Leader Competencies at the Strategic Level: Vision, Communication, Ethical Character

"It became clear to me that at the age of 58 I would have to learn new tricks that were not taught in the military manuals or on the battlefield. In this position I am a political soldier and will have to put my training in rapping-out orders and making snap decisions on the back burner, and have to learn the arts of persuasion and guile. I must become an expert in a whole new set of skills."
--General of the Army George Catlett Marshall

Leaders at the strategic level must operate in environments that are highlighted by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA). The skills, knowledge and attributes that they exhibited at the tactical and operational levels will not be enough to be successful strategic leaders. There are key strategic leader competencies that military leaders must exhibit to effectively lead complex organizations and enterprises in the Joint, Interagency, Intergovernmental and Multinational arena. Three of these key competencies are vision, communication and ethical character. In this paper I will address each of these competencies and articulate why they are critical to leading at the strategic level.

Vision

The complexity of organizations at the strategic level and the uncertainty of future events demand that a leader be visionary in his or her view of the organization they are to lead. It is not enough that the leader see the organization in its current operating environment. To be effective a strategic leader must have a vision of how the organization will look and operate in the future. Gerras in Strategic Leadership Primer talks of leaders developing a set of competencies that imbue them with a vision for their organizations when he states that “they must be agile enough to learn from the past, adapt to current circumstances, and anticipate the future trends and potentialities.”[1] Strategic vision requires a leader to be agile, adaptive and anticipatory.

A leader’s vision for a complex organization must articulate an image of the organization in the future. John Kotter in Leading Change indicates that the leader must create a vision that is “a sensible and appealing picture of the future” along with a strategy with “logic for how the vision can be achieved.”[2] He states that an effective vision will serve three critical goals: clarify a direction of change, motivate individuals to strive for that change, and align individuals in an effective and efficient manner.[3] He further states that an effective vision must be imaginable, desirable, feasible, focused, flexible and communicable.[4] General Martin E. Dempsey put out a call to leaders across all branches of service to be visionary when he stated:
"We must look beyond our current requirements—to 2020—and develop Joint Force 2020 to provide the greatest possible number of options for our nation’s leaders and to ensure our nation remains immune from coercion."[5]
The new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will be well served to articulate a vision that provides clarity, motivation and alignment for the joint community as we shape Joint Force 2020.

Communication

If being able to articulate a clear vision is an essential competency for a strategic leader, than being able to communicate that vision both internally to an organization and externally across the environment in which it operates is just as essential. The military leader in the strategic environment must have a communicative presence—that is, the ability to regularly communicate effectively and to foster effective communication across the organization. Gerras’ Strategic Leadership Primer states that “effective communication within the organization is important to changing, or even maintaining, direction or policy.”[6] Additionally he states that strategic leaders communicate externally to government agencies, Congress, and other national political leaders and must do so with “clarity of thought, direction and process.”[7] That strategic level leaders and their organizations operate in volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environments demands an even greater requirement for effective communication.

John Baldoni in his book Great Communication Secrets of Great Leaders speaks of developing, delivering and sustaining the leadership message and states that effective leaders do this every day in their regular communications. Conversely, he posits that ineffective leadership is often due to a failure to communicate.[8] In developing a strategic leadership message Baldoni speaks of establishing credibility, or building trust between the leader and the led.[9] He presents a model for developing leadership communication that reflects significance, values, consistency and cadence—messages that are “about big issues,” “reflect vision, mission, and culture,” “exemplify stated values and behaviors” and “occur with regularity and frequency.”[10] When delivering the leadership message, Baldoni says to be “the authentic presenter” by “reflecting the mood of the moment,” and taking “the message, not yourself, seriously.”[11] In order to sustain the leadership message, Baldoni says that the leader must ensure the message sticks and can accomplish this by checking for understanding, listening, echoing the message, transmitting the passion, and—perhaps most critical—living the message.[12] Kotter in Leading Change similarly states that to effectively communicate, the leader must “repeat, repeat, repeat”[13] and must “walk the talk, or lead by example.”[14] Kotter also states that essential to effective communication is listening as well as being listened to because communication is a “two-way endeavor.”[15] It is only through effective communication that a strategic leader can inculcate his or her vision across the organization and environment in which it operates. The trait of communication is essential to the senior leader in order to articulate a vision for the organization.

Ethical Character

The third key strategic leader competency is ethical character. Military members leading complex strategic organizations in a volatile and ambiguous environment must be the moral compass that keeps their organization moving in an ethical direction. If we are to believe Baldoni when he says that developing effective communication requires building trust between a leader and the led, then ethical behavior is paramount to establishing that trust.

