A Business Management Approach to Organizational Leadership Development

By CPT Yunyi Zhou

Article published on: August 1, 2024 in the 2024 Issue 2 of Field Artillery

Read Time: < 12 mins

Introduction

There is no standard playbook for a successful command. While many commanders share essential skills and practical tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) to lead formations, few provide timely perspectives on leading complex organizations in a pandemic transformed world.

I was privileged to command a battalion and subsequently a brigade level headquarters and headquarters battery (HHB) in 210th Field Artillery Brigade, a multiple-launch rocket system (MLRS) unit forward positioned at the Republic of Korea. My 22-month tenure allowed me to interact with an extensive population and be experimental in my leadership style and approaches. Further, the experience of reacting to COVID and regenerating force readiness in the aftermath provided me with invaluable insights into leveraging relationships and managing crises.

On the professional development front, I found the literature on business management and corporation leadership adapting to the impact of the pandemic timely and thought-provoking. Not only did it provide me with framework and methodology for leading headquarters, but it also helped me self-regulate and navigate stressful situations. This is why I decided to use a business management lens to examine my course of organizational leadership development: Section I describes command influence on unit climate and culture; Section II discusses time management strategy in line with prioritization; Section III emphasizes the importance of tasks that only commanders can do. In doing so, this article aims to stimulate ideas and discussions on requirements for pre-command development, scope and curriculum of professional military education (PME) and the arts and science of people-mission alignment in today’s complex and uncertain environment.

Section I: Climate vs Culture

It is paramount for commanders to understand the distinction of organizational climate from culture as each has unique considerations when it comes to affecting changes and driving results. Oxford Review defines that organizational climate is the atmosphere people feel on a day-to-day basis, whereas organizational culture is the underlying shared values, beliefs, traditions and norms shaping perceptions and behaviors (Wilkinson, 2017). To put in a military context, the incoming commander can sense unit climate simply through the execution of change of command (COC) inventory (ask questions such as when was the COC schedule disseminated? Do hand receipt holders understand bill of material (BOM) and expectation of the layout? Do Soldiers complain about early mornings and late nights?) Gauging unit culture, however, requires him/her to interact with most members and observe thinking patterns and actions in various settings.

With this distinction in mind, commanders need to deliberately manage relationships in support of the unit mission. As illustrated in Table 1: Climate and Culture Alignment with the Mission, a protect-the-force mission during COVID entailed a healthy unit climate heavily driven by first line leaders who were expected to listen to Soldiers’ feeling and needs and provide support and resources. Knowing this, first sergeant (1SG) and I directly engaged section leaders and ensured their needs were met.

Unlike unit climate, unit culture is predominantly shaped by the command team. What is that one thing you and your 1SG are trying to sell to your formation and willing to pitch again and again? In light of leadership underdevelopment due to the pandemic, 1SG and I decided upon personal and professional growth as the core value of our unit culture. How does this value show up in daily behaviors? We relentlessly prioritized our schedule for one-on-one counseling with key stakeholders of HHB and helped them develop incremental achievable goals throughout their 12-month tour in Korea. Further, we developed tools and products to facilitate their engagement with Soldiers under them. We also allowed honest mistakes and invited openness to feedback. As a result, qualifying expert on weapons became Soldiers’ goals; shops take pride in having their Medical Protection System (MEDPROS) green; older members passed on the skill set to newcomers. In other words, unit culture established and readiness regained.

Section II: Time management

Time is the scarcest resource leaders have. Very few company grade assignments offer a greater opportunity to hone time management skills than a headquarters command. Despite the common belief that relationship management is the most frustrating challenge of leading a HHB, I view the fundamental problem lies in time management.

Prioritization drives time allotment. Consider all the administrative and operational requirements for a battery. The effectiveness of a commander in managing relationship mutually supports the productivity of his team in meeting the requirements from the Army, higher HQ and the installation. If these requirements demand maximal cardiovascular output, the commander will struggle to keep the battery afloat. If meeting the requirements is merely at his basal metabolic rate, he will have room for cardio and strength training and achieve a higher level of fitness. Therefore, understanding the implications of unit requirements is the pre-requisite for effective time management.

