The weight on your shoulders

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 20 May 2015 11:02:44 -0400

As we know, leadership carries with it more than just a title - it is comes with additional responsibilities. In a literal sense, these responsibilities should not be taken lightly. At times, that weight may be more than we can bear or sometimes it may even be absent. How much weight we should bear should be somewhat consistent with the position we hold.

As you are given your initial leadership duties, you tend to feel a deep sense of responsibility. Now you are responsible for those soldiers that are your subordinates. If you don’t feel this weight, I would start to question whether you are really accepting those responsibilities or just passing the weight off to another soldier. As you progress in your career, you should bear more weight as you are given more responsibility. If you are that leader whose last thoughts for the day are of your soldiers, then you understand what a tremendous responsibility you have.

If this system is disproportionate, you will find that some leaders carry the weight of others. When you see a leader that is more concerned about his or her personal wellbeing, then you know that he/she passed that weight to another. You will often find a subordinate leader carrying the additional weight. If this behavior continues, roles and responsibilities will be blurred as the expectations and burdens will be passed to those that understand what it means to be a leader. The end result will be a subordinate carrying twice the load they should be.

As a leader, the military expects much of you. You are there to lead your soldiers and set the example. Your soldiers will be able to sense your commitment to your position, or lack thereof. This could be no more evident than when GA Dwight D. Eisenhower took command for what would be the largest amphibious assault in history. To pass the time and get some perspective on his anxiety, GA Eisenhower scribbled a memoranda in his journal listing all of the things that were worrying him. “Probably no one who does not have to bear the specific and direct responsibility of making the final decision as to what to do can understand the intensity of these burdens,” he wrote.

Leadership does create burdens for soldiers. These burdens should be met with recognition that you are there for more than yourself. Others now depend on you. If you don’t willfully accept this, you may do more harm than you could ever imagine. Too much weight on a junior soldier could crush him as he is bearing that weight more than his own. If you don’t realize how much weight you should be carrying, you may not have enough. Too many gleefully move on in their career without realizing the impact they are having. Many of the duties are passed off to others while they may fail to realize what is really expected of them. This is the greatest disservice to our soldiers as a leader.

Response by SrA Private RallyPoint Member made May 20 at 2015 11:29 AM

SrA Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 20 May 2015 11:29:05 -0400

Amen Sir.. Leadership is so much more then just a title

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made May 20 at 2015 11:31 AM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 20 May 2015 11:31:11 -0400

Great insight, CPT Private RallyPoint Member. I think many in the civilian world do not realize the true burdens of leadership - or the responsibilities of leadership. I think it is an advantage those of us w/ military experience have. We have a better grasp on what leadership really is.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made May 20 at 2015 11:58 AM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 20 May 2015 11:58:35 -0400

Spot on Sir!

"If you don’t willfully accept this, you may do more harm than you could ever imagine. Too much weight on a junior soldier could crush him as he is bearing that weight more than his own. "

I am sure many of us have seen and served under those who either rejected the fact they are leading and much rests on their shoulders or maybe were in an office that functioned great when they arrived and didn't think to pick up that weight to carry due to the current functionality of the office.

When I was a new A1C and was in the Knowledge Ops office for our CC and Director of Staff we were a well oiled machine chugging along, we had a SSgt that liked to do their own thing and really take ownership of their projects but when it came to leading and taking on those responsibilities it appeared to be a pick and choose type deal if it was something that was associated with his projects/programs he'd lead and mentor, but only for his benefit, other things it was refer to the reg (this is good to have subordinates refer to the reg on how something operates but to give ones experience during/after the reg only cements what the reg has black and white and the subordinate can see it is something that should be cared about). Needless to say this NCO was moved to a position across base to where he didn't have any subordinates and worked directly for a SNCO.
There was also another NCO that had came in to lead another office at one point, the office had enhanced its previous capabilities and was working better than ever. The lack of leading ability (or how it appeared) had allowed the team to slow and relax and programs fell to the way side as there was no discipline/punishment really given to those who weren't truly performing to standards although there was an appearance that they were. It pained me to see this and Myself and a couple other SrA had taken it upon ourselves to rectify and atleast make sure what we could be responsible for was taken care of and in good order - we couldn't assert others to take the same ownership in their programs but we did what we could.
Sometimes it really sucked because as junior enlisted we were responsible for programs and operations that traditionally a NCO was responsible for. When we knew we couldn't handle some of the things we sought out help from those who were in position to assist or could take over when required if it was beyond our purview. I feel these experiences have helped me to be successful and has given me the opportunity to see things a junior enlisted airman wouldn't normally be privy to.

