August 2021

Leaders!

We received several responses to our call for leader challenge stories (posted on S1 Net).  Thanks for the responses!  We’re excited to start developing some new products using that source material.  We’re also working on starting an essay contest focused on both cadets and junior officers.  Stay tuned for more information.

Highlights from the past month

• What an injury taught me about leadership
• A junior officer’s reflection on the branch detail program
• We need fewer LEADERS and more leaders
• 9 tips to guide company and troop FSOs

We also added a new Read2Lead for the book Words that Change Minds: The 14 Patterns for Mastering the Language of Influence

Coming up

Some things we have in the works that you’ll see in the weeks ahead on the CJO website:

• Understanding the PL/XO relationship
• Tips on maintenance and leadership for junior officers
• Cowardice and the casualties of conflict avoidance
• The First 90 days as an XO (part 1 of 3)

Other posts of interest

While we run/focus on the Center for Junior Officers site, we know there is a lot of other great content out there that can help junior officers in their pursuits.  Below are a few articles/podcasts/products from other sources that you might find interesting – we did!

• When do we actually need to meet in person?
• Army handbook for leadership transitions
• Stop networking, start connecting
• Toxic followership and the balance of responsibility
• Leading soldiers with ADHD
• Leader development and assessments
• Taking ownership of mistakes as a leader

Where we can use your help

Some specific projects we could use your assistance on include:

• Book Analysis. Anyone want to share their review/analysis of popular books that Commanders/Senior leaders are recommending? This isn’t a book summary, rather an analysis/your opinion on the piece.  Here is an example of what we found was popular (Once an Eagle: Idol or Idle).  If you’ve been tasked to lead a discussion or your unit is having you read a book already, this could be some “low hanging fruit” – and a chance to share your insights with a larger audience.
• Article based Read2Lead. Many units like to use books for their LPDs (and our original Read2Lead products can help with this), but books usually take several LPD sessions.  Here is an example of a Read2Lead using the classic article “The folly of rewarding A while hoping for B”. If you have an article you think would be good for an LPD and want to develop a discussion guide, let us know.  We can work with you to develop something.

Join the team

If you’re an active-duty junior officer who is interested in obtaining a fully-funded advanced degree  (or if you already have an advanced degree from a top-tier institution in a topic related to organizational behavior, I/O psychology, MBA, or related area), will have completed your key development position requirements as a Captain by May 2023, and want to PCS to West Point to join the Center for Junior Officers team, please reach out and let us know

Additional information is also located here.

In closing

Reminder- we’re on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.  Please follow us if you’re on those platforms.  We’re posting new content almost daily. 

Until next month – lead well my friends!