Role of Resiliency Factors and Positive Psychology in Overcoming Leadership Challenges

Role of Positive Psychology and Resiliency Factors in Overcoming Leadership Challenges
Leaders in the profession of arms greatly rely on influence to make their leadership effective. Influence can be defined as that ability to direct the character and behaviour of someone else, as well as their development. The current army operates in a more or less decentralized environment, which is increasingly becoming a challenge to the army leaders. Thus the army leaders need to develop innovative leadership skills so as to cope with the complex operational environment (Meredith et al, 2011).
As the United States toiled through ten years of continuous war, which was filled with numerous deployments and difficult-to-tackle adversaries, the troops were evidently affected, both physically and psychologically. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan proved challenging for the service members together with their families. The conflicts forced the service members to be deployed for long periods repeatedly. This caused them and their families great stress. While other military personnel have a greater ability to cope under harsh circumstances, many are the ones who find it difficult to handle the stress of deployment (Meredith et al, 2011).
The US military leadership is faced with this challenge of managing the psychological effects of war. War comes with other vices such as domestic violence, sexual assault, drug and substance abuse, among many others. It is upon the military leaders to treat the psychologically impaired soldiers as well as prevent the adverse outcomes of combat exposure (Meredith et al, 2011). One way of creating psychological resilience among the soldiers is by inculcating positive psychology and using Master Resilience Training (MRT) programs.
Positive Psychology
Positive psychology involves the study and application of positive character traits, positive emotions and positive institutions. Positive psychology is mainly meant to complement pathology, which has for long been the focus of clinical psychology. For any given individual, positive psychology will aim at developing joy, well being and good character so as to realize optimal functioning of the said individual. The practice of positive psychology assumes that beneficial traits and the negative ones are two completely independent items (Mills & Kreutzer, 2016).
The military leadership has pointed out mental health as one major issue that has to be addressed, both during the war and after the war. This concern gave birth to the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF) program for the army in 2009, based on a framework proposed by Martin Seligman, an experienced psychologist (Mills & Kreutzer, 2016).
The CSF program is tailored to cultivate psychological resilience in the soldiers, and their families, and thus improve the performance of the soldiers. This program came to being after an extensive research by the Positive Psychology Centre located within the University of Pennsylvania. It is a more holistic approach in dealing with the emotional, spiritual and social aspects of soldiers and their families. It particularly helps soldier to manage the stress that comes with the demands of war and continuous deployment. The CSF program employs four strategies to achieve its objectives. These are: Master Resilience Training (MRT), Institutional MRT, Comprehensive Resilience Modules, and Global Assessment Tool (GAT) (Mills & Kreutzer, 2016). We shall herein discuss the first strategy in details.
Master Resilience Training (MRT)
This is the main program under the CSF, designed to make the soldiers resilient, as the name suggests, as well as optimize their performance. Psychological resilience helps the soldiers both on and off the battle field. The MRT program also empowers soldiers to teach their colleagues how to be resilient. MRT borrows a lot from the Penn Resilience Program (PRP) developed by University of Pennsylvania in the 1990s. It helps prevent depression among the soldiers and helps manage post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The army leadership thought it wise to deal with PTSD proactively, rather than tarry till the soldiers return home with PTSD and then start to treat it (Mills & Kreutzer, 2016).
The first 5 days of the MRT program is mainly instructional, where the soldiers are instructed on how to build resilience, mental toughness and strong character. For the 3 days that follow, the soldiers are taught how to deliver resilience training, so that they can pass on this knowledge to the others in the battle field. Day 9 is for Resilience First Aid training, which is necessary in case the limits of MRT are exceeded. On day 10, being the final day for the MRT training, the soldiers are taught how to set goals, manage energy and control their attention. Once through with this training, the soldiers go back to their units and pass on these skills to their subordinates (Mills & Kreutzer, 2016).
The MRT programs aims to impart six main character traits onto the soldiers, namely optimism, strength of character, self regulation, connection, mental agility and self awareness. The lessons are designed to help the soldiers understand themselves and others, and thus overcome their challenges. The soldiers are also able to strengthen their interpersonal relationships (Mills & Kreutzer), 2016).
A resilient person is one who is aware of his strengths and weaknesses and is positive about them. Such a person will not find it hard to cope with the various stresses common with war. Such are the soldiers that the society needs. A soldier with a confident and positive outlook in life will definitely grow and develop. The sergeant major is also in a better position to handle stress by showing both his personal and professional authority. It is required of every army leader to be mindful of the difficulties that the soldiers undergo. This extends to those private difficulties, which the leader may use to better understand the needs and wants of the soldier in question (Taylor and Colvin, 2012).
Optimism on the part of the soldier helps him solve the myriad of problems that characterize the battlefield. Being optimistic saves the soldiers from uncalled for anxiety. Instead, they lead a more satisfying life. And in case stressed up with anything, they exactly know how to deal with such situations. This should be the number one trait for the sergeant major so that he can provide guidance to the other soldiers (Taylor and Colvin, 2012).
Aside from optimism, self regulation is the next core competence of the MRT program. A soldier must learn how to regulate his emotions, impulses and behaviour. Failure to regulate one’s emotions may cause great damage. This is especially true in the battle field, where every soldier is armed, with sophisticated weapons, so to say. There have been instances of soldiers turning against their fellow soldiers. It sometimes starts as small arguments but many a times gets magnified to gun fights. Such disagreements are a good loophole for the adversary to win. If each and every soldier gains self-regulation, such scenarios will never be seen. The sergeant likewise needs to express his emotions soberly without unnecessary outbursts. Such controlled behavior has been shown to yield maximum results in the unit (Taylor and Colvin, 2012).
Next is mental agility. A soldier needs to be able to identify the cause of a specific issue, and seek appropriate remedy. Soldiers must also consider how their actions affect the unit as a whole. Mental agility increases the flexibility of the soldiers as regards making decisions. It also makes soldiers more willing to try out new strategies (Taylor and Colvin, 2012)
The MRT training program also aims to impart strength of character in the soldiers. The sergeant major ought to tell the soldiers and make them believe that they are the best. The sergeant major should believe in the strength of the soldiers, their abilities and talents. This creates a winning attitude among the soldiers and with this, no obstacle can stop them from accomplishing their goals. Challenges arise but they tackle them successfully with the attitude of a winner. A soldier who believes in himself will stand for country and fight with all that is in him for his people (Taylor and Colvin, 2012).
Lastly, the need for connection among the members of a given unit cannot be over emphasized. The sergeant major should have a strong relationship with the soldiers and the soldiers with one another. Effective and positive communication within the unit is a sign of good connection. You will find soldiers not reluctant to ask for help when need arises. Soldiers that are well connected get along well with each other and conflicts become minimal. The soldiers will also be there for one another no matter how difficult the battle field gets (Taylor and Colvin, 2012).
Conclusion
Positive psychology coupled with Master Resilience Training is an effective way of helping soldiers manage stress during and after their deployment. That is why soldiers undergo mandatory training before they are deployed, during their deployment and after returning home. With such, conditions such as the Post Trauma Stress Disorder are well kept in check. The military leaders, especially the sergeant major, should therefore seek to gain a deeper understanding of positive psychology so as to pass on this knowledge to the rest of the soldiers.


References
Meredith, L. S., Sherbourne, C. D., Gaillot, S. J., Hansell, L., Ritschard, H. V., Parker, A. M., & Wrenn, G. (2011). Promoting psychological resilience in the US military. Rand health quarterly, 1(2).
Mills, A. L., & Kreutzer, J. S. (2016). Theoretical applications of positive psychology to vocational rehabilitation after traumatic brain injury. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 26(1), 20-31. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10926-015-9608-z
Taylor, R. M., & Colvin, H. M. (Eds.). (2012). Building a Resilient Workforce: Opportunities for the Department of Homeland Security: Workshop Summary. National Academies Press.