Operational Leadership in the Information Age: A New Model

Abstract

This report examines the effects of significant trends in the operational environment to arrive at a clearer picture of the evolving leadership challenges operational commanders face today and in the future. It finds that given the increasing complexity of operations in the information age, operational leaders must become more comfortable operating in a distributed leadership environment, be increasingly outward focused to optimize the environment for success, and create and maintain an increasingly open and flexible command climate. It then reviews how the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines address leadership in their doctrine, discovering great variation and the lack of a sufficient model for thinking about operational leadership. It concludes by proposing the basic framework for a new joint model built on the fundamental assertion that as a leader's situational complexity increases, so too does the need for him to adjust the balance in his leadership approach. The new model offers the services a common perspective on the demands of operational leadership and offers the individual a tool for development as well as for analyzing unique leadership situation% and thinking about the most appropriate balance of leadership styles and techniques.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 08, 2000
Accession Number
ADA378749

Entities

People

  • Michael J. Monis

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Air Force
  • Classification
  • Command And Control
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Doctrine
  • Guidance
  • Marine Corps
  • Military Operations
  • National Security
  • Navy
  • Security
  • Thinking
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Military Leadership and Professional Education.
  • Systems Analysis and Design