Posted on May 1, 2015
Should the military be more tolerant of mistakes made by leaders? Have your mistakes made you a better leader?
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He was nearly booted from college, graduated in the bottom third of his class, and only a few years into his naval career, he struck a buoy with his ship.
That lackluster start belongs to Adm. Mike Mullen, now the military’s top officer. In his first month as a senior at the Naval Academy, Mullen said he racked up 115 demerits; only 35 more and he would be expelled, he noted.
That lackluster start belongs to Adm. Mike Mullen, now the military’s top officer. In his first month as a senior at the Naval Academy, Mullen said he racked up 115 demerits; only 35 more and he would be expelled, he noted.
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 4
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I am confident that some of my younger mistakes have made me a much better leader! Zero defect leadership is a mistake. UCMJ used to be utilized to correct mistakes and reeducate Soldiers. Now it is game, set, match and you can't overcome it. Black marks that will prevent growth.
So, back when this MSG was a young Soldier, I recieved an Art 15. a decade later when I was recommended for an IG position it disqualified me. To be an IG you can't ever have had NJP, or atleast not in your records. IG's are suppose to be able evaluate situations. Its like asking a person who has never experiance hardship to explain what is like. Anyway, that is this guys opinion.
So, back when this MSG was a young Soldier, I recieved an Art 15. a decade later when I was recommended for an IG position it disqualified me. To be an IG you can't ever have had NJP, or atleast not in your records. IG's are suppose to be able evaluate situations. Its like asking a person who has never experiance hardship to explain what is like. Anyway, that is this guys opinion.
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SGT (Join to see)
"Zero defect 'leadership'" isn't so much a "mistake", (IMO), as it is a complete fantasy!
Nobody who wears human skin is that perfect!
Nobody who wears human skin is that perfect!
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LTC (Join to see)
I have learned so much more from my mistakes and failures than I ever had from my successes. I succeeded because I understood the lesson. I failed because I needed to learn and develop. I would go so far as to say failure is one of our best coaches and combined with leaning creates great leaders.
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My answer may make me sound like an asshole, however, if the decisions of the leaders leads to the unnecessary deaths of soldiers, then yes, they should be held accountable. I understand that casualties happen, but piss poor decisions may indeed accelerate the casualty rate.
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LTC (Join to see)
You answer does not make you sound bad at all. I agree if the decisions were indeed negligent or against policy but SMs will occasionally die, that is the nature of war. Unfortunately lives will always be lost. we just need to make sure 100% is being done to prevent injury and the loss of life.
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I have learned little from my successes but an immense amount from my failures. Should the military capitalise on allowing leaders to make some mistakes and learning from them? Aside from major UCMJ violations and criminal acts, should the military soften its perceived zero tolerance for failure policies?
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Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS
I'm trying to phrase this right.
There's screwing up because you tried. There's screwing up because you didn't think. And there's screwing up because you didn't care. I'm sure there's other flavors of screwing up as well.
Some of those are more forgivable than others.
If you mess something up when you are trying to do the right thing, and you go about it the wrong way, or just have bad results, leadership should handle it differently than if you just didn't care.
Adm Mullen's case highlights a service-member that succeeded because he CARED. There may have been negligence along the way, but not "gross" negligence, so it was forgivable.
There's screwing up because you tried. There's screwing up because you didn't think. And there's screwing up because you didn't care. I'm sure there's other flavors of screwing up as well.
Some of those are more forgivable than others.
If you mess something up when you are trying to do the right thing, and you go about it the wrong way, or just have bad results, leadership should handle it differently than if you just didn't care.
Adm Mullen's case highlights a service-member that succeeded because he CARED. There may have been negligence along the way, but not "gross" negligence, so it was forgivable.
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