Twelve O'Clock High and Be-Know-Do leadership framework

Leadership

Dramatic, major changes are sometimes difficult, whether in the civilian industry or in government institutions such as the military. Often times a leader (whether a politician or an officer) who attempts to institute changes is challenged by those who are entrenched at their positions. Sometimes even though the individuals are entrenched in their own habits and rituals, a good leader can come in and make needed changes. An article History Today extols the leadership abilities of British Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, who led British ships into battle in the late 1700s, defeating, among other notable forces, Napoleon's fleet in the Battle of the Nile (1798). His leadership philosophy, according to historic records in his own words: "A commander gives his orders in a manner that ensures the subordinates understand his intentions, their own missions, and the context of those missions" (Vincent, 2003). Moreover, Nelson went on, "Subordinates are told what effect they are to achieve and the reason why it needs to be achieved."

Meanwhile, the leadership shown through the film "Twelve O'Clock High" with Gregory Peck is an example of Admiral Nelson's kind of strategy. In the movie, during which Peck's character is sometimes belligerent, sometimes unreasonable, and sometimes dramatic as well as heroic, Peck is articulate in laying out his expectations. Some of his subordinates no doubt thought him too firm. But Peck, who played Brigadier General Frank Savage in the film, has come into a leadership position with the 918th Bomb Group H. In England during WWII, and wasn't shy about explained loudly and repeatedly what his subordinates were expected to do, and in the end he got it done with their help.

The movie showed just how difficult it is for a general taking over a very important unit that has acquired loose and undisciplined habits. When Savage is driven into the base for the first time the soldier at the gate doesn't check the general's credentials. With that, Savage jumps out and goes back to get into the soldier's face about the lack of security. Savage thus has an advanced warning that this base is lax in more than just security. What does he do about it? As soon as he goes into the office to find his way around, the general sees a soldier not dressed in the proper military uniform. That gets his blood boiling but he is the new leader and he must do something about this lack of military procedure and ritual.

In chewing out the air executive officer, Savage seems to the film viewer that maybe he is going way too far in his verbal lashing that he is out of bounds. Savage is speaking very loudly in the face of the busted air executive officer and he says things like, "As far as I'm concerned you're yellow." "You're a traitor to yourself and to the uniform you wear."

And then General Savage gets down and dirty, even vitriolic, and very, very personal with the officer (who had been drinking and was apparently under the influence), which is not how officers are trained to lead. Although it is not textbook style to rip into a man so viciously, still, it is wartime and the whole world seems to be at stake here.

Nazi Germany has seized many European nations and is slaughtering people by the millions. There is no easy way to win this war as Hitler has put together a very powerful military machine and is rumbling over human rights like the Panzer tanks that his workers have put together. So Savage has a right to use this intimidating style of leadership.

A hate a man like you so much I'm going to get your head down in the mud and trample it," said Savage. "I'm going to make you wish you'd never been born," he continued. Mind you, Col. Ben Gately, the busted air executive, had not been flying on the bombing missions very often, which is a sign of his very poor leadership skills. That's why Savage had insisted that Gately was "yellow." it's the macho thing for a commanding officer to do, to break a man down by insisting he has no courage. "You're going to make every mission," Savage went on, and then he ordered that Gately's bomber have written on the front, the Leper Colony, just for good measure and to show to all the men in the unit that Savage was very serious.

When Savage addresses the fliers for the first time, he says that "Fear is normal - but stop worrying about it and about yourselves." He puts the fear of God into the men by saying, provocatively, "Consider yourselves already dead."

Right away they all want to be transferred out of the unit; they had it pretty good under Gately, who had become perhaps too close and friendly with his men. Showing he has leadership abilities beyond just getting his men under control, Savage also works with his office assistant to slow down the process of the requests for transfers out of the unit.

Savage's strategy is to give the men time to see that he (Savage) is really a competent leader, and Savage goes up with the men on their daytime bombing missions repeatedly. Gradually, fewer planes are lost to German defenses, and the men are beginning to see that Savage is indeed a good leader, someone who stands up for them, someone they can trust and a man who will help them get the things done they need to get done in order to bomb Nazi Germany's ball bearings plants and other strategically vital production facilities.

Meanwhile, the development of leaders - according to Be-Know-Do-Learn (BKDL) - requires a certain set of strategies that are very important and date back to the foundations of the Army. BKDL is a description that affirms the Army values of "...loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage." All of those values can be linked to Peck's character in Twelve O'Clock High. He certainly showed courage by flying in the lead B-17 bomber day after day (until he finally broke down towards the end of the film). He expected loyalty from his troops and once they settled into his style of management and leadership, he got that loyalty. "Honor" and "integrity" are things he demanded of his men, along with a sense of duty. It took Savage awhile to achieve the respect he wanted and needed, but he got that done too.

Learning, according to BKDL, is "at the heart of effectiveness" and is part of the continuous cycle of learning and important to the "can-do" attitude. According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' interpretation of the BKDL approach, the "BE" refers to leaders as people. The BE alludes to the personality or the character, and in evaluating that person in terms of his or her potential as a leader, the attitudes, talents, strengths, and values are all taken into account.

There has been an "historical shift" in the American population from the era in which manufacturing (Industrial Revolution) was the dominant field of employment, to today, which is noted for the "learning / service era," the era of "self-developers." And so the Army also has its shift in emphasis; the BE of its leaders means the right leaders must get into the right jobs in order to maximize their effectiveness.

The "KNOW" in BKDL refers to what leaders actually know. That includes the leaders' mental, their physical and their emotional knowledge. Back in the days of the Industrial Revolution, and even up until the Sixties and Seventies, knowledge was thought of as a "physical skill" such as something physical that was learned on the job. It might have been "how to run a lathe or a backhoe, or how to do a job on an assembly line," the Army Corps of Engineers' "Learning Organization" material asserts. But today "knowing" something, having knowledge, more often than not refers to "a mental and emotional competence." That kind of knowledge might mean understanding and having a good working appreciation for "social and political trends, how to engage collaborative relationships with stakeholders."

Who would be a stakeholder for an army officer? That would be not only the men and women under the officer, but those whom the officer's unit is there to protect. The knowledge (the KNOW in BKDL) part of this application also connotes "how to turn challenges into solutions, how to engage clients as co-producers, or how to facilitate teams." Today, the article goes on, leaders in the military have to be "people smart," knowing how to listen, and how to create trust. And even though General Savage was a hot-headed angry leader when he first arrived at the 918th, he did listen to his people, and hence he lived up to the KNOW part of this strategy.