How leaders inspire soldiers

¶ … Leaders Inspire Soldiers

Over the last several years, the issue of effective military leadership has been continually brought to the forefront. This is because there has been a transformation in the way technology and battlefield tactics are being utilized. For most soldiers, these changes have meant that they will use different tools in conducting modern warfare. As a result, some commanders believe that there has been a shift in the kinds of tools and tactics that are utilized to inspire others. To fully understand the best leadership attributes requires examining those techniques that are most effective. This will help everyone to comprehend what tools must be used to inspire their soldiers. (Laver, 2008, pp. 1 -- 9)

The Best Leadership Attributes

According to Harvey (2008), there are several attributes that are most commonly embraced among all great military leaders to include:

Courage under fire.

The ability to think calmly and rationally on the battlefield.

Determination.

Stamina.

Resolution during times of challenge.

Seizes opportunities.

Improvement.

The use of diplomacy.

Focused on raising morale.

A strong devotion to their own men.

These areas are illustrating how all leaders will embrace many common attributes in conjunction with one another. This is regardless of the changes in technology or battlefield strategies. These ideas will help all military commanders to effectively inspire their soldiers. (Harvey, 2008)

A good example of this can be seen with Irwin Rommel. Here is an individual, who was able to inspire true passion within his soldiers. The way that this occurred, was through willingness to: lead by example, strong determination, having a sense of charisma and he seized upon his opportunities. The combination of these factors helped Rommel to create military victories, in situations where he was outnumbered and outgunned. During the early part of World War II, this was the basic approach that he used as a part of the blitzkrieg (in France and North Africa). These events helped to instill confidence in his men. As a result, this is illustrating how these basic characteristics are what helped to make Rommel such a successful leader. (Harvey, 2008)

Moreover, there are other military commanders who used similar tactics to inspire their soldiers. One the better examples can be seen with General Norman Schwarzkopf. He was the U.S. commander during the 1991 Gulf War with Iraq. At the time, there were considerable amounts of concern surrounding the operation. This is because, most American forces were inexperienced in fighting heavy amounts of combat. While the Republican Guard of Iraq, fought numerous bloody battles against the Iranians during the 1980s. This sparked concerns that America was an aging power, which was very weak militarily. (Hughes, 2002) (Tucker, 2010, pp. 1081 -- 1082)

During the buildup, Schwarzkopf promised that the total number of casualties would be minimized through a new kind of strategy. This is because he had seen the problems associated with: inept commanders and unresponsive officials (from his time as a platoon leader in Vietnam). Moreover, he had personally experienced the results of incompetent leadership and the decisions that were made by them in numerous battles with no strategic value. This forced him to focus on using tactics that protected the lives of his soldiers and directly engaged the enemy. (Hughes, 2002) (Tucker, 2010, pp. 1081 -- 1082)

As a result, he would take the basic principles that Rommel was using with the blitzkrieg and applied them to the battlefield. In this case, he had special operations forces and the air force soften targets well in advance of regular ground units. This was designed to take out: enemy command / control and the ability to counterattack. The impact is the Iraqi army was easily defeated (with the total number of American casualties coming in at less than 100). (Hughes, 2002) (Tucker, 2010, pp. 1081 -- 1082)

This is illustrating how Schwarzkopf's dedication to: his men, seizing upon opportunities, courage under fire, determination and the ability to think calmly are what made him so successful. The reasons why is from using these attributes to evaluate the situation differently in comparison to: other commanders and strategists. Once this occurred, is the point that it was more difficult for them to decide where and when Schwarzkopf would attack. At the same time, this helped to inspire those who were under his command and the entire nation. (Hughes, 2002) (Tucker, 2010, pp. 1081 -- 1082)

Conclusion