Fostering Independent Leadership: Changing a Culture for Success in Future Wars

Abstract

Today's military culture stifles initiative-based leadership and could have disastrous consequences in future wars. The noncombat environment offers the best space to develop initiative-based junior leaders but numerous examples prove that the opposite is happening. This micromanagement is abdicating responsibility in junior leaders and is fostering learned helplessness at the lowest levels. Fortunately, there are several ways in which the military can adjust course to avoid this fate. This includes delegating authority to the lowest acceptable level, emphasizing intent over task, building trust through quantitative results, and changing the incentives for senior leaders.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 07, 2021
Accession Number
AD1178132

Entities

People

  • John P. Mullen

Organizations

  • Marine Corps University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Command And Control
  • Defense Mechanisms
  • Demographic Cohorts
  • Department Of Defense
  • Doctrine
  • Generation X
  • Generation Z
  • Information Operations
  • Marine Corps
  • Military Medicine
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Network Centric Warfare
  • New York
  • Noncommissioned Officers
  • Personality
  • Psychology
  • Security
  • Standards
  • Training
  • United States
  • Universities
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Economics
  • Educational Psychology
  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.

Technology Areas

  • Space