However, are their future raters ready for independent thinkers who are "raised" to collaborate instead of directing military planning and operations?
I think so. More and more I'm coming into contact with COLs and BGs and MGs whose thoughts have been influenced by OEF and OIF. War has provided the means to examine our leadership and decision making unlike any well resourced training event could ever do. I think in fact that these leaders will come to expect and rely upon the type of junior leaders we've developed over the last 4 years. As more and more leaders ascend to more senior positions they will look for those qualities which help organizations adapt and overcome adversity in the most complex/interactive and changing conditions. I think the greater conditions which gave rise to these positive changes are going to be with us for awhile. These leaders understand that in order to get the most out of people and prevail in the environments we'll operate in they are going to have to decentralize authority to make decisions and empower lower echelons with resources.

I think we unerstand better then we have in a long time that leadership in war entails a certain ammount of risk - and as long as that risk is undertaken with moral and ethical underpinnings, and good common sense as a foundation, it should be supported. Things will not always turn out sunny, but its a process - and even the absolute best decisions that could be made will not always produce optimum results under those conditions. However, good leadership can often produce results where all obvious indications pointed to the probability of failure.

So while a leader who accepts risk may make a decision that creates a temporary setback, we want leaders will only see it as such and figure out a way to achieve the objective. To get there we have to support the type of leaders we've identified we want to build. It takes time, and those leaders are shaped by both command and staff positions - in fact they will spend the preponderance of their career on staff - then one day they will take on BDE or 2, 3 and 4 star commands and have to make decisions that will have long lasting implications.

Best Regards, Rob