Posted on Mar 29, 2021
Company Command: A People Business - Junior Officer
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First published article! Check it out and let me know what you think.
Company Command: A People Business - Junior Officer
Posted from juniorofficer.army.mil
Company Commander
Leadership
Commanders
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 4
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Good read and insights. And especially —-> “...The little things matter...” Change a few buzzwords here and there and much of it applies to corporate America also. Well done!
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MAJ Ken Landgren
I lied. My priority is working on my PTSD Paper. The only thing I want to say is as a commander I said thank you to the NCOs and the troops for their hard work and dedication. However, I did something that I did not tell anyone why I did it. I incorporated fun into their careers as an alternative way to say thank you and build up morale.
A lot of what I did was predicated on being well funded. We found innovative ways to attain funds legally.
I befriended the MEDVAC pilots and asked them to fly my soldiers around. I gave the soldiers gift certificates for two large pizzas to the pilots. Call it bribery. I don't care, I only cared about the good relationship I had with the pilots.
Friday mornings for PT we played flag football. The gym gave us cones and a football. It was great cardio and out PT average did not suffer.
A couple times we had long runs and had hot chow and buses at the finish line.
I commanded twice. I had a 50 soldier detachment and a 200 soldier company. When I was the detachment commander I grilled food every afternoon after SGTs Time. The food was great because I know how to cook. The NCOs brought side dishes. We went all out.
For our Christmas parties we went all out. The door prizes started with a TV, boom box, and the gifts got progressively cheaper. I had a gag gift of my autographed picture of me in the frame. Natually the soldier would pretent to like the prize. In the back of the picture was a dinner gift certificate. Our morale was quite high.
The first thing I did when I took command was to establish a culture of taking care of soldiers, living by army values, realistic training, and my expectations from the NCOs and soldiers. I had switched from Armor to Finance. I told the Finance Detachment that my expectation was to provide world class support and to treat everyone like they are a potential hero because by random chance they not make it through a deployment. I was really proud of the soldiers. They were quite polite and pleasant when helping customers. To me the culture is the peg from which all else hangs from.
I apologize about not reading your paper. I did a quick scan last night. I must finish the PTSD Paper. It has been delayed for several days.
A lot of what I did was predicated on being well funded. We found innovative ways to attain funds legally.
I befriended the MEDVAC pilots and asked them to fly my soldiers around. I gave the soldiers gift certificates for two large pizzas to the pilots. Call it bribery. I don't care, I only cared about the good relationship I had with the pilots.
Friday mornings for PT we played flag football. The gym gave us cones and a football. It was great cardio and out PT average did not suffer.
A couple times we had long runs and had hot chow and buses at the finish line.
I commanded twice. I had a 50 soldier detachment and a 200 soldier company. When I was the detachment commander I grilled food every afternoon after SGTs Time. The food was great because I know how to cook. The NCOs brought side dishes. We went all out.
For our Christmas parties we went all out. The door prizes started with a TV, boom box, and the gifts got progressively cheaper. I had a gag gift of my autographed picture of me in the frame. Natually the soldier would pretent to like the prize. In the back of the picture was a dinner gift certificate. Our morale was quite high.
The first thing I did when I took command was to establish a culture of taking care of soldiers, living by army values, realistic training, and my expectations from the NCOs and soldiers. I had switched from Armor to Finance. I told the Finance Detachment that my expectation was to provide world class support and to treat everyone like they are a potential hero because by random chance they not make it through a deployment. I was really proud of the soldiers. They were quite polite and pleasant when helping customers. To me the culture is the peg from which all else hangs from.
I apologize about not reading your paper. I did a quick scan last night. I must finish the PTSD Paper. It has been delayed for several days.
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As Company Clerk, I worked for 4 Company Commanders and 2 First Sergeants, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. As a small part of the management process, I was an interested observer and student . To me it comes down to mission definition, education and training, delegation and inspection of expectations. All points provided by this Company Commander have a place in that process. The upside down pyramid that represents servant leadership is critical to the success of a unit as it helps create the environment where people develop the trust necessary for effective communication. Good communication is a swinging door with information in both directions necessary for all problems to be revealed and addressed. Belief that errors are unacceptable leads to cover up and a shut down of communication, depriving the unit of the opportunity to fix what is broke and mitigates possible embarrassment later. I see value in all points and see them as necessary parts of an integrated approach that leads to higher performance and ultimate success
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