I would definitely encourage others to take on extra responsibility but be aware enough to know when to seek help and use the experience of others to further their knowledge and ability. Sure taking on an out of date program or potentially "broken" program is daunting and a challenge but at the end of the day when you can see improvements and have added efficiencies to it really gives you a proud sense of satisfaction

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made May 20 at 2015 3:24 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 20 May 2015 15:24:46 -0400

You are on time on target as usual, CPT Private RallyPoint Member; and you prove once more that the leaders above you both in the past and present have done an effective job of mentoring and grooming you for ever-increasing positions of responsibility. This is evident because the nuances of leadership cannot be gleaned from institutional learning, only the fundamentals, as well as the tactics and procedures can be gained there. In addition to mentorship, you have the keen eye of the observer, and when a leader at any level is not performing their duties, you can identify the resultant impact on others. Leadership is your passion; and you are a strong one. Your NCOs are blessed to have you.

Response by CPT Jack Durish made May 20 at 2015 6:16 PM

CPT Jack Durish — Wed, 20 May 2015 18:16:48 -0400

I don't know if the following metaphor is still used: "NCOs wear their rank on their arms and commissioned officers on their shoulders because you can carry more weight on your shoulders than in your arms."

Seems true to me.

After leaving the military, I married, had children and tried to teach them the importance of accepting responsibility. I taught the same to their friends who joined them in Scouting where I was an adult leader. I always impressed on them, especially in the Sea Scouts, that the consequences for attempting to hide something they had done wrong would be far worse than for owning up and taking responsibility. On one sailing trip they broke a piece of gear horsing around when I was absent. When I returned their anticipation was obvious. They pointed out the broken gear. I made sure they understood the importance of taking care of equipment and thanked them for telling me about it. I then used the situation as a learning opportunity for repairing it. Ultimately, I explained, it would have been far worse had we been at sea and needed that gear only to find it broken then.

Sadly, civics are largely not taught in schools any more. A successful republic such as ours depends greatly on the willingness of its citizens to step up and take responsibility.

Forgive me for going off on a tangent, but the subject you exposed is important not only for officers, but everyone...

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made May 20 at 2015 8:23 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 20 May 2015 20:23:36 -0400

Yes! When you have soldiers lives in your hand, especially the younger soldiers.

Response by CSM Private RallyPoint Member made May 21 at 2015 1:53 AM

CSM Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 21 May 2015 01:53:25 -0400

Almost made me cry. Very thought filled post, thanks for sharing. I would say that there is a flip side to your narrative. Some leaders will burden too much weight themselves, failing to cross load and distribute the weight "evenly" among their subordinate leaders. This is also very harmful to the fabric of the unit, not to mention extremely dangerous for the leader bearing all the weight.

You also need to balance your family with your responsibilities to your Soldiers. It is very easy to engulf yourself in leading your unit as your family life quickly crumbles from underneath you. There is an amount of weight that you must distribute to your spouse and children, they must understand that burden and communicate if it gets too heavy for them to bear.

Response by SGM Mikel Dawson made May 21 at 2015 3:28 AM

SGM Mikel Dawson — Thu, 21 May 2015 03:28:13 -0400

I remember once after we'd shipped our Privates off to AIT I sat down and asked myself, "Did I give them everything they needed to know?"

