Important Themes for an NCO: the Army Leadership Requirement Model, Ethical Problem Solving and Team Building
I. Background
The historical evolution for the noncommissioned officers is full of pride and tradition. The opening line of the noncommissioned officer creed, “No one is more professional than I,” is not just a pledge, it is also a promise to all NCOs who came before us that their service and sacrifice were not in vain. Their commitment to the high ideals of this country, our constitution, and the defense of freedom makes the history of the United States Army. It is the NCOs’ commitment and sense of duty that established the Warrior ethos. NCOs who came before us understood the necessity of placing the mission first, never accepting defeat, and never quitting no matter the reason. They conditioned their minds and bodies to become proficient and professional in their fighting skills to deploy, engage, and destroy the enemies of the United States, no matter the conditions.
II. Transition
The Army’s ultimate responsibility is to defend the country, through battle and support. As an NCO, leadership in combat is one of the primary missions and most important challenges. Leadership is about accomplishing the mission and taking care of Soldiers. It is about living up to the ultimate responsibility, leading Soldiers in combat and other operations. To meet this challenge, NCOs must develop character and competence while achieving excellence.
III. Thesis statement
Everything in the Army starts with leadership. Without competent noncommissioned officers, the Army cannot achieve success in facing the challenges of the present operational environment. The country and most importantly the Soldiers, look to us to define leadership and provide examples of what a leader should be, know and do.
Supporting point 1
Army leadership is the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the organization. To do this effectively, the Army created a model that describes what a leader is and what a leader does. The Army Leadership Requirements Model consists of three attributes which are the qualities that a leader possesses and three competencies which are the actions that leaders do. All of the model’s components interrelate with each other. According to the Army Leadership Requirement Model, the attributes a leader should have are character, presence, and intellect. A leader with character represents the Army Values, possesses empathy, and is disciplined. Army Values keep the military community together with Soldiers holding themselves and others accountable. Trust develops within the unit when leaders demonstrate the Army Values and when Soldiers demonstrate the Army Values in following and working together. Soldier teams build cohesion and become unstoppable. Army values are the foundation for the trust that makes units work. The second attribute is a presence which is how others see you. An effective leader’s presence consists of fitness, resilience, military and professional bearing, and confidence. A resilient leader has the ability to bounce back from life’s stressors frequently and recover quickly from setbacks, injuries, or adversity. The third attribute is the intellect which allows effective problem-solving. Intellect helps leaders think creatively, ethically, and with cultural sensitivity to consider unintended, as well as intended consequences. The operational environment requires cultural awareness. Leaders ensure the unit is properly prepared to deal with the population of particular areas as allies, neutrals, or enemies. These are important factors when Army leaders attempt to deal with and extend influence beyond the chain of command. Character, presence, and intellect must be part of every Army noncommissioned officer. NCOs can develop them to a higher level with self-assessment, mentorship, and honest effort. The three major Competencies are lead, develop, and achieve. The leader's competence progresses from a combination of school education, self-development, realistic training, and experience. Leaders gain the basic competencies at the direct leadership level or when individuals become junior noncommissioned officers. They should not wait until deployments to develop their leadership competencies but use every training opportunity to evaluate and improve their ability to lead. NCOs always look for new learning opportunities, ask questions, seek training opportunities, conduct self-assessments, and request performance critiques. The first competence of the Army Leadership Requirement Model is leading which applies the three attributes to the core leader competencies while guiding others toward a common goal and mission accomplishment. The competency of development involves improving not only the leader but also subordinates, teams, squads, platoons, and units. Developing people and the unit with a long-term view requires leaders who create a positive environment, seek self-improvement, and invest time to develop subordinates. The last competency is achieving meaning to get results. Achieving focuses on accomplishing the mission, setting objectives, and getting results in pursuit of those objectives.
Supporting point 2
On occasions NCOs, will encounter ethical problems that will require critical thinking. All NCOs must be able to apply good moral and ethical values to find moral solutions to different problems. Ethical reasoning, just like in any organization, is the process the leader uses to help solve and prevent ethical problems. Ethical reasoning is very difficult in practice, but after analyzing the process to resolve ethical problems mixed with the Army experience, leaders realize that critical reasoning is always based on Army values and regulations that every soldier learned since Basic Training, preparing them to face the tough calls. When selecting the best solution, leaders must use critical thinking skills to control possible obstacles and results in implementing a solution. To resolve ethical issues leaders must consider how to implement the solution to the problem. The best technique is to explain the plan to subordinates and let them implement it. Another technique may be to give the plan to an individual and let them execute it. Noncommissioned officers always supervise, assess, and adjust plans, considering ways to avoid or overcome any obstacle. Mental agility allows thought that anticipates and adapts to changing or unknown situations and circumstances, allowing unique solutions to problems. Leaders that use critical thinking and reasoning have an open mind to new ideas and concepts examining problems in depth with several points of view. They do not settle for the first answer that comes to mind.
Supporting point 3
Teams do not come together by accident. NCOs must guide Soldiers through three developmental stages: formation, enrichment, and sustainment. NCOs do not often select their team members but do have the responsibility to ensure the team forms into a high-performing unit. Teams work best when new members quickly feel a part of the team. The formation stage of team building is also the stage in which the NCOs communicate with the Soldiers what they expect of them, the standards to which they will be held accountable, and expectations. NCOs should encourage their Soldiers to ask questions if they are unclear on what the expectations are, or to what standard they are to perform. The goal is to create a mindset that good performance is the norm, superior performance is recognized, and poor performance is unacceptable. Additionally, leaders must adhere to the standards and expectations as well, setting the example and challenging subordinates to match the leader's example. It is important to recognize the positive contributions Soldiers make to the team because they need to feel that their efforts and hard work are appreciated creating a more cohesive team. During the enrichment stage, NCOs need to build on the trust that has been established and continually encourage your Soldiers to build trust amongst themselves. Trust is a two-way street. A team should trust their leader, but also the leader should demonstrate his or her trust in them. To build an effective team, NCOs have to be a leader of character and reflect on the Army Values. During the sustainment stage of team building, a leader performs all of the actions during the formation and enrichment stages of team building. To avoid a team of becoming complacent, a leader needs to be creative in ways to challenge them in training.
VI. Conclusion
Noncommissioned officers learn that having a combination of strong people skills, physical presence, competence, and serving as a role model allows them to influence soldiers. People skills help individuals to be approachable, to be able to interact with others, and to gain respect as a person, not just respect as “the boss”. The Army leadership requirement model, ethical problem solving, and team building are important for an NCO because it helps individuals to improve their communication, planning, analyzing, and management skills. The understanding of the three supporting points enhances NCOs to act equally, share knowledge and create relationships, building strong teams with committed and dedicated Soldiers.
