Introduction
Adapting to the situation on the fly is a challenging task, yet it is crucial for conducting an operation successfully in many cases. Enemies and technologies become more unpredictable and often require a complex approach that must be continuously reassessed for its viability. At the same time, the U.S. Army subordinate leaders must be trained with the idea that they will one day guide a unit of their own (Wenzel 2015). The lack of predictability makes experience transfer a crucial part of subordinate leader training, yet there are gaps in this process that can be covered through increased attention to trainees’ understanding of their goals. One of the issues necessary to be covered through subordinate leader development programs is the need to adapt to a future environment through flexibility and critical thinking. These traits can only be achieved through a complex understanding of battlefield tactics, thus requiring a multimodal solution, which will be reviewed in this paper.
Problem Identification
Subordinate leaders serve as a backbone in accurate decision-making. Their ability to communicate lies at the core of soldiers’ understanding of a mission. They coordinate soldiers and ensure that orders from higher hierarchical positions are executed to the best of a group’s abilities. However, teaching subordinate leaders how to coach others better might require experience that they are yet to obtain. Subordinates’ leadership skills must be virtually inherited from their leaders, yet it is a process that is challenging to facilitate (Wenzel 2015). Moreover, this gap is troublesome to fill without good hands-on experience. Subordinate leaders are required to show flexibility and decision-making capabilities nearly similar to their commanding officers, yet they may lack the necessary expertise to perform such tasks (Headquarters Department of the Army 2019). Therefore, it is mandated to adopt subordinate leader development programs to accommodate this requirement in the curriculum. Taking the initiative into one’s hands requires significant confidence in their abilities, which can be achieved through positive affirmation and adequate support from both peers and officers from higher positions.
Proposed Solutions
Feedback
One of the crucial steps in covering the gaps in knowledge among subordinate leaders who may encounter issues with coaching soldiers is providing immediate feedback. The U.S. Army leader development programs may mitigate this issue by ensuring that subordinate leaders have substantial support from more experienced officers. Leadership development programs must include evaluating one’s talents and weaknesses to adjust a future plan of action (The United States Army 2020). Evaluators may be called from other units to ensure less subjective opinions. This data must be used as a foundation for planning a course for self-improvement exercises and adjusting one’s direction while managing a unit.
Moreover, valuable feedback can come from lower-rank soldiers as well. The U.S. Army’s shift toward after-action reviews (AARs), which included reports from all members of an operation, had a tremendous positive impact on its performance (Ivany 2018). Therefore, feedback on subordinate leaders’ actions can be gathered through AARs to provide these officers with information for self-reflection and personal assessments. Such an approach can also be highly beneficial for building trust and respect between soldiers and their commanders, further improving subordinate leaders’ standing among peers. The intention behind this process is to generate self-perception of a leader among subordinates who may one day take this position.
Becoming a Situational Leader
Flexibility on a battlefield implies the ability to switch between different leadership styles. Soldiers often require different approaches that make them understand and execute commands more efficiently (Milnes 2018). There are times when a subordinate leader must be authoritative or show servant’s qualities instead, reading the tone of a situation on the fly. Such skill requires an in-depth knowledge of each managerial approach. There are situations when it is vital to prioritize different responses from soldiers while keeping their motivation high.
The most influential officers are the ones whose input is fully understood despite the circumstances. Therefore, a leadership development program must include explanations of varying levels of responsibility sharing, group-task orientations, and other leadership theories that can be beneficial in incorporating various managerial methods (Milnes 2018). A situational approach is difficult to execute even among top-tier managers, yet it can become a life-saving tool during a mission.
Teaching How to Make Decisions
The operational environment is never stable and cannot be effectively predicted with high accuracy. There are factors that require an immediate response that is drawn from personal experience and understanding of the whole picture (Headquarters Department of the Army 2019). Subordinate leaders may lack these qualities due to being improperly trained by their sergeants. Therefore, it is critical to provide experience to each officer regarding all possible combat developments. Soldiers learn directly from their leaders, and this process requires not only setting tasks but also teaching, giving examples, and helping others obtain necessary real-life experience (Milnes 2018). A leadership development program must include discussions and on-field exercises in combat strategy where subordinate leaders will have a chance to appraise their skills.
Keeping theoretical knowledge in mind must also be prioritized. A course for future leaders must contain thought-provoking tasks and case studies that involve insights from experts in a given area (The United States Army 2020). Analytical skills can be efficiently trained through simulations and theoretical courses under the supervision of experienced officers. Moreover, it is highly beneficial to perform “how they fight” lessons directly prior to each mission to ensure a clear understanding of the expected goals and obstacles (The United States Army 2020). These briefings can be a part of a leadership development program to ensure further that subordinates take in the information properly. The transition from an ordinary follower to a leader is impossible without having a chance to make vital decisions that affect a unit’s course of action (Headquarters Department of the Army 2019). Therefore, soldiers must be given an opportunity to test their managerial skills and take on the role of a unit’s commander as a part of their training program.
Conclusion
In conclusion, providing subordinate leaders with the knowledge and education their job requires can be achieved through feedback, teaching different leadership styles, and conducting analyses of situations with shifting conditions that require strategy reassessments. A subordinate leader must understand how to better connect with their followers depending on the circumstances. It is impossible to manage a unit efficiently without being able to find and utilize a suitable style that will help this appointed individual to deliver their message. However, such an officer must realize their mistakes and extract knowledge from them, which is possible with the help of their peers via feedback. Through personal development and external support and encouragement, a future unit leader must take in all the information regarding possible mission situations in order to make the right decision on the field. Among soldiers, trust and respect must be earned through diligent preparation and high communication skills.
Bibliography
Headquarters Department of the Army. 2019. Army Leadership and the Profession. Washington, DC: Army Doctrine Publication.
Milnes, Jennifer. 2018. “Developing Future Army Leaders Requires Flexibility.” The Official Home Page of the United States Army. Web.
The United States Army. 2020. ARMOR FY2021 Training and Leader Development Strategy. The U.S. Army Armor School.
Wenzel, Frank. 2015. “Developing Leaders.”Military Review, Web.