[November 12, 2016] As a U.S. Army Private (the very lowest rank), I had the dubious task one day of escorting our new Lieutenant around to meet all the unit’s soldiers on our military base. The location was small because it was in West Germany and it had been a World War II German Army ammunition depot … the task didn’t take long. What surprised me was that this military officer, a prestigious West Point graduate, made mistakes I thought were easy to avoid.
Those mistakes are what spurred me to write them down at the time. Just the other day I while looking for old stuff to throw away, I ran across my notebook from 40 years ago. The pages were yellowed a little and my handwriting had changed somewhat but they were clearly my notes I took to remind myself of things to do and impressions of Army life.
Here are 10 mistakes a new military officer made, as I wrote them (with spelling corrections). These are written as I took hastily scribbled notes but they are easily translated into any leader position – what not to do. I left in the army-centric parts for authenticity and humor:
- He told me to introduce him as Lieutenant William H., West Point graduate, pistol team captain, and fencing champion. He’s a smart guy.
- He was upbeat but joked that our unit should be thankful that he was there to help us.
- He also joked that we had not properly upgraded either our unit equipment or tactical drills.
- He told us that he would immediately begin implementing new ways of doing things (especially when it came to personnel promotions and evaluations).
- He did say he was surprised at and chided us that some of our weapons’ cleaning procedures were out-of-date. Some frustration on his part here.
- He told Senior Platoon Sergeant Jay J. Johnson that the best way to correctly secure a steel door to the weapons system was to … (I deleted this part for obvious reasons).
- He was very mad at the sergeants in 2nd platoon because they were to meet us at the Mess Hall at 0900 hours (they were 30 minutes late) and he rejected their excuse that they had been delayed by a traffic jam on the Autobahn.
- He also told me he was disappointed in this assignment because it was not “high viz” and whatever he did would go unrecognized.
- I could tell that he was nervous but his habit of looking down on us was galling.
- Also took Lieutenant H. over to the officers’ quarters where he walked in and began a quick conversation with another officer and failed to acknowledge or even thank me.
Anyone can make these mistakes, of course. I’m not sure why but the new Lieutenant transferred to another unit in the southern part of West Germany after three months; normal tours at the time were 18 months. Sadly, the troops never really liked him and I think he knew it.
It’s been said that new leaders should take a step back and observe somewhat before they begin to exert their authority. Focusing on the team effort and the human element will win more in the long run for your new team than telling them how great you are or how important you are. That may come later but is never guaranteed.
See also two other posts I’ve made on military officers making mistakes:
- 7 Mistakes Military Officers Make (Part 1) – https://www.theleadermaker.com/7-mistakes-military-officers-make-part-1/
- 7 Mistakes Military Officers Make (Part 2) – https://www.theleadermaker.com/7-mistakes-military-officers-make-part-2/
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