[June 6, 2017] When Lieutenant Shawn McFarland began his career as a young officer at Fort Polk, Louisiana, he was a mess; often failed to complete his assignments and tasks given him by his commanding officer. His commander once wrote in an annual evaluation that McFarland was untrustworthy and unrealizable. Like McFarland there are a small number in organizations where problem leaders hide from accountability.
As a senior lieutenant, his failure as a Safety Officer on his first assignment, contributed to the death of a soldier in a training incident. After being punished with a General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand – a career killer – McFarland was allowed to transfer out early to another Army base.
McFarland was subsequently mobilized as a construction engineer and sent to Iraq as part of the war effort. That’s where our paths crossed. He worked for me as a holdover because he was being detained pending charges for encouraging soldiers to ship prohibited Iraqi weapons back to the U.S. He was later found guilty and given a dishonorable discharge.
This type of officer works under the radar and is frequently transferred to unsuspecting units because superior officers take the easy way out; instead of taking the time and effort to methodically build a case of incompetence against him. A transfer is much easier and rids the unit of a problem with no backlash.
This situation is not that atypical. If we look into other incidents in the military we see those same types of officers with troubled pasts. It is not unlike “gypsy” police officers that are quietly moved from one department to another, pedophile religious leaders being moved around, or school districts that shuffle questionable teachers to other districts.
These problem leaders create confusion, waste resources, deny good leader’s jobs, and endanger others. Most senior leaders recognize the problem but action is, unfortunately, rarely taken to put safeguards in place due to the resources required and risks associated with them.
Nothing will change without holding more senior leaders to task with real consequences. No system will find those problem leaders because the human factor can always defeat any standardization. Good leadership means that a culture of accountability must be created and judiciously maintained. Good leadership also means having the moral courage to do the right thing.
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