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1829 McGuire Pgs 3/13/02 9:03 AM Page 91 Capstone students at Cherry Point. Spitzer) H. Scott Squadron ( munications m Co 305th Senior Officers and Strategic Leader Development By M A R K A. M C G U I R E C hanging demands on the Armed Forces that while models for developing military leaders coupled with the rapid pace and increas- are sound, future stresses will severely test their ing frequency of deployments are not ability to adapt to emerging conditions. only affecting the exercise of strategic leadership but also how the military inculcates Concepts of Command the necessary qualities in commanders. This con- A review of service programs indicates simi- clusion is based on a study of senior leaders in all larities and differences. However, all the services five services and several government agencies. By appreciate the importance of developing strate- analyzing first-hand accounts of what con- gic leaders. The Army leader development model tributed to personal growth, the research found is depicted by three pillars: institutional (formal) education, operational assignments, and self-development initiatives. These pillars are supported by leadership fundamentals that encom- Colonel Mark A. McGuire, USA, is on the faculty of the Industrial pass service values and ethics. The Army model College of the Armed Forces and has taught in the Department of prescribes a career-long, progressive, sequential, Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at the U.S. Military Academy. Autumn/Winter 2001–02 / JFQ 91 Report Documentation Page Report Date Report Type Dates Covered (from... to) 00 00 2002 N/A - Title and Subtitle Contract Number Senior Officers and Strategic Leader Development Grant Number Program Element Number Author(s) Project Number Task Number Work Unit Number Performing Organization Name(s) and Address(es) Performing Organization Report Number National Defense University Institute for National Strategic Studies Washington D C 20319-5066 Sponsoring/Monitoring Agency Name(s) and Sponsor/Monitor’s Acronym(s) Address(es) Sponsor/Monitor’s Report Number(s) Distribution/Availability Statement Approved for public release, distribution unlimited Supplementary Notes The original document contains color images. Abstract Subject Terms Report Classification Classification of this page unclassified unclassified Classification of Abstract Limitation of Abstract unclassified UU Number of Pages 6 1829 McGuire Pgs 3/13/02 9:03 AM Page 92 (cid:2) LEADER DEVELOPMENT and interconnected process. Amplifying on the described in Coast Guard Commandant Instruc- three pillars, Michael Anastasio describes it as a tion 5251.1, Coast Guard Leadership Development continuing cycle of “education, training, experi- Program, prescribes an integrated process empha- ence, assessment, feedback, and reinforcement sizing resident and nonresident training, unit in which responsibility for development lies level experience, self-development programs, and with both the leader and the leader’s superior.”1 assessment instruments for units and individu- Navy leader development represents a career- als. Similar to the Army and Marine Corps mod- long continuum from recruitment to retirement. els, it emphasizes three common leader develop- The system encompasses operational assignments ment processes: the individual’s responsibility for coupled with formal institu- self-awareness and development, the unit’s re- the current system of senior tional education aimed at sponsibility to provide formal and informal ensuring that leaders are training, and the organization’s role in furnish- leader development involves technically and tactically ing formal systems for assignments, policy, train- placing promising leaders in trained and educated on the ing, and education. specific system, aircraft, or In the interest of cross-service generalization, key assignments ship they will be assigned to this analysis uses the three common developmen- next. Command leader tal tenets—operational assignments, institutional school reinforces service leadership fundamentals education, and self-development—to solicit feed- and decisionmaking processes. back from all respondents. A fourth tenet, men- The Marine Corps views leader development torship, is also included because of its influence as a continuous and progressive process through- as a development process. out an officer’s career. Marine Corps Doctrinal Grooming Generals, Raising Admirals Publication 1, Warfighting, states that the responsibility for implementing professional develop- The current system of senior leader development resides with the individual, the com- ment involves placing promising leaders in key as- mander, and the educational establishment. This signments to expose them to myriad challenging mirrors the pillars of the Army model. The insti- and educational experiences before they assume tutional education system is intended to build on roles as strategic leaders. Each service has identi- the base already provided by commanders in fied developmental commands and positions their unit development programs as well as where the most promising officers are assigned. In through individual study. The Marine Corps Uni- addition to operational assignments, each service versity focuses on developing the skills of deci- provides institutional schools that afford either a sionmaking in the face of uncertainty and fosters specialized or general education. Besides the inter- creativity through broadening the mind. mediate and senior service schools, lasting from The Air Force model is undergoing revision. six to ten months and geared towards mid-grade In 1998 the service published its Continuum Of Ed- officers, the services also offer school opportuni- ucation Framework which identifies professional ties tailored towards the organizational level lead- military knowledge, skills, and attitudes airmen ers, one and two star officers. Some schools are should possess at key points