.

[2] Kark, Ronit, Tair Karazi-Presler, and Sarit Tubi. “Paradox and challenges in military leadership.” In Leadership Lessons from compelling contexts. Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2016.

[3] Kowalski, Capt Evan, and Jody M. Prescott. “Hybrid Conflict and Effective Leadership Training.” military learning (2019): 74.

[4] Simon, Sheldon. “Abandoning Leadership.” Comparative Connections 19, no. 3 (2018): 41.

[5] Flowers, Michael. “Improving strategic leadership.” In Military Leadership, pp. 233-244. Routledge, 2018.

[6] Flowers, Michael. “Improving strategic leadership.” In Military Leadership, pp. 233-244. Routledge, 2018.