Prioritization is the arts and science of switching hats between a doer, a manager and a leader — three roles a commander plays. I intend to use Table 2 to illustrate the science part of prioritization by role and percentile. First, the size and complexity of a HHB demands an enormous amount of direct actions and attentiveness from the commander — reviewing and signing documents, counting equipment, attending meetings and making products. Thus, increasing the productivity of a doer’s role is key to the time management strategy of a battery commander. The ideal state for a commander is to only use 50% of his time doing these tasks. As to the how-to for each task, there is a plethora of open-source knowledge and local TTPs amidst the noncommissioned officer (NCO) Corps. Second, the manager role of a commander calls for the ability to develop, implement and maintain systems and processes. This allows the commander to define the role and responsibility of his 1SG, XO and their subordinates, hold each entity in the processes accountable, identify and anticipate points of friction and reduce the effects of personnel turnover. Consider maintenance. In my experience, maintenance is the most complex task at battery level comprised of services and repair. The former is nothing but to meet a requirement with a suspense date while the latter requires accurate diagnoses from the mechanic, accurate parts number, accurate Global Combat Support System-Army (GCSS-Army) entry by the Prescribed Load List (PLL) clerk, successful Post Parked Requisition (Z-PARK) passing and support operations officer (SPO)/S8 auditing, Supply Support Activity (SSA) pick up – the steps go on. Even with a seasoned XO, the commander needs to know the systems and processes in place and works closely with maintenance chief and BN XO. For HHB BDE, maintenance involves maintenance support team (MST) assigned to brigade support battalion (BSB). This introduces more variables to the processes and the relationship with BSB becomes vital to the success of the whole team. Therefore, establishing systems and processes force commanders to build relationships.

Table 1: Climate and Culture Alignment with the Mission

Table 2: time allotment for each role a Battery commander plays.

Lastly, we arrive at relationship management, a people skill crucial to all senior leaders in today’s Army. While managers focus on systems, leaders focus on people. Playing a leader role, the HHB commander needs to deliberately allocate time (ideally 20%) for face-to-face interactions with internal and external entities to develop relationships and cultivate reputations. Emails and Microsoft Teams calls are not effective. An increased efficiency in manager’s and doer’s role will allow the commander to coach and develop subordinates to reach their full potential, concentrate on mid-long-term planning and resourcing and ultimately lead the organization. In mid-long term, healthy relationships and positive reputation will enforce a collectivist culture which, as discussed in this section, will catalyze mission accomplishment.

Section III: What only the CEO can do

Commanders need to consistently contemplate and adjust the strategy of prioritization. To do so, they must know what only commanders can do. A glimpse into the realm of business management may give us an idea. Procter & Gamble Chairman A.G. Lafley, in his interview with Harvard Business Review, laid out four specific tasks only an Executive Officer (CEO) can do (Lafley, 2009). I found this highly relatable to an HHB commander since all shops and sections except fire direction center (FDC) are customer oriented. Table 3 is my interpretation of things that must be done by the commander and must be done well to deliver desired training results and take diligent care of the people. Note that these tasks mostly fall into the leader category in Section II and require a vision and servant leadership style from the commander. The overarching principle is to view the Soldiers in your formation both the product and the customer of your corporation.

Conclusion

Through three Sections, we have drawn insights from successful business, shared wisdom from renowned field experts and sprinkled in some of my personal experiences as an HHB commander. Indeed, battery command profoundly shapes an officer’s leadership style and propels the leap from direct to organizational level thinking. For more insights on organizational skills, I recommend two articles from my fellow commanders: HHC Command — Challenges and Opportunities by CPT Matthew Tetreau (Tetreau, 2020) and Surviving Headquarters Company Command by CPT Scott Nusom (Nusom, 2016).

ADP 6-22, Army Leadership and the Profession, is a timeless publication. It describes Army values, leaders’ competencies and characteristics and the traits of Army profession. Since its last update in July 2019, the Army has experienced COVID19 pandemic, recruiting shortfalls, mental health challenges and a number of contemporary societal problems. The pandemic, in particular, amplified the uncertainty in operational environment and caused deficit in leadership development in the rank of junior NCOs and officers who are essential to messaging commander’s priority and fostering unit inclusion and cohesion. I suggest the next publication of ADP 6-22 include crisis management competence and guideline for the transition from direct, organizational, to strategic level leadership.

Lastly, this article aims to stimulate conversations on the strategy of leadership development in US Military. Nowadays, firms and enterprises are facing employee burnout, inflation and economic downturn, digital transformation and other emerging challenges. Their thinking and strategies shed lights on a wide range of opportunities to train and develop creative and agile military leaders who can make work more meaningful, interesting and productive. It has never been more urgent for senior leaders to reassess our strategy to equip future commanders with knowledge and skills to problems inextricably linked to our society.

Table 3: Commander’s specific tasks in Lafley’s CEO model

References