[February 27, 2017] Trick question!! … Sorry but to ask this question implies something that often goes unnoticed. I was once asked this question during an interview to determine the ‘Private of Year’ award. Unfortunately, I got the answer wrong and didn’t win. The right answer? A soldier never needs a haircut because they get one before they need it. It was an aha moment for me.
There’s a story here about leadership. If a leader has to tell a noncompliant soldier (or any worker) to do anything that brings them back into conformity with their behavior, then either the leader or the soldier or both have failed in some way. It’s one thing to communicate what standards are but another to have people comply. That’s what leadership is about; convincing others to do something they would not have otherwise done and being proactive about it.
A personal story about my army Private days will illustrate. Back in the mid 1970s, there was a trend of illegal drug use, racial animosity, and disobeying orders that permeated the military. Many of us pushed the limits of disciplinary standards so much that there was open conflict with superior officers. One day our company commander, a Captain, told us that everyone was restricted to the military base because of our outward disrespect.
Those were the bad days of the army which was transitioning from a very traditional “brown boot” army of the Vietnam combat veterans to the “black boot” post-war peacetime army. Strife in the civilian population (presumably about the war) and their misperceptions about the military was not good. But our Captain had a plan when he restricted us to on-base facilities only.
Many of us reacted inappropriately. There was a lot of petty and unprofessional behavior. Our commander sat us down to a series of “commander-soldier” discussions that gave us a rare glimpse into the workings of our unit and the army. He told us about why the U.S. Army was the army of the American public and that it was our civic duty to uphold the values inscribed in the U.S. Constitution and that failure to do so could bring our nation to its knees.
Leaders must be aware that there are best practices on how to handle those who would misbehave or destroy; mostly an upbeat, proactive approach. The way to do it is not to punish an entire group for the wrongdoing of a few. Or, to fail to communicate the “why” people should believe and behave in a certain way. That means good leadership.
Fast forward that personal story to today. After I retired as a senior Flag Officer, I got into contact with that same company commander via Facebook. It was great to see that he was doing well and that although he didn’t remember me (I was just a Private), he considered his time in that unit a good one that he will always cherish. So will I.
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