ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP. 1 What Is Adaptive Leadership? 2 Characteristics of Adaptive Leaders 3 Building Adaptive Leaders. Section 5.

Transcription

1 Ladrship Track Sction 5 ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP Ky Points 1 What Is Adaptiv Ladrship? 2 Charactristics of Adaptiv Ladrs 3 Building Adaptiv Ladrs Adaptiv ladrs larn to liv with unprdictability. Thy spnd lss tim frtting about th inability to stablish a routin or control th futur and focus mor on xploiting opportunitis. Dr. Lonard Wong From L. Wong, Dvloping Adaptiv Ladrs: Th Crucibl Exprinc of Opration Iraqi Frdom

2 Adaptiv Ladrship Introduction Adaptiv ladrship is an approach to command basd on th situation and factors such as mission, Soldir capabilitis, gography, waponry, and mor. This rality on th ground approach to ladrship can giv you as an Army ladr both a stratgic and a tactical dg in th Contmporary Oprating Environmnt (COE). But adaptiv ladrship is mor than just racting to th immdiat situation. Adaptiv ladrs anticipat and mploy a broad-basd styl of command. As an adaptiv ladr, you tak risks and mak dcisions, larn from vnts, and adjust plans accordingly. You ar abl to switch from on critical task to anothr without hsitation. You focus on your primary purpos and handl multipl tasks within missions. You will larn mor about th thory of adaptiv ladrship in this sction, but first, considr th story of how on PFC rsrvist arnd a dcoration for his quick thinking, initiativ, and adaptiv ladrship during an ambush in Iraq. First Rsrv Soldir Rcivs Silvr Star for Iraq As th 724th Transportation Company was wlcomd hom from Iraq Fb. 25, [2005,] th first Army Rsrv Soldir... rcivd a Silvr Star [in th Global War on Trrorism]. SPC Jrmy Church of th 724th was prsntd th third-highst mdal for valor by Army Rsrv Chif LTG Jams R. Hlmly during a unit homcoming crmony at Fort McCoy, WI. SPC Jrmy Church (right) n 47

3 48 n SECTION 5 Church arnd th mdal whn his convoy was attackd April 9 by mor than 150 insurgnts in an ambush.... Church was th convoy commandr s drivr in th lad vhicl. His actions ar [crditd] with saving th livs of at last fiv Soldirs and four civilians. Aftr dodging xplosions, obstacls and small arms fir in th ambush kill zon whil firing his M-16 out th window, Church ld vhicls from his convoy into a scur primtr st up by a company from 2-12 Cav. H thn carrid his woundd platoon ladr out of th vhicl to a casualty collction point for tratmnt. Thn Church ld th cavalry trooprs back into th kill zon for a rcovry mission. [Spcialist (thn-pfc)] Church idntifid th assistant commandr s vhicl amidst havy black smok and flaming wrckag of burning ful tankrs to find two mor woundd Soldirs and four civilian truck drivrs, his citation rads, adding that h carrid woundd ovr to a rcovry vhicl whil xposing himslf to continuous nmy fir. Whn... th woundd wr loadd in th truck, thr was no room and Church voluntrd to rmain bhind. H climbd into a disabld Humv for covr and continud firing at insurgnts until th rcovry tam rturnd. H thn loadd up svral mor woundd bfor vacuating. Armd Forcs Prss Srvic adaptiv ladrship ladrship that ngags th nvironmnt basd on situational factors such as mission, Soldir capabilitis, gography, waponry, and mor What Is Adaptiv Ladrship? Lonard Wong, in his monograph ntitld Dvloping Adaptiv Ladrs: Th Crucibl Exprinc of Opration Iraqi Frdom, cits th work of Warrn Bnnis, a prominnt ladrship rsarchr, who dfins adaptiv ladrship this way:... [T]h critical quality of a ladr that dtrmins how that ladr will far in a crucibl xprinc is adaptiv capacity. Adaptiv capacity allows ladrs to rspond quickly and intlligntly to constant chang. It is th ability to idntify and siz opportunitis. It allows ladrs to act and thn valuat rsults instad of attmpting to collct and analyz all th data bfor acting. Bnnis argus that ffctiv ladrs usually hav xprincd on crucibl xprinc. H dfins a crucibl xprinc as both an opportunity and a tst. It is a dfining momnt that unlashs abilitis, forcs crucial choics, and sharpns focus. It tachs a prson who h or sh is. Adaptiv ladrs may struggl in th dfining xprincs thy ncountr, but ar abl to succssfully work through thm and succd. Thy larn nw lssons, acquir nw skills, and gathr nw information that nabl thm to achiv thir goals. Furthrmor, adaptiv ladrs go through a continual procss of challng, adaptation, and larning, which radis thm for th nxt challng.

