“Being All You Can Be” with the Army Coaching Program

Growth, but at what cost?

          Leader development is a deliberate, continuous, and progressive process intended to produce competent and committed professional leaders of character. There is much emphasis placed on competence and commitment from Army leaders with a seeming minimum of thought given to an individualized approach from an institutional level. This results in growth and development primarily driven by sets of operational experiences (think key developmental assignments) vice an approach that focuses on the actual process, for that leader, in each of the duty positions they hold. Absent a sustained mentorship approach or active involvement of a professional trainer, this approach could lead to “leader burn-out” or a “culture of block checks” when it comes to developing as a leader and impacting an organization. Centralized attempts to force every Soldier to have a mentor have largely fallen flat – many mentors have demands of their own and/or are unfamiliar with productive mentorship techniques. Finally, there is a risk of perpetuating counterproductive leadership cultures across larger organizations if the mentors themselves do not fully embody the Army Values in word, deed, and spirit.

          Critical to combating this is applying a holistic approach to personal self-development. Coaching lends itself to this by forcing the type of self-reflection necessary to connect knowledge, skills, and abilities gained from a particular assignment to the “grand arc” of a personal journey as both a human being and an Army Leader. When this connection is made, it becomes easier to identify and end counterproductive behaviors while also recognizing and emphasizing positive personal attributes that lend themselves to professional and personal success. No one wants to be told at the Battalion Commander Assessment Program that the sum of the previous 15+ years of their Army career is to be found “not certified for command” potentially due to a history of counterproductive leadership as interpreted by the panel. A way to stay ahead of this possibility and contribute to a positive command climate is through coaching. There is no guarantee that a mentor will be able to give you the exact tools that you need; the circumstances around their experience as it relates to your current situation may be dissonant or unrelatable. A coach offers the means to meet you where you are and partner with you to create a plan of action that holds you accountable and meaningfully contributes to your short- and long-term growth.

Army Coaching in Practice

          Coaching requires a very open, honest, and growth-oriented mindset to engender leader development. These are easy words to say, but if you are unwilling to accept the possibility that everything you’ve done to get to where you are may not lead you to future success you’re not growth-oriented. The coach functions as a mirror to help you “see yourself” and understand where you can actively apply your efforts to improve without judging your past actions. By focusing exclusively on your future success, the Army coach partners with you and empowers you to make immediate changes to become a more effective leader. The Army coach will engage with you, typically over a platform like Microsoft Teams and take you through a guided session. The use of face-to-face technology enables the coach to explore energy shifts and other non-verbal cues that can lead to deeper understanding of a viable plan of action for personal growth. While specific questions asked are unique to each coach and situation, in general, they follow a common arc that starts with establishing goals and ends with a definitive plan action with buy-in and accountability. Along the way, the coachee is supported, validated, and challenged to achieve a more complete understanding of where their growth need lies. Alone or in conjunction with other disciplines, coaching provides a needed and powerful force-multiplier for leader development.