How can I help my Soldiers' morale?

Motivation gives purpose. If you are not being fully utilized, employ a goal/s for you and your soldiers to complete, make them small but rewarding at the end of the day. NCOs have always played un Umbrella in a sense covering me from nonsensical and useless repetition. Utilize your authority however much you can to sway your soldier into seeing a bigger picture and ultimate goal to each day. When there is no big picture and no explanation ensure to find something in the day that applies to the squad, team, and individual Soldier. Whether it be a 5minute pep talk to the team to ensure that they can share some of the motivation you carry. When my soldiers start on the downward spiral, I try to level with them spoke to them as an experienced person to another (with out blurring the lines of my leadership). Know them, and use your leader/ subordinate relationship to give them an example to look up to.

In looking at the responses, all of them provide good advice. But the best advice in the world is useless unless there's follow through.

Start with what you can control. The statement, "fake it until you make it" was used by SGT Brent Cann. I would say that is step 2 or 3. MAJ Rene De La Rosa gave you the 4-P's (Purpose, People, Productivity, Progress) as a framework by which to direct your efforts. That framework will work well, but there is one thing from all of these responses I believe is understated.

Lead by Example.

Have you watched the movie Caddie Shack? If not, you need to watch it. There is one scene where Chevy Chase's character tells the main character, Danny, to "Be the ball". Here is the Youtuibe link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWH811TcckU

Although this is a fun movie, there are also some lessons to be learned by this movie. First, you must admit there is a "force in the universe that makes things happen". I'm not talking The Force (Star Wars) or anything unnatural. But there is balance.

Balance is the key to success in everything. A sports team cannot win by offense or defense alone. There must be a balance between the two when enables the team to make more good happen (points for) than bad (points against).

When a golfer takes a swing, they have balance throughout that swing. If they are not balanced, they will dig, slice, cut or miss the ball. It will not go where it's intended. Balance is key.

Chevy Chase blindfolds himself to strike the ball. This is demonstrating trust. Trust in the force, trust in himself, and trust in his skills. "All you have to do is get in touch with it (the force in the universe). Stop thinking, Let things happen, and be the ball". The ball is the result of the effort you put into it. The effort is the swing, the ball is the result. Where the result (ball) ends up is dependent on the effort (swing) and trust (in one's self and in the process).

There must be some help along the way. This is demonstrated by Chevy Chase taking a handful of clubs out of the bag and dropping them. You must have help, assistance and guidance. You cannot do it alone, but you can do it. Know what it is you want (Chevy Chase wants the wedge) and asks Danny for the wedge. He knows what he wants. It's not outside of the parameters of the goal. It is a realistic tool to use in the process. Know your process and the tools you need to accomplish the task. Remember, this is all focused on being "the ball", being balanced, and trusting the process.

"Find your center. Hear nothing. Feel nothing." Find your balance, don't let outside distractions take away from that center (balance), become part of the process and the solution.

Danny's first shot in developing this process is a failure. That is to be expected in any development of a new process. But by the end of the movie, he is able to stay centered and achieve the goal.

Identify the purpose (mission) of what you are being asked to do. Stay centered. Find a mentor within the organization you look up to and ask for professional guidance. That could be another NCO or an Officer (when I was a Jr. NCO one of my mentors was the Company XO). Learn from them, but also be willing to freely give that knowledge to your team. Don't be afraid to fail, and keep trying.

We used to have a phrase, I believe it's still used. "Semper Gumby" (Always Flexible). Embrace that thought. Stay centered (you can only control you and your actions), be the example, do everything with motivation and always be the positive example for your Soldiers. Work the long hours and do the extra. Stay centered.

When you make these changes, believe it or not, the toxic leadership will make the changes as well. It will take a while, but nobody ever said you can't be a leader from your position in your organization. The leadership may give the direction, but that's not leadership. Always moving forward, remaining balanced, being willing to make the mistakes, learn from those mistakes, and continuing to strive for perfection... that's leadership that's contagious.

I believe you can do it, and so does the Army (that's why you are an E5). You are the base of the backbone... the strongest point. You enable the rest of the spine to be able to do it's function. Believe in yourself. Believe in your abilities. Train your team to take your place. Stay balanced, and "be the ball".

Who runs your PT program?

is there a specific thing that gets to them? I know I did some PT once, we played dodge ball. Then we did platoon vs other platoons. It got pretty popular. I know our xo hated it, but the guy that mattered the CO loved it. He ecouraged us to do alternate PT that stressed team building. Seemed dodge ball accomplished all. After a couple hours, everyone was pretty PT'd.

