Command Climate: The Rise and the Decline of a Military Concept
Abstract
Command climate is one of the most observed and least understood concepts in the military. A goal of every commander today is a healthy command climate and a cohesive unit. The key to a positive command climate is credibility of the commander, communication, trust, and confidence. Keeping this in mind, command climate is a state or condition existing from shared feelings and perceptions among soldiers about their unit, about their leaders, and about their unit's programs and policies. This condition is created by the commander and his chain of command from the commander's vision and leadership style, and influenced and perpetuated by their communication and their leadership. The objectives of this study are to provide an 'audit trail' of the rise of the command climate concept in hopes of arriving at an understanding of the idea; discuss its recognition, controversial nature, purpose, application and linkage; review the awareness and acceptance problem; identify existing means of evaluating the concept; suggest ways of improving a unit's command climate; and last, make several conclusions and recommendations about command climate in order to prevent it from becoming an 'endangered species'. It is recommended that this study be reviewed by DCSPER, TRADOC, and MACOM Leadership Divisions; shared with future commanders at the Precommand Course; and considered for publication Army-wide.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 29, 1988
- Accession Number
- ADA194178
Entities
People
- Duane A. Lempke
Organizations
- United States Army War College