in their careers. The mandatory in all services, such as the Capstone framework reflects the dynamic and continuous Course for newly promoted general/flag officers. system of Air Force professional military educa- Others are optional, depending on the individ- tion for officers and links levels of learning with a ual’s future assignment. Each service has an office core curriculum so that each course, school, or to schedule and manage general officer atten- program builds on the previous level. Its five core dance at senior schools. Some courses are compet- areas are: the professions of arms, military studies, itive and attendees are selected by their superiors. international security, communications, and lead- Examples are the Joint Flag Air Component Com- ership. The Developing Aerospace Leaders Pro- mander and Joint Flag Officers Warfighting gram, established in 2000, adds a broader develop- Courses. While both are training-focused rather mental perspective. Its objective is to identify the than educational schools per se, they provide leadership needs of the transforming aerospace valuable instruction for air component and joint force and design a scheme that will develop lead- task force commanders. ers with the competencies for staff, joint, and op- Other educational opportunities include fel- erational assignments. This process will require a lowships and attendance at civilian and govern- balance of area expertise, career broadening as- ment schools to study such subjects as national signments, training and exercises, deployments, security, leadership, legal affairs, media relations, mentoring, and professional education. The Coast Guard defines leadership development as the system by which an organization grows its work force into leaders. Its model, as 92 JFQ / Autumn/Winter 2001–02 1829 McGuire Pgs 3/13/02 9:04 AM Page 93 McGuire schools and operational assignments. Since there are few formal systems for self-development, its use depends primarily on the individual. The Right Stuff Knowing the requisite skills, knowledge, and capacities of senior leaders and understanding how they are used as officers progress in their careers is only part of the solution. An equally diffi- cult question is determining how senior leaders acquire the faculty for executive leadership. How does a direct leader, a battalion/squadron/ship commander, develop into a four star strategic vi- sionary? Stratified systems theory provides a general framework for understanding this process.2 It postulates that conceptual capacity is created only as leaders are pushed beyond their current frame of reference. There is common agreement that strategic leader development requires a stimulus that challenges the leader’s capacity to rethink and reor- ganize frameworks in solving increasingly com- plex problems under conditions of ambiguity. Research suggests that operational assignments are the most vital aspect of developing senior leaders. One survey of the literature found that the “most important influence on long term growth is the interaction that occurs between commanders and subordinate officers during operational assignments.”3 Further, on-the-job training is more developmental than institu- mper) tional education. Mentoring, coaching, self-eval- Daniel Tre ufualt iionn e,n ahnadn crienflge cotpioerna taioren aoln elxyp meraiergnicnea.lly help- Guard ( On the other hand, some researchers contend S. Coast tghreaatt tphreo marirsiev aflo or fa lilnotwerinacgt iivnes tsiitmutuiolantailo nin hstoruldcs- U. tion to train future senior commanders. By inte- Coordinating support, grating simulation and the classroom, institutions Enduring Freedom. expose students to multiple points of view, engage systems acquisition management, equal opportu- them in questioning existing frames of reference, nity, aviation safety, information warfare, and in- challenge them with real world complexity and stallation command. There is also a one-week uncertainty, involve them with collaborative tasks Leadership at the Peak and Leadership Develop- that build interpersonal skill, present exercises ment Course, run by the Center for Creative Lead- that include synthesis as well as analysis, and pro- ership. Classes are designed to enhance self-aware- vide time for reading, reflection, discussion, and ness through feedback on personal leadership writing. Richard Chilcoat’s discussion of strategic style, team problem solving, and other exercises. crisis exercises offers one example. These drills cre- There are also informal methods. Mentor- ate a representative strategic politico-military en- ing, through which senior or retired officers can vironment that raises the sights of students and help develop general/flag officers in their service confronts them with higher-level processes before and for the joint chain of command, is the most they deal with them in the real world.4 common. Informal self-development also in- Others contend that while institutional cludes such initiatives as professional reading schools are getting better at replicating the real- lists and subscribing to journals. Each service at- ism of the strategic environment, they are still taches a different emphasis to this area, though in general mentorship and self-development ap- pear to be much less formally emphasized in the services, if they are at all, than institutional Autumn/Winter 2001–02 / JFQ 93 1829 McGuire Pgs 3/13/02 9:04 AM Page 94 (cid:2) LEADER DEVELOPMENT not as good as the real thing. Using both domains varied from the views of the direct leader group. as complementary developmental processes may The average rankings were operational assign- be the best solution, a notion supported by ments 1.2, mentorship 2.4, institutional educa- Chilcoat’s argument that no leader development tion 2.6, self-development 3.6, and other devel- domain is intended to be the sole process but that opmental experiences 4.2. Narrative responses the synergistic effect of formal and on-the-job ex- from the group included: “Key operational assign- periences most enhances leader development. ments are most effective; they are where the rub- ber meets the road; you learn how to do it; there Testing the Waters is no substitute for experience.” The research behind this article suggests that Institutional education was not ranked sec- current scholarship on the effectiveness of leader ond in criticality for the newly minted general of- development tools is about right, a conclusion ficer group as projected. Having an informal men- derived from a survey of 48 senior leaders on toring relationship with a senior leader ranked three grade levels. higher. While this ordering is relatively close be- Participants were asked to identify, rank, tween mentorship and institutional education, and explain the five developmental processes (a the reversal in priority from the direct leaders fifth process of other developmental may indicate a trend toward valuing mentorship current scholarship experienceswas added) in accordance more as leaders progress in their careers. with their criticality to success (the Finally, both groups supported the premise on the effectiveness lower the score, the higher the per- that self-development is the least critical process. of leader development ceived importance). Answers from Responses verifying this finding included state- the brigade command selected ments that the pace of operations is too high to tools is about right group (direct leaders) were ranked devote attention to self-development. Speaking to by their average scores: operational the interconnectedness of leader development, assignments 1.4, institutional education 2.8, one respondent confessed that he could not sepa- mentorship 3.1, other developmental experi- rate self-development from the other processes. ences 3.5, and self-development 3.7. Responses from 17 strategic leaders (senior While the responses and accompanying nar- general officers) were operational assignments ratives confirmed that operational assignments 1.6, self-development 2.5, mentorship 2.9, insti- are the most critical elements for developing tutional education 3.3, and other developmental leader skills, institutional schools also proved im- experiences 4.2. Strategic leaders, like the direct and organizational groups, considered operational assignments the most critical. Notably, this Training at the Air group put self-development in second place, defy- Mobility Warfare Center. ing predictions and the scholarly literature and contrasting sharply with the low ranking other groups gave it. Answers and Questions These findings raise significant issues for Spitzer) emaecnht cmomodpeol.nent of the military leader develop- H. Squadron (Scott fatartacioitnonOria nlfp ogear rs awsaitlagilo sntn hmtahrlee enea stfgssor.i guoFnunempwdsea ndtwitiosas.ans gT prfheeoreercd emg itvrhooeasdwtt itoinomn gb-p tesho torerto-pajneonrbgt- munications ltehaed elirtse.r aOtupreer aatniodn adle sacsrsiibgendm beyn trse, sapso npdreesnetns,t ewd eirne Com viewed as the most challenging experiences and 305th hence as providing the best opportunity for alter- ing a leader’s frame of reference. Therefore, the portant in providing time to ponder the last job services should continue to manage the progres- and consider how to improve future performance. sion of operational assignments as the most critical Also, attesting to the variation in response to the developmental experience. same stimulus, one of the 15 in this group ranked While field and fleet positions have the most self-development as the most critical factor. powerful influence among all the development The survey responses from 16 general officers attending Capstone (organizational leaders in transition from direct to strategic leadership) 94 JFQ / Autumn/Winter 2001–02 1829 McGuire Pgs 3/13/02 9:04 AM Page 95 McGuire biases the perceived criticality of mentorship and hence its ranking. In retrospect, a clearer defini- tion might have reduced the diversity of opin- ions. For example, several respondents in all three groups referred to their commander’s actions and advice as critical to their development. These responses might have been better categorized as value achieved from operational assignments. Such confusion is mirrored in service doctrines that rarely define the scope and purpose of mentorship. Clarification would be the first step in strengthening the role of mentoring. Self-development. The most significant finding from the study is the importance strategic level leaders place on self-development or indi- Abell) vidual study, in contrast to the first two groups. M. This is an especially alarming result. Most offi- Navy (Charles ctgoeivr see nninh t ahonpec eeirn attchiroeeniaras lio nawgsn sti gepnmrmopfeoen satssin odhn aafvrle ee qldiututeclnea cttyiiom noef, S. U. military operations. Participating in NATO With ever quickening operational tempo, mission planning. why do so many strategic leaders espouse self-de- processes, operational and personnel demands velopment? Perhaps they have made time for self- may prohibit the services from optimizing the ex- study and seen its benefits. Several officers from perience offered by deliberate assignment poli- this group claimed to be avid readers—and not cies. In short, operational demands always place just in military subjects. Perhaps more deliberate mission first and leader development second. A effort should be made to build in the time and re- solution may be for the services to employ the sources for self-study. other pillars to compensate for shortfalls in career Implementing additions to leader develop- assignment opportunities. ment programs will be tough. There appears to be Institutional education. Findings reveal a grad- no relief in sight for the current operational and ual decrease in the perceived importance of insti- personnel tempo. The demands of mission ac- tutional education as careers progress. The complishment will continue to inhibit com- schoolhouse slowly gives way to mentorship or