4 Adaptiv Ladrship n Soldirs conducting night oprations Critical Thinking How did SPC Church dmonstrat adaptiv ladrship skills? What nvironmntal factors did h hav to considr bfor dciding to act? Charactristics of Adaptiv Ladrs According to Wong and othrs who study ladrship thory and traits, to b an adaptiv ladr you first nd to b mntally flxibl and agil. You must cultivat strong concptual skills along with spd and prcision in your dcision making. You must bcom tchnically and tactically proficint and modl this bhavior for your subordinats. Adaptiv ladrs xhibit pois undr prssur and ar abl to oprat autonomously undr th gnral framwork of th suprior officr s intnt. As an adaptiv ladr, you mploy a broad-basd ladrship styl, considring divrs and conflicting viws in your situational assssmnts. pois a stat of balanc or stability 49

5 50 n SECTION 5 Succssful communication with Iraqi rsidnts is a ky ladrship function. Critical Thinking Rflct brifly on th Army s mphasis on ladrship attributs and cor ladr comptncis in th B, Know, Do philosophy. Do you s any rsmblanc btwn adaptiv ladrship charactristics and th Army s Ladrship Rquirmnts Modl? Building Adaptiv Ladrs Unfortunatly, you can t tak a short intractiv tutorial and rciv a crtificat that guarants you ar hrby adaptiv. As th charactristics of an adaptiv ladr suggst, training and ducation ar th foundation of this ladrship styl. Building th tchnical and critical-thinking skills that allow you to rcogniz situations, thn act, adapt, and chang taks tim and ffort. In othr words, you can larn to b an adaptiv ladr. Whn you mbrac liftim larning, you prpar th soil for adaptiv ladrship to grow. Whn you ntrust subordinats with rsponsibility and authority, mpowr thm to tak prudnt risks, accpt mistaks as opportunitis to larn, and hlp othrs to larn to cop with constant chang, you show that you ar bcoming an adaptiv ladr and that you ar intrstd in dvloping your subordinats into adaptiv ladrs.

6 Adaptiv Ladrship n 51 Prparing Soldirs to Bcom Adaptiv Ladrs Wong, who srvd mor than 20 yars as an Army officr, suggsts that th important crucibl xprinc of th Iraq war is hlping form a nw cadr of adaptiv ladrs, and that th Army will bnfit from such xprinc. H writs that junior Army officrs in Iraq ar dvloping undniabl adaptiv ladrship skills. His intrviws with many junior officrs indicat that thy hav dvlopd and dmonstratd an imprssiv adaptiv capacity. Thy quickly larnd lssons from ach situation thy ncountrd. Thy dvlopd nw skills as ndd and movd on to nw lvls of achivmnt. According to Wong, adaptiv ladrs comptntly dal with thr aspcts of th COE: ambiguity, complxity, and chang. Ambiguity You hav alrady studid th ladrship trait that nabls you to b intnt-cntric vrsus plan-cntric. Officrs in th COE dal vry day with th unprdictability of th asymmtrical nvironmnt. Whil planning is critical to your mission, you should not dvlop ovrly dtaild plans. You nd to look at your commandr s stratgic point of viw, considr th commandr s intnt, and build a workabl plan for your tam. Complxity As an adaptiv ladr, you will not just go ovr and fight a war. On minut you may lad a raid and, as soon as that mission is complt, you might start rbuilding a watr tratmnt plant that srvs a ntwork of villags. Adaptiv ladrs switch gars quickly to dal with th complxity of th COE and asymmtrical warfar. ambiguity th stat in which somthing can b undrstood in two or mor possibl ways; somthing that is not clarly dfind

