Kenny,

I’d first start by knowing your own leadership style. For me, I learned that I am naturally distant from conversations with close friends, which led to progress when being less distant. For those who are more extroverted, being less distant might translate to “buddy-buddy” as so many have cautioned above.

“Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.” -Colin Powell-

I’ve advertised my open door policy on numerous occasions (company town hall, Monday formation, etc), even brewing a full pot of coffee open to whoever cares to join me. For this unit, it seems to have attracted just the right number of people. A couple have approached me over PTSD with the comment that they would not have felt comfortable had I not made myself approachable. Conversely I’ve also had to give UCMJ action to one who exercised open door (not for open door, but for other offenses), which made me very glad it wasn’t a more relaxed environment.

When in doubt, and when not in doubt, ask your senior NCOs. They’ve consistently steered me in the right direction.