Leadership
...we are doing? Why must we forget? What can we do to ease the pressure of having to constantly re-focus ourselves and others? In the scenario above, Private Jones would be a Drill Sergeants’ dream. Stripping him of his bad habits and building upon the qualities that his parents have already instilled in him would be a minor task for any dedicated Drill Sergeant. All Soldiers, regardless of rank, can relate back to the feelings we had as a young, hard-charging, committed, Soldier when we graduated basic training, or first received our commission; it was a total feeling of outright commitment to the Army. What happens to that feeling? More today than in the past, leaders have to deal with re-focusing a Soldier and putting him back in touch with his commitment to his country. Perhaps the reason for this is the lack of "basics", the fundamentals of leadership within the Army and within society itself. Or perhaps we have made it too easy for them to forget their commitment. All to often we fail to hold one accountable for his/her actions. In either case, the answer is "Back to Basics", keeping things simple, and Army leaders must develop a family type unit to reinforce commitment in Soldiers under their charge. In today's society little emphasis is placed on the individual to uphold his word or accomplish his/her current tasks. It is this society that dictates the quality of Soldiers that are recruited into our ranks. The attitude is, "If you can't handle it you're fired," and there is a line outside the door just waiting to take your job. So, finding a replacement wouldn't be a problem. This attitude has soaked into the very fabric of our Army. More and more we begin to look to others that we know can complete a task rather than train a dedicated Soldier to do it. We fail to give the junior Soldier a reason, or a focus, to reinforce his commitment to his job and his fellow Soldiers. Even worse, we hold a Soldier accountable for a job that can not be accomplished by that person. So when the task is not completed correctly, and we hold this individual accountable for it, when he/she had no knowledge of how to get the task accomplished correctly, we have just created a void in that person's being. We alienated that person from what he/she is, thus destroying his/her will to unselfishly commit time and mind to their job. Army leaders must continuously define and relate the value of commitment to Soldiers in their charge. We are dedicated not only to the Army but to those that stand in the ranks and files that fill our formations. So when we hold that young Soldier to his commitment we must be assured that we have committed also. We must devote ourselves not ...