Bitches, gripes and my advice to military leaders
Monday, 6 March 2006 | 140 readers so far
One of the things I get most frustrated about in military life is that decisions are often made based not on the merits of any available choices, but on who has the highest rank among the group of those whom the decision will affect. This means that in some units day to day life is controlled and often micromanaged by the whims of whoever has hung out the longest without getting in trouble, or by the person who has massaged the promotion system most effectively.
If there is a single factor that would discourage me from reenlisting it is that the people in charge often forget or willfully neglect to solicit the input of the people who are actually going to bear the consequences of decisions being made. I don’t mind busting my ass to get a job done, but it has to make sense from my perspective. Don’t leave your NCOs hanging. I want to do my job, do it well and go home. As a leader, you inspire confidence in your troops when you explain who, what, where, when and why. To be honest, when people tell me I don’t need to know these things, it is usually because they are trying to gloss over bad decision making on their part.
NCOs (non-commissioned officers) are the spine of the military. Officers, ask them what they think before you make final decisions. Your entire unit will benefit in the end, and you will look better than you ever would have trying to do everything by yourself. Your NCOs are here to help you accomplish missions.
A clear plan of attack, shared with the entire unit, is almost always the best way to proceed. People who feel a sense of ownership, no matter what their level in an organization, are much more likely to be motivated and enthusiastic than those who don’t have any sense of what it is they are supposed to be accomplishing.
1 March 6th, 2006 at 5:10 pm
Kitanis says:
This is a age old arguement.
But I agree that there are some Officers and even Senior NCO’s who were promoted on the basis of the system instead of ability!
2 March 6th, 2006 at 7:32 pm
datarat says:
In combat, decisive action is a virtue, but I agree that in strategic and especially information operations, the more ideas you have on the project the better off you’ll be.
The Army is a combat operation, and I suspect much of it’s officer training focuses on commanding respect and decisiveness. That needs to be looked at from an organizational viewpoint.
3 March 6th, 2006 at 7:51 pm
Trevor says:
I don’t think you can command respect. I think it’s earned.
Of course, maybe I’m aberrant.
4 March 7th, 2006 at 1:06 am
datarat says:
That’s my point. The training and the reality are at odds.
The other thing to keep in mind is that for every person like you who wants to help and have some input, there are 5 who think that if your officer asks for input that means he’s lost and has no business being in charge.
I’ve dealt with both in the same environment, people who dismiss me because I’ve tried to get a team consensus and people who despise me for having the audacity to make a decision that they don’t agree with.
Ideally, you have the people on your team that work the same way you do. In some situations, like when you don’t control the hiring, that’s hard to do.
5 March 8th, 2006 at 12:28 am
Ben says:
Years ago, I was an NCO.
Now, I am “management” in a construction company. The day came when I had to direct a work crew to perform a task that from their point of view would seem silly.
I could have explained to them the unusual circumstances and client-politics behind my directions. (In NYC, the clients get weird, especially when they have lawyers) But I didn’t have a half hour to spare, I was under stress and in a rush, so I just said “Just do it”. And then I realized what it was I sounded like.
Wow. Mind shock. It’s like discovering, one day, that you are on the other side of the mirror looking back.
Lesson: Give the officer a little slack and remember he too is human. The young NCO today grumbling that the Lt didn’t solicit his input before issuing his obviously absurd orders might well be me in 2025, telling an equally befuddled crew to “just do it”.
Ben
6 March 8th, 2006 at 7:41 am
Trevor says:
Ben,
I know every coin has two sides.
My officers get the slack they deserve when they deserve it. And I follow all lawful and moral orders.