The DOD Twelve Week Maternity Leave Policy: A Case Study in Executive Leadership and Decision Making
Abstract
Defense Secretary Aston Carter established a Department of Defense (DoD) standard for maternity leave as a part of his Force of the Future initiative in January 2016. Women service members will now receive 12 continuous weeks of fully paid maternity leave. This policy reflects the Defense Secretarys desire to improve DoD's image as a progressive and family oriented organization. Unfortunately, it downplays the DoDs warfighting role and maintaining a level of personnel readiness for combat missions worldwide. This is a case study in executive leadership and decision making, examining how a policy is generated, and how a well-intentioned leadership initiative results in potentially serious unintended consequences for the organization and how an executive mis-defines a problem, misunderstands the organization culture and its purpose, and is pulled by trends rather than by objective assessment. On the face of it, the policy appears to be a good step towards caring for military mothers, but in actuality it could harm the career progression of the service member and have significant effects on unit readiness.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 15, 2018
- Accession Number
- AD1056035
Entities
People
- Denise D. Walker
Organizations
- Joint Forces Staff College