The 38th Chief of Staff of the Army, General Raymond T. Odierno echoed these sentiments of establishing trust in one of his first messages to the Army community when he stated, “trust is the bedrock of our honored profession -- trust between each other, trust between Soldiers and leaders, trust between Soldiers and their families and the Army, and trust with the American people.”[16] General Odierno further emphasized the requirement for trust when he presented his leader expectations by saying “Trust and Teamwork – climate you set.”[17] He underscored his expectation of trust and teamwork by stating “morally and ethically upright; barometer for your command” and “unimpeachable integrity and character – truthful in word and deed.”[18] The new Chief of Staff’s emphasis on trust, ethics, integrity and character is a theme that he has stressed through his tenure in various strategic level positions. While serving as the combatant commander of U.S. Joint Forces Command General Odierno iterated that:
"Effective leadership in times of momentous strategic uncertainty means navigating often painful change with a moral and ethical courage, with physical and mental toughness, with appreciation for the greater goal of our nation’s long-term prosperity and security."[19]

As further reinforcement of the requirement for ethical conduct of strategic level leaders, Alexandre Havard, the founder of the Havard Virtuous Leadership Institute, addressed the students of the U.S. Army War College in October 2011 on the topic of Virtuous Leadership. He laid out a compelling argument that effective leaders possess the bedrock virtues of prudence, courage, self-control and justice. Mr. Havard went on to say that only when a leader possesses these bedrock virtues can he or she then gain the virtues of the heart: magnanimity and humility. He posited that the most effective leaders are those that are magnanimous and yet humble, and that to possess these virtues of the heart is the essence of virtuous leadership. In an interview Mr. Havard further explained that:
"Leadership is a question of character. Character is something we can shape and mold and strengthen. We strengthen our character through the habitual practice of sound moral habits, called ethical or human virtues. Virtues are qualities of the mind, the will and the heart. We acquire them through our own efforts. The very effort to acquire them is an act of leadership."[20]

It is only through moral and ethical conduct, integrity, and strength of character that a strategic leader can establish the trust that is required to communicate a strategic vision. Vision is the competency that enables a senior leader to provide clarity, motivation and alignment to his or her organization. Through the competency of communication a leader develops, delivers and sustains his or her leadership message. The senior leader’s competency of ethical character enables him or her to establish the bond of trust that is required in order to communicate his or her vision. Vision, communication, and ethical character are three key senior leader competencies that must be present to effectively lead and manage the organizations and enterprises which operate in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment. While there certainly are other senior leader competencies that one must possess to operate in the VUCA environment, I infer that strategic leaders must have vision for their organizations, must have a communicative presence across their organizations, and must possess ethical character to establish trust with their organizations.

Endnotes
[1] Gerras, Stephen J., ed., Strategic Leadership Primer, 3rd Edition, (Carlisle: U.S. Army War College, 2010), 20.
[2] Kotter, John P., Leading Change, (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1996), 71.
[3] Ibid., 69-70.
[4] Ibid., 72.
[5] Dempsey, GEN Martin E., Letter to the Joint Force, 1 Oct 2011, http://www.dodlive.mil/index.php/2011/10/general-dempseys-letter-to-the-joint-force/, accessed 18 Oct 2011.
[6] Gerras, Stephen J., ed., Strategic Leadership Primer, 3rd Edition, (Carlisle: U.S. Army War College, 2010), 33.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Baldoni, John, Great Communication Secrets of Great Leaders, (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003), xv.
[9] Ibid., 28.
[10] Ibid., 5.
[11] Ibid., 109-110.
[12] Ibid., 165-169.
[13] Kotter, John P., Leading Change, (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1996), 94.
[14] Ibid., 95.
[15] Ibid., 99.
[16] Odierno, GEN Raymond T., “Expectations for the future,” Army Senior Leader Front Page website at https://www.us.army.mil/suite/designer, accessed 18 Oct 2011.
[17] Odierno, GEN Raymond T., “38th CSA Initial Guidance,” http://cbportal.carlisle.army.mil/sites/students/seminars/sem12/Lists/Announcements/Attachments/83/38th%20csa%20initial%20guidance.pdf slide 5, accessed 18 Oct 2011.
[18] Ibid.
[19] Kurthoys, Kathleen, “JFCOM boss Odierno warns of rugged road ahead,” Army Times, http://www.armytimes.com/news/2011/05/army-odierno-we-may-have-to-do-less-with-less-051611/, accessed 18 Oct 2011.
[20] Bosch, Miriam Diez,”Leadership for Everyone: Interview with Author Alexandre Havard,” Zenit, The World Seen From Rome website, http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=alexandre+havard+virtuous+leadership&view=detail&id=2027B1117B5706A4FEFECFE08A1AA657E3F99AE0&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR, accessed 18 Oct 2011.