NCO Guide chapter 3

Subcategories of position power

coercive, legitimate, reward, and Information

Subcategories of personal power

expert power and referent power

Position

the authority that comes from the position the leader is filling. This gives them position or positional power. With this form of power comes the authority of the position. Position power promotes follower compliance.

Leadership styles

• Authoritative. • Affiliative. • Democratic. • Coaching. • Pacesetting. • Coercive.

Be

• Physically fit and mentally tough. • Role Model (words and deeds). • Candid, Competent, Courageous, and Committed. • Tactically and Technically Proficient.

Do

• What is right morally and ethically. • Decisive. • Develop seniors, peers, and subordinates. • Lead from the front.

Know

• Your Soldier. • Yourself. • Mission and unit capabilities. • Operating environment.

Coercive power

Coercive power is the opposite of reward power. Whereas reward power offers something positive and desirable, coercive power presents something negative and undesirable. Coercive power is the capacity to influence others through administering negative sanctions such as punishments, removal of privileges, or being placed in a bad light among one's peers. Coercive power is stereotypical of toxic military leaders. This form of power has serious limitations and disadvantages. It may bring temporary compliance but undermines long-term commitment. It could result in passive-aggressive behavior, retaliation, and formal complaints against the chain of command leading to disciplinary or relief actions.

Implied Duties

Often support specified duties, but in some cases, they may not be related to the MOS job position. These duties may not be written, but implied in instructions. They are duties that improve the quality of the job and help keep the unit functioning at an optimum level.

Quote by 1st SMA William O. Wooldridge about leadership

"Take care of each man as though he were your own brother...[because] he is."

Four consistent factors of dynamic leadership

The leader. The led. The situation. The Communication.

Core Leader Attributes

- Character: the moral and ethical qualities of the leader. - Presence: characteristics open to display by the leader and open to viewing by others. - Intellect: the mental and social abilities the leader applies while leading.

Core Leader Competencies

- Leads: (take charge) provides purpose, direction, and motivation; builds trust; provides an example; communicates. - Develops: (build the team) develops themselves, creates a positive climate, develops subordinates, and stewards the profession. - Achieves: (accomplish the mission) executes, adjusts, and gets results to accomplish tasks and missions on time and to standard.

Power

A core tool or means leaders can leverage to gain follower commitment is the power available to them. Power is defined as the capacity to influence others and implement change. It is not the actual influencing action. Influencing is the application of power. Without power, there is little influencing; and with no influencing, there is no opportunity to gain genuine compliance or commitment from others.

Difference between attributes and competencies

A significant distinction between the attributes and competencies of the leadership requirements model is that competencies are skills that can be trained and developed while attributes encompass enduring personal characteristics, which are molded through experience over time. A Soldier can be trained to be a capable machine gunner, but may not necessarily be a brave machine gunner without additional experience. Every educational, operational, and self-development event is an opportunity for observation, feedback, and reflection.

Commitment-focused

Commitment-focused is directed at a follower's thinking and implies the followers want the organization to succeed and positive changes to occur. Committed followers make a decision to take personal ownership of mission tasks, have internal buy-in to the leader's decisions and orders, and pro-actively dedicate themselves to mission accomplishment. They feel a shared responsibility for the successful completion of the task at hand. The critical point is that the commitment is self-initiated. It is a cognitive, thought-based process.

Compliance-focused

Compliance-focused is directed at a followers behavior. It is generally effective for gaining short-term and immediate results. It also works well in time-constrained environments with basic tasks that require a specific action or behavior, and there is little need for follower understanding.

The Led

Every Army leader is a subordinate to someone, so all good leaders also practice good followership. Followership is defined as, "Followers of character and commitment acting to support the needs and goals of the team." This means putting the needs of others in front of your desires and building a relationship of trust and loyalty. We are all bound by the same regulation and standards, and by acknowledging and demonstrating this, we build and establish trust with our Soldiers. The willingness of their leaders and their subordinates to serve faithfully and competently in both leadership and followership roles is the foundation of humility.

Expert power

Expert power is based on the knowledge and expertise one has in relation to those being led. It is being the subject matter expert or SME. The more knowledge, skills, talents, and proficiencies leaders have, the more power they can leverage. Those selected for battalion CSM have successfully served in jobs such as a battalion CSM or operations SGM. These previous jobs should have provided the knowledge and expertise essential for their success as a battalion CSM. The challenge at the organizational level is that there may be many individuals in a battalion possessing varying levels of expert power. This could include assigned warrant officers, various noncommissioned officers, and those whose assignments have given them special knowledge or experiences. Part of leveraging expert power, is the leader's effective utilization of all available expert resources to accomplish the mission.

