Do you think NCO leadership is the same as it was 10-15 years ago?

It has become more and more difficult for NCO's to lead as time went on. During my last deployment it came to light in spectacular fashion. As a result all the senior NCO's of my team left the service as quickly as possible. (trying to be vague because there are some leaders still in the organization) The team leaders constant micro-management techniques interfered with the teams running all the time. When it was brought up thru the NCO support channel and then thru the Chain of Command, it was blown off by our senior leadership. The toxic Officer is no longer my old unit, but the effects are being felt into their new deployment.

Young NCOs should be left to lead without everybody dogging them all the time because they are young bucks. There is a problem that new officer candidates getting drilled into their brains that they are the end all be all of the military across all branches. Nowadays officers tend to be involved in what is none of their business; it's enlisted business, sir. If the machine is running efficiently than leave it alone and let it run before you create problems that didn't exist before. Just like with the PSG. Hey Gunny, Chief, SFC, Tech Sgt mediate and manage. That's your job. If your new buck is sandbagging than and you probably should not have promoted said SM in the first place. You knew it but you got him promoted anyway. Hold his feet to the fire, and if you need to. There is always the Admin Redux board that isn't utilized nearly as much as it SHOULD be. Most bad leaders were bad soldiers but held out long enough to get promoted and small unit leaders allowed it to happen. New NCOs should be encouraged to lead and their subordinates should be encouraged to follow them. Another problem that new NCOs and POs deal today is that seniors allow junior personnel to bypass their first lines and go straight up the chain of command without consequences. It is good that young service members have and utilize the open door policy that most units have in place, however a great number of service members use this and abuse it to their advantage without consulting their first line before hand. This was a problem that I ran into a number of times on my most recent period of active duty with the 82nd Airborne Division. However, newly promoted leaders tend to still have troop habits that need to be rooted out. They should always approach their subordinates and seniors in a mature and professional manner. They should segregate their selves from the junior soldiers. Junior NCOs need to keep their first line supervisor informed of all mission or task status, stoppages, and completions. They need to be perceived as approachable by seniors and subordinates alike. Initial counseling plays an important role in the lives of young, brand new to the unit personnel. They will not know your intentions, requirements, and expectations if you put off sitting down with them and get it on paper or just don't do it at all.

Leaders of today are not prepared to lead. We have spent so much time concentrating on our wartime mission that everything else fell by the wayside. Being a leader is all encompassing, it's not just the ability to lead on the battlefield. Soldiers are more than just dummies that follow orders. Leaders take care of family issues, know the regulations to assist a soldier, know the office or program that will offer assistance. Correctly counsel soldiers on LIFE as well as work. Trains the Soldiers. A leader is someone that the soldiers know they can trust, not because they are friends, but because the leader knows what they are doing. Nowadays it's easier to pass the responsibility off to someone else, and make excuses. When I first got promoted we had a saying, NCOs stick together. What that meant was that we help each other, we teach each other and when a soldier complained that another NCO told them to do something we asked if they did it, not said don't worry about it, he can get one of his soldiers to do it. Leaders today are promoted to fast and aren't ready for the responsibility of being a leader, because they are not trained by leaders. When new training comes around and it's train the trainer course why do we send privates and specialists instead of NCOs? As a PSG I want to know everything about that subject before I allow the soldiers to give a class so I can make sure it's right. How can I do that if I don't know anything about the subject matter? Where do you think the term subject matter expert came from? Leaders have become too complacent and happy with the status quo, so long as they get paid they are happy. No one cares about actually taking care of Soldiers, they care about themselves.

My answer; NO! The NCO chain has their hands tied 99.9% of the time. Therefore there is no discipline.

I think that you are correct! Leadership can be learned on the job - with a little more pain - or you can take courses to help you learn how to lead, manage and supervise. I came across this facebook post from FTCC that might help all of us learn a little more and get college credit for it. You are probably only one course away from a Certificate in Leadership and Management! With the new requirements for promotion that include additional military education, the Leadership and Management Certificate helps you earn promotion points for civilian education while rewarding you for your required military training. This certificate will work for all military services!
Courses
BUS 135 – Principles in Supervision
BUS 137 – Principles in Management
HUM 230 – Leadership Development
COM 120 – Introduction to Interpersonal Communication, or COM 231 – Public Speaking
Total Credits Required = 12
Credit for Military Training
The Leadership & Management Certificate includes courses for which most military NCOs will receive credit for military training and experience. At least 3 credit hours must be completed at FTCC to apply your earned credits.
Outcome
In addition to earning promotion points, the credits earned in the Leadership & Management Certificate will also apply to a business degree or to an Associate in General Education.
Contact us at [login to see] or email Kristina Noriega at [login to see]

Nothing is the same as it was then. Nothing.

NO To much particality and politically correctness. Nd too much power tripping

With the environment produced by the commander in chief on down I don't see how anyone can adequately lead anymore. Social politics decide every action in today's world. The military used to be a formidable force to be reckoned with, now it's a social experiment. God help us going forward....
So no, there's no way anything is better than it was 10 years ago.

IMHO, leadership is rapidly becoming a lost skill. Everyone is so preoccupied with political correctness that the ability to lead is radically diminished. We have to get our military back to where it runs like a well oiled machine. People doing their job because it's their job and quit coddling the little bastards just along for the ride. We have to stop being concerned with hurt feelings and needing time out. You want time out? GET OUT OF MY MILITARY! Some leaders are natural born leaders, most are not. Leadership is a skill that needs to be honed, sharpened and polished like a fine knife. A knife because as a leader you walk a very fine line between showing a subordinate the proper way and coming off as a dictator.

In my 16 years the Army has went a whole different direction. Coming up if I messed up it was a smoke session and wall to wall counciling. In today's "Army" if you so much as speak a harsh word to a troop that has messed up you have the possibility of "catching paper" demotion, or worse. I had a troop loose thire Mil ID, lie to me about it when asked ( I knew when I asked to see it) failed to get a new one on the appointed day because " they did not know they had to do it on thire own time on a down day from training" . So we take a trip to the hill. I began my session and was stopped less then 2 minutes in and told if it was continued I would receive an article 15. So yeah a lot has changed, and leadership or lack there of has changed due to this.