Basics Leadership Skills

This post is about Basics Leadership Skills and how each of can become better leaders.

Leadership happens when four factors come together. Consider the activity you’ve recently participated in. Up to this point we have addressed two of the four factors; situation (in terms of context) and communications. The other two are the Leader and the Led.

Four Factors of Leadership

Leadership happens when four factors meet and a leader takes charge.

A situation occurs, planned or unplanned
A leader takes command
Effective communication between the leader and those to be led
The led follow the leader

We have adapted the United States Army’s definition of leader[1] and leadership[2] to set a frame work for this course. But as R.M. Stogdill once noted, “there are as many definitions of leadership as there are people who have attempted to define it.” So for the purpose of this course we’re using this only as a framework. Much more information can be found in Army Field Manual FM 6-22 (Army Leadership).

Leadership Framework

Effective leadership rests on an age old framework of character, presence, and intellect that is the balance between what a leader must be, know, and do. This framework is an adaptation of the United States Army’s found in FM 6-22 (Army Leadership).

Continuity of Character

Are we different people at work than we are at home?

While conducting research for this course we found several comment threads on social media and forums where respondents suggested the possibility of leaving bias at the house when going to work. Much the same as leaving work at work when coming home. Does it work?

“When you are commanding, leading [Soldiers] under conditions where physical exhaustion and privations must be ignored; where the lives of [Soldiers] may be sacrificed, then, the efficiency of your leadership will depend only to a minor degree on your tactical or technical ability. It will primarily be determined by your character, your reputation, not so much for courage—which will be accepted as a matter of course—but by the previous reputation you have established for fairness, for that high-minded patriotic purpose, that quality of unswerving determination to carry through any military task assigned you.”

– General of the Army George C. Marshall

In the Inter-Cultural Skills and Leadership course we stress continuity of character and character starts with what we refer to as the leader’s point of authenticity. This is the leader when they feel most comfortable and able to be as genuine and authentic as possible. We use the “Venn Leader Challenge” to help explain how a point of authenticity is developed throughout the course of life-long leader development.

Venn Leader Challenge

“A Venn Leader is one who others follow for their character, presence, and intellect. The Venn Leader is a morally mature person, who with varying degrees of transparency is willing to live their life with unwavering character to ensure honorable and virtuous behavior in the midst of adversity. They have a clear sense of identity and are a fair judge of right and wrong. They operate with a sense of self awareness that leads to effective use of emotional intelligence; they take ownership of their decisions. The Venn Leader has the moral strength to be courageous to stand up for what they believe is right. They have the confidence to believe the outcome of their actions will achieve their desired intent. They are self-disciplined and able to control their emotions. They continuously strive to be technical experts and masters of their profession. Perhaps most important is their mental agility and the resiliency of their spirit that allows them to circumnavigate the obstacles they can avoid and the perseverance to bounce back from those they cannot.”

Character

Character is a person’s moral and ethical qualities, helps determine what is right and gives a leader motivation to do what is appropriate, regardless of the circumstances or the consequences. A leader’s character is heavily based on socialization, the formation of values and the inculcation of a professional ethic. This course is largely set on developing the leader’s character as technical and tactical competence will come as a matter of course and is covered in so many other training opportunities.

Presence

Presence is defined as the state or fact of existing, occurring, or being present in a place or thing. But for a leader presence is so much more than just showing up. As a leader the magnetic north on your compass may be something like, “I’ll be where the action is, when it is, and ready to lead when I get there.” Being a leader is a status and a role we play on the world’s stage. Taking pride in ourselves as leaders is the first step in being a leader of presence. This requires us to be fit enough to do what our charges must do, to have the courage to lead them through it, and the bearing – projecting a command presence and being an image of authority.

Intellect

Intellect is the faculty of reasoning and understanding objectively, especially with regard to abstract or academic matters. For the leader intellect is our collective mental abilities, both conscious and unconscious. being a master of our craft requires some serious brain power, conscious and unconscious. Leaders must have the implicit skill to make spontaneous decisions when seconds count, but they must also have the ability to slow the process when time allows. Perhaps more importantly than the ability to do both is the experience to know when to do which. Our agility as a leader to adapt to evolving situations, a myriad of team member personalities and talents, and to overcome our own obstacles is paramount. Leaders must have the ability to decide between two courses of action based on their VAB and previous experiences, often in a split second.

[1] US Army Field Manual 6-22: Leader: “A Leader is anyone [everyone] who by virtue of assumed role or assigned responsibility inspires and influences people to accomplish organizational goals. Leaders motivate people both inside and outside the chain of command to pursue actions, focus thinking, and shape decisions for the greater good of the organization.”

[2] US Army Field Manual 6-22: Leadership: “Leadership is the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improve the organization.”

Basics Leadership Skills