Matt,

When I was a Team Leader (PL) and Company Commander, I followed the recommendations listed in various command books I had read.

At its core, inventorying and property management is about your ability  be organized, thorough, and disciplined.

So, here’s the same advice (plus some) from my own perspective now.  Some of my info is a l…[Read more]

Matt,

When I was a Team Leader (PL) and Company Commander, I followed the recommendations listed in various command books I had read.

At its core, inventorying and property management is about your ability  be organized, thorough, and disciplined.

So, here’s the same advice (plus some) from my own perspective now.  Some of my info is a l…[Read more]

Matt,

When I was a Team Leader (PL) and Company Commander, I followed the recommendations listed in various command books I had read.

At its core, inventorying and property management is about your ability  be organized, thorough, and disciplined.

So, here’s the same advice (plus some) from a positive perspective.  Some of my info is a l…[Read more]

I embrace storytelling.  The stories I tell are based on my personal experiences rather than trying to recruit or sell anything.  I try to shape the story to the crowd and intent of the meeting, though, so I make it informative or energizing or mentoring or instructing, as the case may be.

With folks who know the Army, I tell them more detail a…[Read more]

As @logisticus said, be yourself.

I actually provided a similar answer to a similar question: https://juniorofficer.army.mil/discussion/relationships-with-enlisted-personnel/#post-928

Read books to get to understand more of the science of leadership, watch your leaders to assess their performance, and pay close attention to your own performance…[Read more]

The following is anecdotal, but conveys an answer to your question quite well, I think.

I have a long history of being considered overly professional, too strict, and robot/lacking interpersonal skills.  I’ve spent a lot of time working on this as a leader, both prior to and during leadership roles.

One of the key, consistent pieces of advice I…[Read more]

At the platoon level, in the case of low morale, I would take a two-pronged approach.

First, I would focus on the platoon itself.  Put your ear to the ground, talk to your PSG, and try to figure out why things are low.  Develop a plan with your PSG to engage the platoon in whatever “slices” you see necessary – lower enlisted, NCOs, Squad L…[Read more]

I had a good number of these while in command.

For me, one of the biggest focal points was on treating the troops stuck in the middle of these personal problems more as people and less as troops in a very private, pressure-free setting.

I should note I always pushed the message of preventive action by NCOs.  Our NCOs, whether at PLT or Company…[Read more]