The Lord Down Here. Discipline Lessons from RSM John C Lord MVO MBE
I don't often find leadership material about NCOs, so here is one and he sounds like a real character:
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RSM John Lord MVO MBE is a legendary character but one that is less recognised these days than he should be. He achieved two notable firsts: the first RSM of 3 PARA (on its formation) and the first Academy Sergeant Major at Sandhurst. RSM Lord was famous for his exacting high standards and his iron discipline.....RSM Lord believed in the power of discipline to give a body of soldiers the strength of will to fight, survive and win.
Link:http://thearmyleader.co.uk/rsm-lord/
Building morale: a Field Marshal's advice
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Leadership is based on the context. Leadership is also based on the values and identity of the led....Ultimately, battles, particularly those conducted under hazardous conditions and in the face of a numerically superior enemy, turn on the fighting spirit of the soldier. High morale and determination to win can only be developed by hard, tough, purposeful training and with the aid of good leadership…
Link:http://thearmyleader.co.uk/high-morale/
Leadership Lessons from Terrorists
Once again from 'The Wavell Room' blogsite and somewhat different:
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This article delivers a brief leadership analysis not of a hero or ally but of an enemy; a past terrorist opponent, the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), focusing upon their application of mission command to identify lessons.
From the concluding paragraph:
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This is not say that the UDA possessed no talent, many examples of good leadership may be found, notably in attack planning, creating organisational ethos and inspiring volunteers. The UDA’s application of mission command certainly allowed timely decision making, but it lacked the required trust and unity of effort to ensure that such decisions were appropriate. This inability to provide moral leadership represented a critical vulnerability: the ensuing lack of organisational trust was as detrimental to the UDA as the actions of its opponents. It is this which becomes the key lesson of a study of the UDA. In Defence it is our values, standards and ethics that set us apart.
Link:https://wavellroom.com/2018/11/08/le...ip-opponents/?
Leadership and Trauma under fire
Hat tip to the independent UK military blog site 'The Wavell Room' for this article, not the title I used. It is entitled 'Leading Trauma' and the author is Dr. Jill Russell, who did her PhD @ Kings College War Studies.
She starts with:
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There is much ink spilled regularly on the subject of leadership. Not only does the usual content of leadership cases make for compelling narratives and recommendable works, sectors like defense depend on it for professional development, both formal and independent, in leader quality. In this instance, the example if London Fire Brigade Commissioner Dany Cotton’s leadership around trauma and her firefighters at the Grenfell Fire has relevance to current military practice.
Dany Cotton was later to testify at the public inquiry (which is expected to run for years):
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the situation they were going into was life threatening to them. I felt that if I as their commissioner went into the tower and spoke to them and showed I was prepared to be in the same situation of risk that they were it would give them the impetus to feel that could carry on doing the tasks they were doing. I’ve had people subsequently say to me it made a complete difference to them, the fact I was in there and I was prepared to risk my life in the tower to be there and support them.
Link:https://wavellroom.com/2019/03/08/leading-trauma/
An early BBC News report on the fire and the photos vividly explain more than words:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40301289
Team of Teams: A Leadership Model for a Complex World
Puzzled that - according to the Search function - General McChrystal does not have a thread of his own, plus this is not leadership quotes, rather a review of his book 'Team of Teams' in the independent British Army blog 'Army Leader'.
It starts with:
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The 21
st century is a time unlike any other. Modern technology allows instant global communication for everyone, making the world no longer just highly complicated, but increasingly
complex. It is this complexity, argues
General Stanley McChrystal in his 2015 book
Team of Teams, that makes it vital that we take a fresh look at how we think about leadership, management, and teamwork.
Near the end:
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In conclusion,
Team of Teams presents many interesting and challenging ideas in addition to the ones distilled above. By using a selection of case studies from history, McChrystal builds a case for a more nurturing style of leadership. For the junior officer or NCO looking to expand their repertoire of leadership styles, this is essential reading. For the more senior leaders out there, I suspect many of the lessons taught in this book may be ones you have already learnt for yourselves.
Link:https://thearmyleader.co.uk/team-of-teams/
The Five ‘Universals’ of Great Leaders?
Another short article on leadership both civilian and military by a British Army officer. His bio:
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Russell Lewis served as an officer in the Parachute Regiment. He has served in Northern Ireland, Kosovo and was awarded the Military Cross for leadership and gallantry in Afghanistan. He now works as a consultant in performance enhancement, delivering leadership and coaching training to multinationals and charities. His book, Company Commander, details his Company’s six month tour of Afghanistan in 2008.
Link:https://thearmyleader.co.uk/the-five...great-leaders/
Mayday in the most extreme and hostile place on earth.
Earlier this year I posted a thread in 'Trump's Navy' after the Wavell Room, a UK blogsite published two articles on leadership at sea and today I found the third article had been published.
The author is a now a ret'd RN Captain, who was in temporary command of the Antarctic patrol ship, HMS Endurance had an accident and the Officer in Charge (not the Captain who was on Xmas leave). NatGeo's brief description:
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Heading to Chile to celebrate Christmas, catastrophe strikes when the ship’s engine room is flooded with seawater. Floating without power, the Endurance is dangerously close to capsizing.
Originally a friend forwarded the first article on this accident and it is a grim reading in places. It appears that those who ordered the ship to sea will avoid any repercussions. Now it is evident those responsible for the refit at a UK dockyard evaded responsibility.
There was a National Geographic documentary on their patrol, which in early 2019 was not identified and the RN appeared to block links to it (explained in part 2). It is available on their website; I assume you need to pay, as only very short clips are available:http://www.natgeotv.com/int/ice-patrol/about
Articles:
1. https://wavellroom.com/2018/12/16/ma...hms-endurance/
2. https://wavellroom.com/2019/01/05/ma...-2-priorities/
3. https://wavellroom.com/2019/07/23/ma...sed-the-flood/
I suspect many of the lessons here are found on land and just maybe in the USN today.
