Can effective ‘Military Leadership’ translate into effective ‘Civilian or Business Leadership’?
The military stresses leadership from day two. Day one is learning how to follow
By Steven W. Strifler
President and Chief Operating Officer,
Cisco-Eagle, Inc.
Can effective ‘Military Leadership’ translate into effective ‘Civilian or Business Leadership’?
Twelve engineers are sitting around a table. They are presented with
the exact same problem. Individually, they develop twelve unique
solutions. Each is adamant that their personal solution is the ‘right
answer.’ Upon review, all of their solutions would work. So who has the
right solution? When the engineers are asked that question they all
raise their hand. They are then given the opportunity to review their
peers solutions. Though they find some merit in each solution, they
still feel that their solution is ‘overall’ the best.
Twelve Leaders are sitting around a table. They are presented with the exact same questions and issues regarding ‘Leadership.’ You have probably out paced the writing to the end of the story. Yes; they individually develop their own solution. They each believe that their solution is right. Each finds merit in the other solutions but still believes their solution is ‘overall’ the best.
This article started with a single sentence question. There is one truly important word in that question, which is repeated twice: “Effective.” There is another word in that question, which is repeated twice, that probably has as many variations to it as there are fire ants in Texas; Leadership.
Can effective ‘Military Leadership’ translate into effective ‘Civilian or Business Leadership’? The answer is ‘Yes.’ The real question is ‘How?’ or possibly ‘Why?’
First, a foundation…
Every organization, at any level, needs leadership. But what is Leadership? Remember the fire ants? This is where the twelve leaders begin to move in their own direction. The ‘I’ word is about to come into play.
I believe that some people have a natural bent toward Leadership. They gravitate toward taking charge, toward taking responsibility, toward leading the group, and people associated with them gravitate toward following their lead.
I believe that some people, who have a desire to lead, can be taught and educated to lead.
I believe that Leadership takes training, education, and practical experience at leading.
I believe in ‘Servant Leadership.’ That is that the leader has a responsibility to those being led, which is greater than the responsibility than those being led have to the leader.
I believe that the ‘BEST’ definition of Leadership is: Leadership is the process of influencing human behavior so as to accomplish the goals of the organization while creating an environment which assists the individual in accomplishing more than they would have on their own. That is Strifler’s definition of Leadership and it is the BEST! Hahaha!
I believe that the only power a leader has is that which the follower is willing to give.
I believe that a Leader must know how to follow before they can lead.
That is enough of my ‘I believes’ for now.
EVERY LEADER develops their own set of Leadership principles. Those principles are the manifestation of their ‘I believe’ statements and they are developed through training, education, and experience.
They try something and it works. There is an ‘I believe’ in the making. They hear something and it strikes a chord. There is another ‘I believe’ in the making. They are taught something that they find merit in. Another ‘I believe’ in the making.
The longer a Leader has been in a Leadership role, the more training executed, the more education absorbed, the longer their list of ‘I believes’ becomes. Over time and effort a Leaders Leadership Principles gains breadth and depth. They have more Leadership ‘tools’ to apply to a situation.
Leadership is situational. One style will not fit every situation. One technique will not fit every situation. One method will not fit every situation. One of anything, regarding leadership, will not be applicable to every combination of the people and events which make-up a given situation.
To the Point!
Every organization, at any level, needs leadership.
Can effective ‘Military Leadership’ translate into effective ‘Civilian or Business Leadership’?
‘How and Why’…
The typical undergraduate education does not address leadership. The typical school system does not address leadership. The typical associate will not be in a ‘first’ leadership role until years into their employment experience. The typical associate will not have ever had any Leadership training, education, or experience prior to accepting their first Leadership responsibility.
The military stresses leadership. They teach it from day two. Day one is learning how to follow. They provide constant education and training on leadership. They provide continuous practical experience. The military is not about authoritative, hardcore dictatorship. Those occasionally have their place, but the military stresses a wide range of styles, methods, techniques, and more. The ‘heart’ of the military is leadership. Leadership in the military is influencing human behavior so as to accomplish the goals of the organization while creating an environment which assists the individual in accomplishing more than they would have on their own. That is true at all levels of the military from the Fire Team to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
IT TRANSLATES because Leadership is about people and events, about Leaders and Led, not about military, civilian, or business. Those are simply the environment, the industry, or primary task to which the Leadership applies. People coming out of the military have typically had numerous opportunities to acquire ‘I Believes’ and Effective Leadership depends on having a high number of ‘I Believe’ options to apply to the numerous variations of leadership situations.
There is no better place than the military to obtain Leadership training, education, or experience. A person typically comes out of the military with many ‘I believes.’ Thus a person typically comes out of the military with developed Leadership Principles. They have developed ‘tools’ to apply to the endless potential situations.
‘Effective’ Leadership is universal.
To obtain ‘Effective Leadership’ the right ‘I believe’ must be applied to the situation. BUT which ‘I believe’ is the right one? Ask the twelve leaders sitting at the table!
One thing is absolutely certain! I BELIEVE that the Leader sitting at the table with the most ‘tools’ (training, education, and experience) has the highest probability of having the appropriate ‘tool’ within their Leadership Principles to effectively apply to the given situation.
Can effective ‘Military Leadership’ translate into effective ‘Civilian or Business Leadership’?
YES!
I Believe it can!
There are obviously an endless supply of Leadership situations each uniquely created by numerous influences such as personalities of the people involved, company culture, current performance, desired results, and potentially hundreds of other things that might include geography, religion, and politics. All situations have a right Leadership answer and all situations have no one right Leadership answer.
I began developing my ‘I Believes’ as a young man, boy, in West Texas through starting and operating a home, apartment, and business lawn care service with a friend, playing football for Odessa Permian of Friday Night Lights fame, and church.
A few more personal ‘I Believes’ from those days…
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Hard work in a hard environment is important
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Two can do more than twice the work of one
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There is more customer security and satisfaction when they view more than one is responsible
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Winning is important
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The rewards of Winning come in many forms
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Fear of losing is a significant motivator