Humility

In its simplest form, humility is the absence of arrogance. For humility to apply, a leader must first have competence and confidence. Humility is interpreted differently by different genders and cultures. Too much or too little humility can signal a lack of self-awareness that undermines followers' trust and confidence in the leader's ability to make the right decisions. Individuals need to guard against their biases and assess character based on the whole set of Army Values and attributes and look out for the unit's welfare to achieve success.

Informal Leadership

Informal leadership exists throughout organizations and plays a critical role in mission accomplishment. Informal leadership and networks are not solely based on rank or position in the organization, and it stems from a personal relationship, specialized knowledge, unique experiences, or technical expertise specific to an individual or team. Informal networks that operate in support of organizational goals are a force multiplier.

Information power

Information power includes access to critical information, control over its dissemination, and the ability to act on that information. Based on rank and position, organizational leaders routinely have access to information that subordinates do not. Thus a leader who controls the flow of information has the opportunity to interpret events for subordinates and influence both perceptions and attitudes. Information is also vital in crisis situations because it is essential to the emotional wellbeing of those being led.

Mission Command and Be, Know, Do

Mission command is the Army's approach to command and control that empowers subordinate decision making and decentralized execution appropriate to the situation. The attributes and competencies that NCOs need to exercise mission command are discussed in the LRM. To put these attributes and competencies into action, we focus on what a NCO must Be, Know, Do.

Referent power

Leaders can offset a lack of expert power by leveraging their referent power. Referent power refers to the strength of the professional relationship and personal bond leaders develop with their followers. When followers admire leaders and view them as role models or even friends, they imbue them with referent power. People will work hard for such leaders simply because they want to look good in their eyes and not let them down. To put it another way, referent power is the power generated by relationships the brick and mortar of solid organizations. The stronger the relationship, the higher the probability things will get done and get done well. Also, referent power has the highest potential of all the forms of power to gain a strong commitment from the followers.

Legitimate power

Legitimate power comes from the leader's formal or official authority. Individuals with legitimate power influence others through orders and requests that are consistent and appropriate with their position. In the exercise of legitimate power, the followers respond because they believe the leader has the right to make requests or give orders, and they have an obligation to comply. Command is a form of legitimate power. According to ADP 6-22, Army Leadership, "command is the authority a commander in the military service lawfully exercises over subordinates by virtue of rank or assignment. It grants military leaders both the right and obligation to make decisions, give orders, and exercise control of resources such as budgets, equipment, vehicles and other assigned materials."

Formal Leadership

NCOs have different responsibilities and authorities at echelons. The Uniform Code of Military Justice supports military leaders in positions of legitimate authority. Leaders use these authorities and clear communication to ensure adherence to regulation, policies, and standards. As a NCO, you have duties and responsibilities that you must accomplish.

The Leader

NCOs motivate and influence Soldiers inside and outside of the chain of command and develop an identity through clear leadership and self-awareness. Self-awareness is fundamental to understanding one's abilities through accurately assess their own experience and competence as well as earn the trust of those they influence.

Command

NCOs that are members of a command team share the responsibility for effectively using available resources and for planning the employment of, organizing, directing, coordinating, and controlling military forces for the accomplishment of assigned missions. Command team relationships are unique. The Army expects command teams to lead beyond the mere exercise of formal authority. They lead by example and serve as role models. Their personal example and actions carry tremendous weight.

Sources of Power

Position and personal

Reward power

Reward power involves the capacity of leaders to use highly desired resources to influence and motivate their followers. These include promotions; selection for special duties, activities, or privileges; best competitions; medals; letters of appreciation or commendation; and so on. On a lesser but still significant scale, the reward could be public or private verbal praise, a thank you note, time off, an intercession on another's behalf, or a simple recognition by handshake or personal acknowledgment. When Soldiers realize their leaders in the chain of command know who they are, it can be highly motivational. In reality, the rewards leaders generate for followers are limited only by their creativity and originality.

