Positive Psychology and Resilience in Military Leadership

Introduction: Leadership Challenges in the Modern Military

Leaders in the profession of arms greatly rely on influence to make their leadership effective. Influence can be defined as the ability to direct the character and behavior of someone else, as well as shape their development. The current army operates in a more or less decentralized environment, which is increasingly challenging for army leaders. Army leaders therefore need to develop innovative leadership skills in order to cope with a complex operational environment (Meredith et al., 2011).

As the United States toiled through ten years of continuous war — filled with numerous deployments and difficult-to-tackle adversaries — troops were evidently affected both physically and psychologically. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan proved challenging for service members and their families alike. The conflicts forced service members to be deployed for long periods repeatedly, causing great stress for both the soldiers and their families. While some military personnel have a greater ability to cope under harsh circumstances, many find it difficult to manage the stress of deployment (Meredith et al., 2011).

The US military leadership is faced with the challenge of managing the psychological effects of war. War brings other serious problems such as domestic violence, sexual assault, and drug and substance abuse, among others. It falls to military leaders to treat psychologically impaired soldiers and to prevent the adverse outcomes of combat exposure (Meredith et al., 2011). One effective approach to creating psychological resilience among soldiers is by cultivating positive psychology and using Master Resilience Training (MRT) programs.

Positive Psychology and the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Program

Positive psychology involves the study and application of positive character traits, positive emotions, and positive institutions. It is mainly intended to complement the pathology-focused approach that has long dominated clinical psychology. For any given individual, positive psychology aims at developing joy, well-being, and good character in order to realize that individual's optimal functioning. The practice of positive psychology assumes that beneficial traits and negative ones are two largely independent dimensions (Mills & Kreutzer, 2016).

Military leadership identified mental health as a major issue that needed to be addressed both during and after war. This concern gave rise 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 soldiers and their families, thereby improving soldier performance. This program emerged from extensive research conducted by the Positive Psychology Centre at the University of Pennsylvania. It represents a holistic approach to addressing the emotional, spiritual, and social aspects of soldiers' lives. It particularly helps soldiers manage the stress that comes with the demands of war and continuous deployment. The CSF program employs four strategies to achieve its objectives: Master Resilience Training (MRT), Institutional MRT, Comprehensive Resilience Modules, and the Global Assessment Tool (GAT) (Mills & Kreutzer, 2016). The first of these strategies is discussed in detail below.

Master Resilience Training: Structure and Curriculum

Master Resilience Training (MRT) is the primary program under the CSF, designed to make soldiers resilient and to optimize their performance. Psychological resilience helps soldiers both on and off the battlefield. The MRT program also empowers soldiers to teach their colleagues how to build resilience. MRT draws extensively from the Penn Resilience Program (PRP), developed by the University of Pennsylvania in the 1990s. It helps prevent depression among soldiers and assists in managing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The army leadership chose to address PTSD proactively, rather than waiting until soldiers returned home with PTSD before beginning treatment (Mills & Kreutzer, 2016).

The first five days of the MRT program are primarily instructional, covering how to build resilience, mental toughness, and strong character. The three days that follow teach soldiers how to deliver resilience training themselves, so they can pass this knowledge on to others in the field. Day nine focuses on Resilience First Aid training, which is necessary when the limits of MRT are exceeded. On day ten — the final day — soldiers are taught how to set goals, manage energy, and control their attention. Once training is complete, the soldiers return to their units and pass these skills on to their subordinates (Mills & Kreutzer, 2016).

Conclusion

Positive psychology coupled with Master Resilience Training is an effective way of helping soldiers manage stress during and after their deployment. This is why soldiers undergo mandatory training before deployment, during deployment, and after returning home. With such measures in place, conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder are better kept in check. Military leaders — especially the sergeant major — should seek a deeper understanding of positive psychology in order to pass this knowledge on to the soldiers they lead.

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.