Vietnam in 20th Century

Vietnam in the 20th Century

By your own orientation to cooperative work in a mission-driven organization like the armed forces, do you consider yourself to be a strategic thinker, a tactical planner, or a logistician? How do you determine that, and how does your own daily life and work demonstrate that?

Just as people wear different hats as they go through their interactions with other people, including family members, friend, co-workers and others, people also engage in all three types of thinking as they plan these encounters and how they will negotiate the day-to-day challenges they face. The same issues apply to leadership styles, with some approaches being more suitable to certain situations than others. In some cases, strategic thinking is the most appropriate approach to these encounters and this approach might be used to achieve personal or professional goals over the long-term. In some cases, all three styles might be used. In this regard, Dorff suggests that strategic thinking can be viewed as "a comprehensive appreciation of the synergistic interdependence of the parts and the interactions among them -- the effects they have on one another in the past, present, and anticipated future" (2009, p. 124). Tactical planning would help provide the general framework that could be used to implement the "nuts-and-bolts" of the strategic plan that was developed (Thierauf 1997), and the logistics perspective would help identify what resources were required for the initiative and the supply chain that would deliver them. These issues apply to everyone, but those who seem to succeed more consistently appear to understand that some methods are more effective in certain situations than others, and using the optimal approach can help deliver optimal results.

Then, with your own understanding of what cooperation and support you need from others involved, what do you need from others in their roles to accomplish your own work successfully?

It is reasonable to suggest that everyone thinks their jobs are the most important in the world and that they are the most important people doing them. In the armed forces, the hierarchy is clearly delineated, but in the civilian world, lines of authority may be less readily discernible. Therefore, by understanding that others view themselves in the same high regard as anyone else, it is possible to interact with others in the ways most conducive to achieving one's own goals. This does not mean that someone has to be dishonest or officious in their interactions, but it does mean that it is important to try to understand any exchange from the perspective of others so that an informed and crafty compromise can be reached when conflicts exist and the individual's goals can be achieved most effectively. Beyond the need for personal rapport, establishing networks of contacts in organizational areas that are frequently consulted can help facilitate the exchange of information. This is an important issue because some people are reluctant to share knowledge in organizational settings, and learning how to gain this knowledge represents a challenging but valuable enterprise. These so-called "people skills" represent an important element in effective leadership. For example, Lewis, Medlin, Malone and Murphy (2006) found that between 60% and 70% of employees in the U.S. are dissatisfied with their supervisor and this dissatisfaction is attributed to poor leadership. These authors conclude that, "Formal training in the development of people skills appears to be a fundamental factor in this effective leadership void" (Lewis et al., 2006, p. 88). Therefore, developing people skills can help people become more effective leaders in the workplace.

Finally, what strictly military lessons have you learned from the course so far that would help you accomplish your mission more effectively?

It is axiomatic that no battle plan survives the first shot, so leaders need to be flexible and nimble in their response to the dynamic arena in which they operate. This need for effective leadership applies to all organizational settings, to companies of all sizes and types and to every individual exchange that takes place. One of the most important things for leaders to keep in mind besides overriding issues such as the welfare and morale of those in their charge is the need to model the way for others and to do something, even if it is wrong. For example, Lewis and her associates emphasize that, "The leader's role in sustaining appreciative change can be viewed as a dualistic construct. One dimension is reflected through what the leader does and shows (practices, actions and behaviors). The second dimension can be viewed as the leader's Appreciative Foundational Core or ontology" (2006, p. 88). This dualistic construct can be applied to the three basic leadership responses to any situation: