Strategic Leadership Competency Development: A Comparison of Generals Zinni and Powell
Abstract
The intent of this paper is to compare and contrast the developmental experiences of two military leaders who have successfully performed at the strategic level in the United States military and government. I will subjectively compare their careers to assess experience similarities that could suggest assignment paths that contribute to successful strategic leadership competency development. For the purpose of this assessment I will compare and contrast the careers of General Anthony Zinni, United States Marine Corps, and General Colin Powell of the United States Army. I believe that the assessment will demonstrate that exposure to combat, or challenging decision-making in a VUCA environment, opportunities to command increasingly complex organizations, assignments within the Joint and Interagency environment, and opportunities to personally grow through civilian and military education are critical to the competency development for future strategic leaders of the military. The Army War College classifies the strategic leadership competencies as conceptual, technical, or interpersonal. I will utilize a specific competency within each of the three competency classifications to assess Generals Zinni s and Powell s careers for common developmental experiences. The experiences of each General in combat, adult education, leadership and command positions, joint assignments, and multinational or interagency environments will be compared to assess developmental experiences that contributed to gaining competency in frame of reference development, Joint, Interagency, Multinational, and Intra-agency relationships, and consensus building skills.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 18, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA432492
Entities
People
- Peter M. Warker
Organizations
- United States Army War College