Where can you personally learn in your organization right now?

My “organization” looks a bit different right now since I am in graduate studies. What’s been a great learning experience for me has been encountering many of my peers who are on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum.  I had not encountered many diverse gender identities or sexual expressions in…[Read more]

‘Where can you set the example of thinking out loud?’

Hopefully as you execute the tenets of mission command you’re communicating intent clearly.  I heard GEN Milley talk once about how he forms intent – utilizing endstate, space, time, and terrain.  I think it gets to a lot of the art of mission command – communicating not only your spoken i…[Read more]

Regardless of your branch, every officer is first and foremost a logistician: you manage time, people, and resources. Readiness is about maximizing the management of all three.

Understand there’s a difference between readiness and responsiveness. When alerted, your focus as an officer becomes all about responsiveness. You as a company-grade…[Read more]

Integrate with the SPO shop. Start thinking about MASCAL and personnel moves now. How will “dead” Soldiers move around the battlefield when the Brigade Support Area (BSA) jumps? We had a BN die twice in a short amount of time. You can’t be prepared for that many Soldiers but you should at least try to have a decent plan.

Who is your higher and…[Read more]

• Where can you set the example of “thinking out loud”?

You can set an example of “thinking out loud” by being transparent with your staff. When you are putting out guidance or instruction, gage who may benefit from your explanation of how you got to that decision. Example: I had to do an info paper on a topic relevant to our department data…[Read more]

• Do you act first and think later? Or do you think first and then change your actions?

I have learned over the years to take my time with decision making (as much as time will allow). Decisions in my field tend to be pretty complex and proper analysis needs to be done to determine the best course of action. Much of my life over the past year…[Read more]

— How do you recognize situations where you need to resist the urge to provide solutions?
I work closely with the CPT who took my previous job from me. There are a handful of people in the facility who come to me with questions pertaining to his job- because they know I’ll know the answer. I used to answer these questions for them because I love…[Read more]

“Discomfort with uncertainty” – that’s exactly what I was going to say. I may take control of a situation because I am nervous about the outcome. It could be because it’s a project that my boss has shown interest in so I’m on edge about the final product looking good.

I love how these chapters paint a picture that a leader having too much control…[Read more]

How do you recognize situations where you need to resist the urge to provide solutions?

I think this gets to the teach, coach, mentor spectrum in the Army.  Coaching is the most effective way to ensure someone learns, improves, and takes ownership of a task.  However, it’s the most time-consuming for all parties and incurs the most risk in the s…[Read more]

Is there a topic of discussion here? Happy to weigh in since I have worked with and supervised far more civilians than soldiers 🙂

The Navy definition and concept of leadership sounds a lot more like “management”. The beginning of the book talks about how empowerment and innovation aren’t necessarily welcome. Naval leaders aren’t really looking for influential thinkers- they’re looking for more of a transactional leader that they can count on to get the job done. It’s all…[Read more]

How can you get your boss to let you try a different way of doing things?

With my most recent boss, I’ve had to fight to ensure I get enough face time with him, due to some restructuring in our department. As with all of my bosses, I ensure I get on their calendar every quarter for my counseling session. I make sure I have a copy of his OER…[Read more]

What could your organization do to add “a little rudder far from the rocks” to prevent needing “a lot of rudder next to the rocks”?

I think instituting a battle rhythm and remaining disciplined to the battle rhythm could go a long way in providing the small course corrections necessary to remain on azimuth. What I oftentimes see is the…[Read more]

“What procedure or process could you change with one word that will give your junior officers/NCOs more decision-making authority?”

I think in the Army this is slightly tougher than what is described on the ship with the ‘one-word’ stipulation.  The submarine in the book is governed by a set of fairly strict regulations and norms – so slight…[Read more]

My first platoon had elements of the “just do” attitude.  My first command was rife with it.

Approaching the end of my first year as a PL and the end of our deployment to Iraq, I was doing the left seat right seat with my replacement.  I was proud of the work we had done and the changes we had made and then I heard it from one of my lower p…[Read more]

@fightingengineer I agree completely.  I think the author is talking about encouraging initiative, esprit, and empowered leaders – all excellent goals.  But I think he’s skipping over the fact you first have to have compliance, discipline, and competence to move to those higher stages on the ‘hierarchy of needs’ when it comes to organizational a…[Read more]

@charles.hood I’ll echo your comments on “whatever they tell me to do”. There is a difference between disciplined initiative (also disciplined disobedience, see GEN Milley’s comments on that matter) and insubordination. For this argument, I think you need to neglect orders that are illegal or immoral, for a moment.

There have been more than a…[Read more]