File Grade Officers Lead in the Development of Leaders to Achieve Results

How File Grade Officers Lead in the Development of Ethical Organizations and Leaders to Achieve Results

Leadership development is necessary for enhancing professional growth, which would make the transition from direct level leadership to an organizational level. The organizational level leader has ethical responsibilities, such as self-discipline, to present himself as a role model for his subordinates to maintain a chaos-free environment for accomplishing a mission. I, being a newly appointed Brigade Commander for the 4th ABCT, have identified some critical leadership issues. For this purpose, I will use the L100 so that I can analyze the problems critically. To develop an adaptive organizational leader, I should deal with the Brigade’s complexities, ambiguities, and uncertainties for current and future operational environments.

Critical Leadership Problem

The case I am provided with is that of the 4th Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT), which was considered one of the best maneuver brigades. Several pointers of strength made this brigade so three years ago, for instance, it had scope, all officers were focused and energized towards their mission, a supportive family atmosphere existed between the officers and soldiers, the leaders tried to solve problems at lower levels, positive competitive air was there, and information and resource sharing existed at all levels. The issues occurred at the leadership level when another battalion command-selectee from another brigade was left in charge after the actual Brigade Commander, COL Timmons, was killed in an explosion in the battalion’s area of operations. Moreover, the CALL report indicated numerous other issues that were considered major hindrances in the effectiveness of the Brigade. The issues were in communications between the higher levels and low levels of the brigade, increased friction between brigade and battalion staffs, weakening of command structure when the brigade commander gave all the major tasks to be performed by the deputy brigade commander, which confused a greater level, forced changes in performing of tasks for which specialty core competencies were not in use, wrong training was done for mission-essential tasks for Afghanistan deployment, and addition of tasks for the soldiers for resourcing and supporting created double responsibilities which reduced their effectiveness on the whole. Also, when a climate survey was conducted for ABCT, it was deducted that solders had stress due to unnecessary requirements of the RAF mission that put a distance between their families and themselves along with self-discipline issues of the high commanders. It was noted that low-level employees had difficulty in understanding their high-level commander as their leadership was strong enough to keep the Brigade motivated for the specific mission.

Vision

My vision for the brigade would be to provide effective leadership that has all the aspects of L100 integrated so that mistakes from the actions of the previous leaders should not be reaped, especially in a high-priority area like Afghanistan. Wrong training and not considering the low-level soldier’s need and not being to make full use of their potential since the direction of guidance was absent are all the mistakes one needs to avoid in the future. The brigade should collaborate and become a successful organization with authoritative and inclusive leadership so that a clear chain of command may be established. Without this vision, the organization could not succeed since there would be no direction for the future. Soldiers and commanders would not know how to deal with complexities and what lessons should be given for the new trainees from leadership experiences.

A solution to the Problem by Implementing Vision and L100 Processes

The first and foremost need for ABCT is to lead the change when another battalion command-selectee from another brigade was left in charge[footnoteRef:1]. The change in leadership was observed, which needed a direction for him and the subordinates as well. The leader in charge should have shared understanding as was done three years before when ABCT was considered one of the best brigades due to a strong work ethic, and problems were solved within the lower level not to reach the higher levels. This attitude that problems could be resolved by frequent coordination among peers and that information sharing was made a norm are the major causes in the absence of which ABCT has now suffered in Afghanistan. Communication plays an integral part since direct leadership is face-to-face leadership that is needed for focusing on events and behaviors[footnoteRef:2]. [1: Document uploaded (Framework for improving an organization: L100 developing organizations and leaders), n.a.] [2: Carey W. Walker and Robert J. Reilly (Crossing the Rubicon: An introduction to organizational-level leadership), 2013.]

Organizational learning would be enhanced since all the soldiers would work in coordination and under the constant guidance of their supervisors since some of them were confused about their job tasks after more than one specialty core competency that they had according to their skills. For this, group and team development need to be strengthened; if subordinates remain dispersed and do not know which task must be addressed to which supervisor, then there would be no clear direction and no vision even for the low-level workers. By making teams, relations would be developed, and more personality understanding would be there, and adjustments would take place for mission accomplishment. This is a critical step since personal enmities should not breed within the workers who are in the same Brigade; a culture of strong ethical work and deeper concern is in great demand for ABCT.

In addition to that, critical and creative thinking is the paramount necessity since soldiers were not aware when to responds accurately in what situation, and in a place like Afghanistan, where uncertainty hovered every minute, soldiers had to be thoroughly prepared for any emergency. This would enable the soldiers for organizational resilience where they would be able to respond and adapt to environmental changes, such as those in Afghanistan beforehand, with better anticipation and preparation strategies for survival and achieving goals.

To improve the Brigade, it is imperative to build trust between the leaders and the subordinates so that communication flow is relieved and is constant daily. The issues within the brigade should be resolved without letting them reach up the hierarchy with the inclusion of subordinates because their opinions matter for the brigade’s upgrade. For this to take place, extending influence beyond the chain of command would be of great assistance. For the smooth accomplishment of the mission, the trust would be developed both inside and outside the organization for nurturing positive relationships[footnoteRef:3]. Thus, stress would be reduced. Leading by example is the greatest and ultimate solution for all these problems since displaying of high standards of duty performance, personal appearance, professional image, and ethical stance would help eliminate issues like being involved in women or sexual abuse when the Brigade commander is in charge instated of focusing on critical operations like those in Afghanistan. I would also like to emphasize the need for demonstration of determination and persistence for facing adverse situations. This would help solve problems by identifying the easy path rather than what should be the right thing to do. [3: Headquarters Department of the Army (FM 6-22 Leader development), June 30, 2015.]

Measuring Effectiveness in Achieving Vision

A field grade officer has rational thinking with sound judgment since he has the maturity, education, and responsibilities that come with age and his type of job. In line with the organizational vision, the desired behaviors are expected when change is implemented.[footnoteRef:4] The change would be applied in the form of communication changes as low level subordinated would be able to reach to the Brigade commander so that everyday issues are resolved for better relationship development among the workers of the same brigade. This would also build motivation when they would have the feeling that they are being listened to and have a sense of belonging with the army. With the eradication of this communication barrier, they would know that they are valued and are therefore needed for the duty. [4: Kevin E. Gentzler (Defining organizational vision), n.a.]