7 52 n SECTION 5 You hav to b flxibl to what coms down. You could b doing a prsnc patrol... saying Hi to a kid and your vhicl is thr a fw hundrd yards away gtting mortard. Now you ar talking to this littl kid, and you har on th radio that th rst of your platoon is ovr thr gtting mortard, and thy want you to manuvr to try to catch th guy who just mortard. So you hav to switch from on thing to anothr. A US Army liutnant srving in Iraq From L. Wong, Dvloping Adaptiv Ladrs: Th Crucibl Exprinc of Opration Iraqi Frdom Chang This is th only constant. As an adaptiv ladr, you must anticipat and mastr transitions. Assignmnts can b simultanous, distributd, and continuous and ach assignmnt is constantly changing. You must manag and adapt to this aspct of oprations whil lading and motivating your tam. Bcoming an Adaptiv Ladr Thr s no adaptiv ladrship prscription you can tak. Effctiv, adaptiv ladrs do distinguish thmslvs, howvr, by focusing on critical issus, which includ th following. Knowldg of Slf and Soldirs This includs your undrstanding of your strngths and waknsss, xprinc, and knowldg. You must b in tun with your Soldirs and your unit s skills and abilitis, motivation, and attituds. In othr words, do you know what you and your Soldirs ar capabl of? Mission and Intnt You must undrstand your mission at hand and th intnt of your suprior officr. A good framwork for undrstanding this aspct of adaptiv capacity coms from rstating th task, purpos, and nd stat th commandr has proposd. As an adaptiv ladr, howvr, you can think through th intnt both stratgically and oprationally and visualiz rsults. Environmnt As an adaptiv ladr, you ar a studnt of th nvironmnt around you. You must know and undrstand th situation you and your unit fac. Many xtrnal factors affct how a commandr chooss to lad, including your unit s radinss; nmy activity, capabilitis, and tactics; civilian population factors; wathr and trrain; timing; and political implications. Education and Exprinc What you know about tactics, tchniqus, th nmy, your popl, th nvironmnt, history, and so forth informs your dcision making. What you hav xprincd forms a prism through which you can visualiz and procss information about your mission and intnt, th oprational nvironmnt, and your possibl courss of action. This foundation builds your confidnc to fac any situation.

8 Adaptiv Ladrship n 53 Military Polic ract to incoming small-arms fir. W don t know whthr w ar going to gt rocks thrown at us, or mortars, or a handshak, or a cup of ta. It rally dosn t dpnd on what nighborhood w ar going to. It dosn t mattr what w ar going to do. Th lvl of hostility is somthing that w cannot prdict. A US Army liutnant in Iraq From L. Wong, Dvloping Adaptiv Ladrs: Th Crucibl Exprinc of Opration Iraqi Frdom Critical Thinking What acronym hav you larnd that includs many of th factors citd undr Environmnt?

9 54 n SECTION 5 Th things that I hav xprincd [in Iraq], byond th Soldir nvironmnt, just going around and rally xprincing th Middl East, you know, anothr part of th world and just bing in a nw nvironmnt, intracting with th intrprtrs, I think that is whr th ral xprinc coms in. A US Army officr in Iraq From L. Wong, Dvloping Adaptiv Ladrs: Th Crucibl Exprinc of Opration Iraqi Frdom Ladrship Styl or Dcision Choos th styl of ladrship or cours of action most appropriat givn all th factors of th situation and th nvironmnt, your mission and your commandr s intnt, and your knowldg of prvious rsults in similar situations. This affcts your Soldirs motivation and commitmnt to complt thir mission. Communicating and Motivating An ssntial aspct of any ladrship modl is your ability to communicat and motivat. You cannot implmnt dcisions or ffctivly lad without th ability to communicat your dcisions and motivat your Soldirs to xcut your ordrs. As an adaptiv ladr, you bhav much lik a transformational ladr, bcaus your focus is on th purpos and vision of what your Soldirs nd to accomplish. You must work hard to communicat ffctivly so that your Soldirs undrstand th situation from thir own point of viw. Rsults and Consquncs Your ducation and xprinc play a significant rol in your bcoming an ffctiv adaptiv ladr. Fdback through rsults and consquncs not only influncs your futur missions and your commandr s intnt; it continus to build your dpth and bradth of xprinc and knowldg. This xprintial larning furthr strngthns your ability to slct appropriat ladrship styls and mak ffctiv dcisions. A 2LT Dscribs Srving in Iraq Our quation is filld with variabls that constantly chang th wathr, popl, diffrnt dynamics that w hav no control ovr. If w trid to control thm, w would b braking th ruls. It is important that w undrstand our constraints, undrstand our limitations, undrstand th variabls that ar out thr, and thn larn how to dal with it. Thr ar crtain things that you ar not going to b abl to control th motions your Soldirs run into, th problms your Soldirs hav at hom, th complx situation btwn th Shiits and Sunnis, th cultural barrir, th standoff btwn Wstrn cultur, Christian cultur, and Muslim cultur. Thr ar crtain things that w won t undrstand bcaus it is a totally diffrnt nvironmnt.... To prpar... officr[s] for this, to prpar anyon for this, you nd to just constantly tst [thm], put [thm] in vry challnging

