Posted on Jan 15, 2015
Do military leaders practice force management enough at every level?
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I've been reflecting on my own service and on the many discussions and posts here on Rallypoint and an interesteing thought occured to me. While the military trains leaders in leadership is there enough emphasis on management as well? I think there is an important distinction between leading troops and managing troops. So I wonder if our leaders conduct effective force management, that is, with the human resources at hand do they identify the right personnel for each job under their command?
Posted in these groups: 
Leadership
Management
Leadership Management
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 2
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I see that as part of leadership, SGT James Elphick, but I do get your point. In the Army, force management has another meaning (the force in general, it's akin to personnel management).
I think a good leader does treat his/her people as as a valuable resource and must manage the force at hand to bring the Soldiers along and to accomplish the mission.
I think a good leader does treat his/her people as as a valuable resource and must manage the force at hand to bring the Soldiers along and to accomplish the mission.
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SGT James Elphick
I think personnel management is along the lines of what I am talking about. I feel there is very little in the way of assessing a soldiers particular skills and strengths to see where they would best fit in. I was in the infantry for example and there was little consideration as to who operated which weapons systems best, and even though PT is a huge factor in the infantry, often times even that seemed to be neglected as a factor for who should carry what and which weapon.
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CW5 (Join to see)
I'm with you on that, SGT James Elphick. I was also infantry for my first four years in the Army. The first three of those were with the 82nd Airborne Division, and, for the most part, I experienced what you described.
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SGT James Elphick
CW5 Scott Montgomery I wonder if that is just the 82nd then? Also, how in the world to I mention someone in a comment, cannot figure that out.
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In my experience a leader needs both. If you are great at managment you may still be a terrible leader. I've had leaders that had a managment degree but couldn't lead anything. He was always busy trying to make the army a business and it really isn't. You need to lead your troops in the right direction. You are a leader for a reason. But you need to know how to manage as well. I think there is a balance between the two.
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SGT James Elphick
I agree that a leader needs both but I feel that the management aspect is lacking in many leaders. That is they can lead soldiers but they cannot manage them. They do not check in with them, they do not provide guidance for growth, etc.
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