The Concepts of Military Leadership

The Concepts of Military Leadership
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The Concepts of Military Leadership through the lens of the Integrative Caf Leadership Model
All successful private, non-profit, and public organizations understand that effective leadership is fundamental to accomplishing their missions and mandates. However, while the focus on leadership has been historically confined to individuals who occupied managerial positions within organizations, currently the tendency has been for organizations to acknowledge the need to identify and develop leaders at all levels. Therefore, leadership is no longer viewed as the exclusive domain of senior executives and middle management. Instead, leadership is something that many organizations currently believe should extend to even the most junior ranks.
In the 2005 publication of Conceptual Foundations, the publication served to provide the Canadian Forces with a major update to the previous leadership doctrine manuals issued in 1973 (Canadian Forces Leadership Institute, 2005). The reality remains that the thirty-year gap was too long, and reflected negligence by the institution to an essential element that is fundamental to the profession and the ability of the military to effectively discharge its responsibilities. When published, the update acknowledged that various aspects of military leadership had not and will not change. However, while acknowledging these enduring facets, a major message to the Canadian Forces was that what they had previously known and practiced was all relevant and true; it is just that there is much more to successful military leadership than what they had previously focused on (Canadian Forces Leadership Institute, 2005).
Leadership Experience
During a placement program, I remember we were fiercely planning to respond to a crisis event and planning for follow-on missions. The building in which we stayed in was ransacked, wires hanging down, and undergoing serious repairs by an assigned group of engineers in the unbearable Baghdad heat. During that time, everyone was seemingly divided. Some excluded themselves from the group and indulged in individual activities, while some just sat there, unmoved by the happenings around us. Alternatively stated, we lacked a common goal, mission, and team-work. Everyone focused on himself and paid no attention to the collective mission of the group. One afternoon, a few of us were bagging sand and assisting our security unit. Around ten-hour to a twenty-hour day, the Sergeant Major came by to check on us. Was there sufficient communication with our higher headquarters? Did we have enough water? What was causing the division among members within the group? How could he assist us in planning to ensure that the Commander was getting the best mission plans?
After a lengthy discussion with us, the Brigade Sergeant Major discovered that our biggest problem was miscommunication, lack of mission, teamwork, and a common goal, and difficulties adapting to a new environment. I was deeply awed by the Sergeant Major’s Leadership by example. He was the perfect example of how a CF leader should lead. CF leaders are responsible for integr...