Title: Developing Lieutenants in a Transforming Army
Abstract: ACCORDING TO U.S. Army doctrine, leadership is key, and the actions of leaders often make the difference between success and failure, particularly in small units. (1) Leadership is a deciding factor on the battlefield and takes many forms. No one leadership style, action, or trait is universally effective for all situations. What, then, should be the focus of Army leader development? Which traits should the Army develop? Which actions should the Army emulate? Which examples should the Army study as models of leadership behavior, and which should the Army ignore as historical anomalies? The dynamic nature of the environment in which officers will lead is also an important consideration in making any future determination. To maximize the benefit of its technological edge in materiel in any future conflict, the Army must adapt its leader development system to changes in social, political, or military domains. As societies change, types of missions emerge and organizations form. The Army must anticipate leadership requirements and develop the attributes its future leaders will need rather than relying on old leadership theories. One glaring weakness in the Army's current leader development system is its development of lieutenants. The Army's leader development program emphasizes three pillars of development: institutional training, operational assignments, and self-development. (2) Because most lieutenants have little operational experience, their leadership development rests primarily in the institutional domain. Because of their limited experience, lieutenants are likely to be unsure of what aspects of leadership they need to focus on for self-development. Young leaders begin to understand where to focus self-development activities only after experiencing situations that call for leadership skills and receiving feedback on their performance. (3) Lieutenants rely primarily on the Army's institutions for their initial development. Unfortunately, the institutional training portion of the Army's leader development system has failed to adapt to the changing nature of conflict and does not adequately prepare lieutenants to lead soldiers in today's environment. Changes in the conflict environment have created doubts about the relevance of the existing leader development paradigm as it prepares leaders for today's environment. (4) Junior leaders must now lead soldiers in increasingly complex and ambiguous circumstances where seemingly simple tactical decisions can have dramatic strategic implications. (5) Potential unintended second- and third-order effects of tactical decisions are not always immediately evident, especially to inexperienced lieutenants. Newly commissioned officers might not be adequately prepared to handle such situations unless the Army teaches them how to deal with ambiguity and complexity. (6) In addition to dealing with a changing environment, the Army faces societal value changes, such as diminished service ethic and organizational commitment, which create additional challenges for direct-level leaders. (7) Just as advances in technology lead to changes in equipment, organization, and doctrine, changes in social and political conditions require changes in the way leaders influence subordinates. Because lieutenants are direct-level leaders who motivate soldiers during any operation, societal changes will more likely present more leadership challenges for lieutenants than for higher-ranking or strategic-level leaders. Changes at strategic and tactical levels of the conflict environment present additional challenges for lieutenants. The New World Order Since 1989, the United States has shifted its strategic focus from opposing a single peer adversary to countering an almost unlimited number of potential threats across the complete spectrum of conflict. (8) President George H.W. Bush used the phrase new world order to describe the changing strategic landscape. …
Publication Year: 2004
Publication Date: 2004-07-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 3
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