How can innovative/creative leaders survive or even excel in todays's complex and challenging military environment?

2014-03-18T09:23:30-04:00

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 18 at 2014 9:42 AM

2014-03-18T09:42:44-04:00

<P>This is a very loaded question...short answer I think is it is going to take alot of creative leadership.</P>
<P>Troops today are coming in more tech advanced as well as needing a different type of leadership.  Many old school heads feel this is a bad thing, but I say that true leaders can adapt to the needs of their people and still thrive.  </P>
<P>One misconception is that leadership means being "hard"...not so, the definition of leadership according to the books anyway talks about inspiring, providing guidance and direction.  Leaders assert their authority in a manner that best fits the people they are leading to achieve superior results.</P>
<P>Finding that balance is the most difficult yet rewarding task.</P>

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 18 at 2014 10:58 PM

2014-03-18T22:58:45-04:00

Agreed... VERY loaded question.<div><br></div><div>Being a Junior NCO, understanding this question and being able to act on your intuition is what will make you a true leader. True leaders have the ability to adapt/conform to the needs of others. Just like every other profession, times change and the methods that you do things continuously evolve! </div><div><br></div><div>With the seriousness of force management and the way that some parents are raising their children these days it is crucial that us 'new age' leaders focus more on inspiring and encouraging. Not to be confused with babying as some ignorant folks perceive it as, but transitioning from the caveman ways of degrading and demeaning. It is truly difficult to locate that happy medium to enforce the importance of the respect of seniority, nobody is perfect and you will make mistakes... but the true leader will learn from those mistakes and gain humility. </div><div><br></div><div>I see a lot of leadership who are consumed with their own lives/careers rather than putting their subordinates first. I am a firm believer that nobody will take care of yourself better than you will... but being a leader, it is essential that you give your followers priority! </div><div><br></div><div>If you want to excel at being a leader then take care of your Airmen, because they in turn will take care of you!</div>

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 19 at 2014 10:51 AM

2014-03-19T10:51:32-04:00

By taking the initiative and not waiting for the bureaucracy to catch up -- and by networking with diverse individuals across the services and in the civilian world.

Couple direct examples of this in action:

Chief of Naval Operations Rapid Innovation Cell: the CNO created a group of 15 junior officers and enlisted to propose and execute projects that the traditional science and tech community was not looking at. He has empowered us to break some china and look at new tech, policies and relationship building. We travel the country looking at innovative companies, bringing best practices and tech back to the Navy.

Two success stories:

We got the 4-star commander of US Pacific Fleet to wear a pair of Google Glass at a recent widely attended event -- only enterprise entity that Google has given access too. All because of a fired up JO

We put a 3D printer on a deployed warship for experiementation and testing. The sailors love it.

Extenal organizations:

The Defense Entrepreneurs Forum (defenseentrepreneurs.org) is a marketplace for creative Defense innovators to meet and share ideas. We have numerous events, with an annual nationwide gathering. Last year we drew 100+ people in the midst of sequenstration who paid their own way and took leave to interact with their peers across the services. Many said it was the best event they had ever been to.

You have to take action on an idea, find allies, and push push push until it gets accepted -- and often times you have to do it on your own, outside of traditional lifelines. Find your passion, give yourself permission to take action, and then actually follow through!

The rules are there -- but you can find ways to bend them and adapt them to your own purposes.