One other thing as a leader, one of the biggest fails I've seen and probably one of the most important things is counseling. I'll never forget when I took over my 12B squad and started pulling my guys in for counseling. I got started on one team leader and was shocked. He told me he'd never received a counseling from his past squad leader! I was set back at this. Then I learned the old excuse, "no time". Yea, we were a Reserve unit, but that made no difference. Our soldiers expect to know what we (leaders) expect of them. By the end of the next drill I expected every one in my squad to be counseled and they were. One thing of leadership I've seen slip but I hope it is better now is the counseling of Junior Enlisted. So what if you got to take that extra time, today it's all on computer, so it can be prepared ahead of time anywhere. Yes Leadership can't be taken lightly - we owe it to those we lead.

Response by PV2 Private RallyPoint Member made May 21 at 2015 5:40 AM

PV2 Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 21 May 2015 05:40:53 -0400

I thought this thread was very insightful and thought provoking. Thank you very much everyone for your comments

Response by SMSgt Private RallyPoint Member made May 21 at 2015 7:53 AM

SMSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 21 May 2015 07:53:40 -0400

Very insightful, LT. In our ever growing environment of the "do more with less" mantra, the balance of responsibility has become one of the most important requirements(if not THE most) to ensure mission success without burning people out. In my experience, if leaders (at all levels) are held accountable to ensuring that the "love" is spread fairly, efficiently and effectively, you see minimal disproportionate share of the workload. When they are not, you see individuals doing the work of three and others being allowed to virtually do nothing due to incompetence, laziness, etc. There will always be those few superstars who are willing to take on the world but it's our job as leaders to make sure as many as possible are able to attack all facets of the mission versus just a few. This means balancing responsibility and remembering to cycle your people through different and sometimes uncomfortable key duties.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made May 21 at 2015 9:33 AM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 21 May 2015 09:33:55 -0400

Great post. I would agree with most but some leaders carry to much weight of others and that can be a bad thing also. I think if everyone would just carry there own weight the military machine we are trying to run would not squeak as much and need less oiling. A good leader knows there role and accomplishes it on there own with the proper assistants that is needed from others, but to many only take the credit when they pass in on to others to accomplish it. Bottom Line know where you fit in and what your duties and responsiblities are and accomplish them yourseld with minimal assets necessary. Sometimes that is just doing it yourself.

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made May 21 at 2015 12:19 PM

MSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 21 May 2015 12:19:32 -0400

Lots of truth, LT.

Response by SFC Joseph James made May 21 at 2015 1:12 PM

SFC Joseph James — Thu, 21 May 2015 13:12:16 -0400

One thing I loved about being a Senior NCO was the partnership with my officers. They may have the "responsibility" but we both ran the team. They dealt with the Head Shed and I dealt with the Soldiers day to day issues. We both lifted each other up as well as the team.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made May 21 at 2015 2:21 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Thu, 21 May 2015 14:21:36 -0400

I will use the analogy of a football team. The QB is great and the team has played well, but there only one drive to win the game. Everyone will step up their game. Sometimes the leader pushes his unit, and sometimes the unit will push the leader.

Response by SSG VNicia Young made May 21 at 2015 2:48 PM

SSG VNicia Young — Thu, 21 May 2015 14:48:44 -0400

That brought me to tears... Thank you for sharing!

Response by SSG Jason Neumann made May 21 at 2015 11:11 PM

SSG Jason Neumann — Thu, 21 May 2015 23:11:45 -0400

Excellent read. There is tremendous weight put on leaders and it only gets heavier as you progress. Pushing it off to another Soldier or leader doesn't solve the problem, however, working with your counterparts to divide and conquer is a smart way instead of the hard way. Ultimately, you are still responsible for what they do or don't do.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Apr 17 at 2019 7:27 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Wed, 17 Apr 2019 19:27:17 -0400

In my eyes, the greatest thing I could do is establish a good culture within the unit. Don't take power away from the NCO's and treat the soldiers like you give a damn. Soldiers will appreciate being treated fairly and for a superior to bat for them.