Christian,

Show up with a hunger to lead and be motivated. That is it; that is all I am looking for out of a brand new 2LT.

Also, its much more important how your Soldiers and Leadership think of you on the last day rather than the first day. Authenticity is apparent from day one and should be apparent on the last day.

First impressions are…[Read more]

Josh,

Great question and it is an important one for all leaders to ask.

You are absolutely right no Soldier wants to work for an officer that acts and talks like a robot. In fact most of them want to work for someone who can relate to them on a personal level. However, there is a line that you have to draw because at the end of the day you will…[Read more]

Gabe,

What a great question and thank you for discussing this topic. It is significantly harder to bring change to an organization than most people recognize. As a company commander I have found that subordinates do not want to change when/if they do not understand why they need to change.

As a leader, it is your responsibility to establish…[Read more]

Pat,

Empower your NCOs to create a plan that fits their Squad/Team. You pay them to lead so make them lead their Soldiers, especially at PT. As a PL, your job is to ensure your leaders are challenging their troops and making them better. Also, like any plan, double check it and make sure it makes sense. If a squad is struggling with their run…[Read more]

Pat,

Empower your NCOs to create a plan that fits their Squad/Team. You pay them to lead so make them lead their Soldiers, especially at PT. Allow them to create a plan that best fits their squad/team. As a PL, your job is to ensure your leaders are challenging their troops and making them better. Also, like any plan, double check it and make…[Read more]

Greg,

Great question and I appreciate that you mentioned a book that is outside of the military realm. Another book that was influential was Jim Collins “Good to Great”. My favorite line in the book (and one that I stole for my command philosophy, “All companies have a culture, some companies have discipline, but few companies have a culture of…[Read more]

Greg,

Great question and I appreciate that you mentioned a book that is outside of the military realm. Another book that was influential was Jim Collins “Good to Great”. My favorite line in the book (and one that I stole for my command philosophy, “<span style=”font-family: ‘Times New Roman’,serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: ‘Times…[Read more]

Yes the Army will pay to transport your car to your next duty station. Also, although it is difficult you can get through BOLC without a car, but I would not recommend it. As an officer and a leader I would expect my LT to show up to any duty station with his/her own transportation.

If you need help, USAA makes it easy to secure a car loan and…[Read more]

Cho,

Great question. I agree with a lot of what has been said in here. The way I counsel my NCOICs at any level is we just have a talk. We talk about my expectations, there expectations, and where we envision our unit going forward. After we had that informal talk, I would put everything we discussed on paper to make the counseling formal. By…[Read more]