Born or Made Redux
 Subscribe to the Three Star Leadership Blog |
| The Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. |
| Follow me on Twitter |
| For weekly tips and resources pointers, check Wally's Three Star Leadership Letter |
| Find out more about having Wally speak to your company or convention. |
| Find out more about Wally's coaching services. |
 |
On Sunday I read an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times by Mark Moyar. It was titled "An Officer and a Creative Man." Here was the line that jumped out at me.
"The military should incorporate personality test results into military personnel files, and promotion boards should be required to select higher percentages of those who fall into the intuitive thinking group."
The results of Moyar's research indicate that only 28 percent of veteran Army officers believe their service encourages risk taking by battalion and company commanders. Moyar thinks that can be fixed.
"It doesn’t need to be this way in the Army. After all, the Marine Corps has succeeded in inducing its officers to operate independently. More than twice as many Marine survey respondents as Army respondents — 58 percent — said that their service encouraged risk-taking. Marine culture is different because the career Marine officers who shape it are, on average, less risk-averse than career Army officers."
There are two things wrong with this. First of all, the issue isn't about risk taking it's about being able to make decisions without bucking the issue upstairs. Framing the issue as one of "risk taking" implies that it's something about the junior officers that's wrong.
That's backwards. The Marines don't have more officers who feel encouraged to take risks/make decisions because they tap into some different part of the gene pool than the Army. They have more officers like that because of the Marine Corps culture.
The Marine Corps doctrine is laid out in a short book titled Warfighting. It's very specific about how officers should be developed.
"Not only must we not stifle boldness of initiative, we must continue to encourage both, in spite of mistakes. On the other hand, we should deal severely with errors of inaction or timidity. We will not accept lack of orders as justification for inaction; it is each Marine's duty to take initiative as the situation demands."
The other side of this is described by Army Colonel Paul Yingling, one of that service's truth tellers, in a speech titled "Irregular Warfare and Adaptive Leadership." Here's an excerpt.
"It is unreasonable to expect that an officer who spends 25 years conforming to institutional expectations will emerge as an innovator in his late forties."
There are basically two schools of leadership development. One believes that you pick the people who are "high potential" and, essentially guess that they'll turn into great leaders. Dan McCarthy recently riddled that practice in a post titled: "Gambling on Leadership Potential."
I think there are a few basic things you need to lead effectively. But I don't think we're ever going to have a magic test that will predict who will become a great leader. We're just going to have to make do with letting new leaders learn and make mistakes in the process and then helping them make new and better mistakes in the future.
Boss's Bottom Line
Here's another quote from Warfighting for you to take to heart and apply.
"Commanders should see the development of their subordinates as a direct reflection on themselves."
Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.
Categories: leadership development,Leadership
Tags: Leadership Development Leadership
Great thoughts, Wally. Realistically, if we didn't think that people (including leaders) couldn't learn, all is lost. I have no doubt that they can learn to be risk takers, or even more intuitive (Jungian theory supports this, by the way). When the "people upstairs" are willing to allow mistakes and help those who made them to learn from them, we'll have better leaders. And maybe I'll be out of a job.
Reply to this
Thanks, Mary Jo. I love the point that if we don't think leaders can learn and change, then all is lost. There are some leaders who think that's really the key leadership skill. Here's a quote from Jeff Immelt: "You don't get the job as head of something like GE based on how much you know. You get it based on how fast you can learn."
Reply to this
Great article and links Wally.
I was especially struck by two quotes in Warfighting (which I LOVE). You quoted the other one. (As a definition, I'm certain "mistake" means less-than-perfect, not criminally negligent or suicidal.)
Too many leaders want to have direct control of every piece of paper on every desk, then in the same breath complain. They complain about a lack of initiative (or enthusiasm) among their people. They never stop to think about what THEIR actions are training into their people.
Leadership must recognize that employees who CAN innovate and improvise must operate in an environment that, as a minimum, tolerates innovation and improvisation. Organizations must live and practice the behaviors they REALLY want. Anything else is short-sighted and probably disingenuous.
It is my honor to have become associated with an organization that is practicing this kind of leadership. Yes, they have had to "clean up" some mistakes. The cost of those clean ups are a rounding error in comparison to the value of the successes.
They try not to make mistakes. They evaluate performance. But they put a LOT more focus on the successes than the errors.
Reply to this
Ah, another fan of Warfighting! I'd love to know what the other quote is that you like so much. For me, it's a short book but filled with highlights.
Reply to this
I just happen to have a copy of mcdpub1 on my thumb drive.....
"Courage is not the absence of fear;
rather, it is the strength to overcome fear."
When I first read that line I was struggling to face a lot of challenges in my world. It confirmed (once and for all) that men and women and women in the real world don't get to turn off their "emotion chip" like an android. On the other hand, you don't just get to curl up in the fetal position at the first inconvenience. You got to find a way to stand and deliver, regardless.
Warfighting is an excellent book with a LOT of application to "waging business" on so many different levels.
Reply to this
Thanks. The book is full of good quotes. Here's another favorite of mine.
"There is no perfect solution to any battlefield problem. Therefore we should not agonize over one."
Reply to this
The complete quote is: "Finally, since all decisions must be made in the face of uncertainty and since every situation is unique, there is no perfect solution to any battlefield problem. Therefore, we should not agonize over one."
The bottom of the paragraph says it better for me: "The essence of the problem is to select a promising course of action with an acceptable degree of risk and to do it more quickly than our foe. In this respect, “a good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.”
=====
Change "violently" to "vigorously" and I doubt you can find a place in business, the arts or education where it cannot be applied with good results.
Reply to this
Thanks for improving on my choice. I'll use that version from here on.
Reply to this
Thanks for improving on my choice. I'll use that version from here on.
Reply to this