Army Company Commander Lessons in Afghanistan -- Translated!

Here is a list of tips from some Army company commanders out in Afghanistan today. I have taken these lessons learned directly from an article in the magazine called ARMY: The magazine of the Association of the United States Army - December 2009 edition and their summary entitled "Seven Tips to Success" (page 66) with comments about how we can all learn from these effective leaders' experiences for each success tip.

Seven Tips to Success
(1) Make developing your junior leaders a top priority. You will operate independently not only at the company-commander level, but down at the platoon level as well.

Amazing Leadership Comment: This is clearly one of the biggest lessons to learn as new managers! Developing your team to be able to act in your absence is NOT doing yourself out of a job! It is ensuring that your team can function seemlessly without you, and can accomplish more with you there.  It means that you should be sure to have a "second-in-command" within your staff who knows enough of what you know to operate well even if you are out of the office for an extended period of time. It is crucial for the company that your team can be productive no matter what happens to you. This will show that you are a true team player, and that you want your boss to look good at all times.

(2) Understand the importance of "commander's intent"; it must be nested from the brigade down to the squad. Understand it, and communicate it through every  order and during every visit.

Amazing Leadership Comment: Knowing what your boss's goals are, and communicating them to your staff by integrating them into your own goals, will always make your team's efforts more focused on what the company needs. And you can be sure to accomplish your boss's, your own, and your individual team member's goals simultaneously. That is called true synergy of effort.

(3) Continuously study the weather, the physical and human terrain, and the enemy. Deep knowledge of these will allow you to "see" and "understand" the situation -- and then to act effectively.

Amazing Leadership Comment: You have to develop a situational awareness about how your team's efforts fit into the company's profit making, and how your industry is changing each day. Keep up with the news within the company and in the world so that you can see what is happening to your industry. This will help you make the best decisions for your team. Also, talk to your boss and find out how things are changing for him or her so that you can step up your game when necessary. If you stay ahead of changes, your team won't have to react as much -- and everyone will appreciate that.

(4) Understand the basics in battle drills and physical/mental training. This terrain can break you physically and mentally, so train by executing the basics under physical and mental duress.

Amazing Leadership Comment: This sounds like it only applies to the Army warfighter, but it applies to good teams everywhere. You may not have to react to life-threatening events in corporate America, but there are constantly challenges to overcome that affect your "way of life" as you know it. Any decision that causes you to make a shift in thinking (or your team's daily operations) is duress! Training each of your team members how to get things done more quickly or more efficiently is how you can teach them to "understand the basics" in their tasks each day.  If you can get them to do things better and faster, you can do more with the team you have! You can also be sure that, under any circumstances, your team will be able to perform well! With proper training of your expectations, your team will run smoothly and cohesively. This fosters teamwork and happy workers! And you don't have to make so many demands which is a nice break for you too!

(5) Every operation, no matter your branch or specialty, is partnered with the Afghan national security forces. Company commanders will tell you that they had the capacity to partner during each operation at some level and manner. Organize your company that way. Accept risk as a commander, and partner with Afghan forces.

Amazing Leadership Comment: OK, so this one does really only apply to the warfighter in Afghanistan. However, the lesson for business owners and managers is that training a replacement requires a "hand holding" period. A good transition will be more seemless if you have your current staff write down what they do (i.e. where they keep files, who they talk to regularly, what meetings they go to, and what you expect of them daily) in a continuity book that they update often. And, if possible, have the "new guy" shadow the exiting employee for an appropriate length of time to show their replacement "the ropes" of any difficult and necessary position.

(6) Your presence among your platoon and troops at the remotest of outposts, and your relentless energy in morale building, will maintain the necessary command climate, ethics and human dignity to do the hard right over the easy wrong. Fight for resources to visit your troops.

Amazing Leadership Comment: Without making this too simple a point, take the time to really know your team members! Developing a relationship that shows you care about them will make your team work harder for you, and less likely to intentionally do things that make you look bad. A good sense of morale in your team creates a productive and happy work environment - it makes people not mind coming to work so much or maybe -- dare I say it -- even enjoy coming to work!

(7) Remain population-centric and in coordination with the Afghan national security forces, for here you will gain the cultural intelligence needed to help separate the enemy fromthe people and connect the Afghan government to its people.

Amazing Leadership Comment: This one is another comment aimed directly at the war fighter. However, it also teaches us that we must be sensitive to the cultural environment around us. When dealing with our bosses, our team members or our clients, business revolves around one thing -- people!  The way we build relationships, within the company and with our clients, determines how well our performance is perceived by others. This is just part of being smart when you are dealing with people. Learning how to relate to others -- within cultural boundaries -- is one key to increasing productivity and word-of-mouth advertising. Your performance within the company will go largely unrecognized if you don't relate to your boss. And your product/service quality will only get referrals from your clients if you build a good relationship with them.

We can all learn useful lessons from our Army leaders with the difficult situations they face each day. If we apply some of those tips to our own challenges in business, we can make better decisions and better work environments filled with teamwork and focused efforts toward common goals. Even just taking the time to read these articles and really think about how we can implement these tips into our own actions makes us better leaders!

Please send your comments.
Thank you for keeping an open mind and showing your continued support as a fellow Amazing Leader! If you found this article helpful, or you have any feedback at all, please put it on the website under the blog section that has this article or write to me privately at Email: keith@amazingleadership.com.