Types of duties of an NCO

Specified Duties, Directed Duties, Implied Duties

Affiliative style

The Affiliative leader says, People come first. It is a style that creates harmony, emotional bonds, trust, honesty, and teamwork. Followers are given the freedom to do their jobs and flexibility is always enhanced by this style.

Army's definition of leadership

The Army defines leadership as the activity of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation, to accomplish the mission and improve the organization. The NCOs approach to leadership is to take charge, build the team, and accomplish the mission. Leadership is developed over time, through challenging experiences, and developed through the three domains (See Chapter 4). Although doctrine is generally not specific to commissioned officers or NCOs, the responsibilities focus areas, and the approach to leadership doctrine is unique for the NCO.

Coaching style

The Coaching leadership style develops people for the future and is characterized by the phrase, Try this. It focuses more on personal development than immediate work related tasks. It is the least used style because leaders indicate they do not have the time to engage in the slow process of helping followers grow. Soft influencing tactics such as participation, consultation, personal appeals, and relationship building are the hallmark of these four styles.

Coercive style

The Coercive style demands immediate compliance and can be described by the phrase, Do what I tell you! It is a toxic, disrespectful, and bullying style that almost always results in low follower morale and productivity.

Pacesetting style

The Pacesetting style on the other hand sets very high standards of performance. It is the Do as I do and do it now style. It is characterized by a leader who is a workaholic, role models high standards, wants everything to be better and faster, and promptly replaces those who do not measure up. Pacesetting leaders expect followers to know what to do and, if they need to be told what to do, they are the wrong fit for the job. Pacesetters usually believe follower development is a waste of time and resources. Legitimate requests and pressure are common influencing tactics employed by these two leadership styles. The coercive and pacesetting styles are effective at gaining short-term follower compliance but generally have negative long-term consequences.

Authoritative style

The first four leadership styles are much more effective at achieving a positive climate, high levels of performance, and deeper follower commitment (See Figure 3-3 on page 3-8). Probably the most effective of the four is the authoritative style. The Authoritative (not authoritarian) style mobilizes people toward a common vision and says, Come with me. The leader enthusiastically works to get people on board with the vision. The leader's focus is follower ownership and buy-in of the vision. It is a style that is noted for very effective communication skills.

Army Leadership Requirements Model

The leadership requirement model aligns expectations with leader development activities and personnel management practices and systems. The model's components center on what a leader is (attributes—BE and KNOW) and what a leader does (competencies—DO). A leader's character, presence, and intellect enable them to apply the core leader competencies and enhance their proficiency. Leaders who gain expertise through operational assignments, institutional learning, and self-development will be versatile enough to adapt to most situations and grow into greater responsibilities. Figure 3-1 illustrates the framework.

Dynamics of leadership

The most effective leaders adapt their approach to the mission, the organization, and the situation. A division commander addressing brigade commanders before conducting large-scale combat operations leads and communicates differently than a drill sergeant training new recruits in basic training. The constant change affects peacetime and combat operations. Personnel change out, time-lines move, anticipated resources do not materialize, adversaries do what was least expected, and the weather keeps CAS assets grounded. Commanders, leaders, and staffs plan for possible changes and continually monitor progress to engage as needed. Leaders account for the important factors affecting the dynamics of leadership.

The Situation

The situation affects which actions leaders take. Leaders consider the unique characteristics of the task or mission at hand, the abilities of their subordinates, their familiarity with similar situations, and amount of time available. High-risk or urgent situations often require immediate and decisive actions, particularly in combat. Low risk or slowly developing situations allow leaders to spend more time with deliberate and collaborative approaches, coaching, and teaching subordinates as they go along. This fosters a higher level of commitment, develops subordinates, and creates the organizational cohesion essential for leading successfully in challenging situations.

Democratic style

Then there is the Democratic style. It builds consensus through participation and asks, what do you think? The democratic style is noted for open dialogue, effective listening, and collective decision making. There are also high levels of follower frustration resulting from this style because of endless meetings and the time required to arrive at a final decision.

Personal power

This power comes from the leader's followers and is based on their trust, admiration, and respect for the leader. It is tied to the leader's expertise and personality. Personal power encourages and connects with follower commitment

Directed Duties

Those issued by superiors orally or in writing; these duties are not found in the unit's organizational charts.

Specified Duties

Those related to jobs and positions, mainly military occupational specialty (MOS) related duties. Be proficient and knowledgeable on Army directives, Army regulations, and down-trace doctrines that affect a Soldiers development.