manders from conducting unit programs and in- self-study. The reason may be that institutions dividuals from opting for self-study programs cannot replicate the environmental demands and while on operational assignments. experiences strategic leaders encounter in actual What can be done? Developmental exercises assignments. Another explanation could be expe- will certainly have to be scheduled around or in riential bias. Strategic level respondents have gen- partnership with mission exercises and deploy- erally not attended educational institutions for ments. It will take very creative unit commanders several years and may remember recent assign- to exploit these opportunities. For example, an ments and mentors more sharply, attaching Army Times article reported that one division greater relevance to them. Leaders who attended commander sequestered his battalion command- school recently perceive their institutional educa- ers for a few days and ran them through group tion as more critical. Perhaps the difference is exercises challenging their tactical and leadership that the two groups either don’t completely un- abilities. Other leader development initiatives in- derstand the requirements on strategic leaders or clude battlefield staff rides, tactical exercises with- educational institutions have improved or both. out troops, professional reading programs, book A case could be made that schoolhouses over the reports and presentations, writing papers, map past decade have shifted focus to preparing stu- exercises, feedback assessments, and keeping jour- dents for higher-level leadership. The challenge nals of lessons learned. Currently, the services are for military institutions is to build on this success aligning their performance evaluation reports and continue enhancing experiential exercises with the requirement to develop subordinate and simulations. leaders, as evidenced in the Army’s revised officer Mentorship. Although all three groups rated evaluation report. Such initiatives should help mentorship as a secondary or tertiary develop- focus commanders on this challenge. mental process, the study found confusion over what the term actually means. This uncertainty Autumn/Winter 2001–02 / JFQ 95 1829 McGuire Pgs 3/13/02 9:04 AM Page 96 (cid:2) LEADER DEVELOPMENT additional opportunities? One possibility is an institutional setting where retirees can periodi- cally exchange information with active duty general/flag officers in a nonoperational environment. The services should also explore how simulations technology can develop and enhance these relationships. Other respondent suggestions included tak- ing advantage of graduate education at civilian institutions in international affairs, exposing leaders to the dynamics of civil-military relations and congressional affairs, establishing partnerships with industry, and spending more time with sen- Maddock) iboer aleccaodmersp liinsh oetdh ewr itsherivni ctehse. Scuonchte ixnti toifa tai vmeso creo urold- Tinra Liintionhgo reox,eGrcreiseec e. Navy (Martin bust Ainlstthitouutgiohn athl de esveerlvoipcmese hnta vper oegfrfaemct.ive senior S. U. leader development programs, there is cause for concern. Given increasing mission demands coupled with the broadening complexity, uncertainty, The School Solution and ambiguity of the global environment, the Armed Forces must continuously strive to improve Regardless of the number of development professional development, ensuring that leaders techniques used in the field and fleet, the fact re- are prepared to meet future challenges. There are mains that there are limited opportunities to em- no easy options, but there are clearly requirements ploy them. There is even less for additional initiatives to offset the effects of a re- institutional education that occasion for self-analysis. lentless operational tempo. JFQ Along with the challenge of complements and enhances missions and deployments, NOTES operational assignments time for reflection is crucial to leadership development. This 1Michael A. Anastasio, “Leader Development: Direc- will be critical leaves institutional education tion for the Future,” Military Review, vol. 71, no. 5(May as the primary vehicle in 1991), pp. 10–19. which to process the experiences encountered in 2Philip Lewis and T. Owen Jacobs, “Individual Differences in Strategic Leadership Capacity: A Con- operational assignments and synthesize new structive/Developmental View,” Strategic Leadership: A frameworks for the future. Thus the placement of Multiorganizational-level Perspective, edited by Robert L. institutional education that complements and en- Phillips and James G. Hunt (New York: Greenwood hances operational assignments will be critical. Publishing Group, 1992), p. 136. Several respondents recommended conduct- 3Mark D. Rocke and Thomas W. Hayden, “Officer ing professional military education earlier in offi- Development: A Doctrinal Imperative,” Military Review, cers’ careers to provide an enhanced awareness of vol. 73, no. 1 (January 1993), p. 27. national and international security strategy. One 4Richard A. Chilcoat, “Fourth Army War College: proposal is to send officers to war college before Preparing Strategic Leaders for the Next Century,” rather than after mid-level command. Parameters, vol. 25, no. 4 (Winter 1995–96), p. 19. Capstone and other general/flag programs help officers gain a global perspective, but they come late in a career and there are no mandatory subsequent courses for strategic leaders. Perhaps an institutional education process between assignments is unnecessary on the strategic level. Leader conferences and other interactions may already provide those benefits. The question is whether there is sufficient time or opportunity on the job for strategic leader discussion, reflection, integration, and synthesis of concepts. One source of help is experienced senior officers. Many retired strategic leaders are involved in professional military education. Are there 96 JFQ / Autumn/Winter 2001–02