10 Adaptiv Ladrship n 55 situations, and allow thm to sort of think and act undr prssur and strss. That is ssntially what you do hr. You ar givn a task and xpctd to prform.... You s th tru colors of popl bcaus you s a lot of ths guys gt bnt out of shap. You gt tird, you gt frustratd, you gt mad, you start scraming. You ar, lik, This is all [mssd] up. You undrstand thir frustration. You got to pull yourslf back. You got to rmain calm. You got to com with, Okay ths ar th changs, and this is how w ar going to chang our plan. You got to b abl to think on your ft. You got to b flxibl. I can t strss that nough. That has bn our succss hr (Wong, 2004). A US Army scond liutnant in Iraq Th goal of COE implmntation in Army training is to produc a forc of ladrs, Soldirs, and units capabl of rapidly adapting and optimizing capabilitis to achiv mission objctivs to fight and win in a complx and volving nvironmnt across th spctrum of conflict. COE implmntation is lss about quipping and organizing our training vnus to rflct th COE and mor about sing warfar through a diffrnt lns. From US Army, TRADOC, Th Contmporary Oprating Environmnt Critical Thinking How can a platoon ladr fostr an nvironmnt in th platoon that is conduciv to dvloping adaptiv ladrs? Critical Thinking Do th Army troop lading procdurs support adaptiv ladrship?

11 56 n SECTION 5 CONCLUSION Th rality on th ground for a combat ladr is a complx mix of information, vnts, and circumstancs that can guid you in making command dcisions. What you know about tactics, tchniqus, your nmy, your Soldirs, rcnt vnts, th nvironmnt, gography, and trrain and mor is th fram of rfrnc from which you plan and act. Sinc an ssntial aspct of any ladrship modl is th ability to communicat with and motivat your Soldirs, you should b rsourcful and flxibl in appropriatly adapting your ladrship styl to a givn situation. Thoroughly undrstanding your mission and your commandr s intnt nabls you to practic this adaptiv ladrship. This rsourcful approach to command builds your tam s trust, motivation, and commitmnt to prform. Larning by obsrving rsults adds to your command rprtoir and continus to build th dpth and bradth of xprinc and knowldg you and your Soldirs possss. This xprintial larning in turn furthr strngthns your ability to slct appropriat ladrship styls and mak ffctiv dcisions in futur situations. Ky Words adaptiv ladrship pois ambiguity Larning Assssmnt 1. What ar som of th ky charactristics of an adaptiv ladr? 2. What ar thr aspcts of th COE that adaptiv ladrs must ffctivly dal with? 3. Dscrib th asymmtrical nvironmnt th Army facs undr a wartim postur. 4. Explain why th adaptiv ladrship styl is wll suitd to th challngs of th asymmtrical nvironmnt of th COE.

12 Adaptiv Ladrship n 57 Can you find th opportunity within th chaos? Bcaus you can t organiz th chaos of th battlfild. GEN Ptr J. Schoomakr From L. Wong, Dvloping Adaptiv Ladrs: Th Crucibl Exprinc of Opration Iraqi Frdom Rfrncs Amrican Forcs Prss Srvic. (1 March 2005). First Rsrv Soldir Rcivs Silvr Star for Iraq. Soldir Storis. Rtrivd 2 Sptmbr 2005 from ocpa/print.php?story_id_ky=6933 Fild Manual Army Ladrship: Comptnt, Confidnt, and Agil. 12 Octobr US Army, TRADOC. (n.d.). Th Contmporary Oprating Environmnt. Rtrivd 2 Sptmbr 2005 from US Army, TRADOC. (n.d.). Cultur of Innovation. Unpublishd whit papr. Wong, L. (July 2004). Dvloping Adaptiv Ladrs: Th Crucibl Exprinc of Opration Iraqi Frdom. Carlisl, PA: Stratgic Studis Institut, US Army War Collg.