Might also try to have a private get together. Ask what is the problem, let them vent. I learned that letting people vent openly and freely can help. You just have to make sure and lead it, do not let it degrade into a crybaby session. I actually use this in my now civilian job. The company claim manager has commented my team seems to be happier, more dedicated than other units.

first learn about your soldiers personal life. See whats missing. Fill the need. You can take a day and have your soldiers and family take a day at park. Places like Busch Gardens have one free day a year. What better way to bond with your soldiers.

Well one thing is what is their leadership like? is their leadership something they should strive be like or are they lazy and shit bags? things that i always use is during PT put some kind of competition in your PT plan. also i always had my guys compete during training events. soldiers will feed off their leadership lead by example

The best way I've found to build morale within my unit is by careful management of 6 human needs: Security/Certainty, Variety/Uncertainty, Significance, Connection/Love, Growth, and Contribution. Every person needs each of these to varrying degrees, for instance one person might need more security than another. But by knowing each person and their needs you can ensure they have what it takes for emotional and psychological health.
Security - Sometimes we don't know what to expect, especially in the military where the schedule can be chaotic at best. But having resources, a work structure, and a plan of attack to handle anything that comes down the road can still give a soldier/sailor security. As a leader, be consistent in the reassurance that we can handle anything because of this. i.e. We don't know what equipment will go down or when, but we have a dry-erase board where we will document everything as soon as it happens and track its status, as well as designated personnel who will do their part to order parts, gather tools, and fix the problem - and we are trained to fix problems well.
Variety - In many work atmospheres the day-to-day routine can become mundane. We also tend to overapply a person's skills to the point that they are performing the same tasks too much. Throw people a curveball every now and then to shake things up. A training activity that may seem unrelated but teaches teamwork; early liberty for no reason; a change of responsibilities.
Significance - Many units in the military can be so far removed from the action that they lose sight of the big picture, i.e. standing watches. It is vital to consistently remind your personnel of the purpose they have in their position. Beat it into their heads that each person has a purpose in the big scheme. Take every opportunity to highlight accomplishments that have come about due to their work.
Connection/Love - Military members have 2 families, the one at home and the one at work. Make sure to provide ample opportunity for them to be involved in each. At work you have the capability of influencing the military family aspect. Be encouraging of the time your unit spends together both on and off duty. Set up unit outings and game nights. Something as simple as having lunch together goes a long way.
Growth - Be intrusive in the personal growth of your personnel. Pushing qualifications is only the beginning. Make sure that their finances are set up with investments they can see results from. Get them into college classes so they can take advantage of the military's education benefits. One thing I did was to post a "quote of the day", and had each member involved in choosing quotes that would both motivate and teach us.
Contribution - Make sure your personnel are involved in the tasks you performed on every level. Utilize the knowledge and creativity each person has by allowing them to be a part of the decision making process. In the military, the one in charge will always have the final say, but it costs nothing to listen to your personnel's insights and suggestions. Encourage ownership by delegating responsibilities and then RECOGNIZING success. This also ties in with vision which is a key aspect of leadership. Provide your unit with a vision, such as 100% operational capability, outline the points that are required to accomplish your vision, and then enable them to work independently and together to accomplish your goals. When the leader's vision is also the team's vision, amazing things can be accomplished.
Military leadership is not easy, but it can be deeply rewarding when you play a positive role in the lives of your personnel. Be genuine, attentive, authoritative, inclusive, and direct. Take blame, give credit. Build your people and you will rise with them.

- Credit "6 Human Needs": https://training.tonyrobbins.com/the-6-human-needs-why-we-do-what-we-do/

Perpective is key. We can see the exact situation two opposing ways through our perspective. Why are you here ? who's depending on you? Who dafuq r you? KiccAss Army! Men, our ego is our motivation, our mindset! They're only as strong as their leader, so be the example! Motivated, determined n proud! Hooah!

In my unit, we do something we like to call "Man Meat Fridays" which is simply a Burger burn with brat wursts and steaks and chicken or whatever the Airmen choose to bring, or they pitch in a dollar for each paygrade, (E-1 give $1, E-4 give $4 and so on). While work is getting done out on the flight line, the flight chiefs are outside making food for everyone.

Other times, if there's not a lot of work going on and we can spare a few guys/gals, we sometimes allow people to go home early.

The Air Force has also authorized the wearing of unit morale shirts on fridays as a nice change of pace.

And if you can get away with it, try having a down day where everyone gets together and plays some sports and has fun all day without having to worry about work, maybe once a quarter.

These are just a few ways my unit has come up with to raise morale. And 12 hour days really put everyone on the bad side, so if you don't absolutely have to, the unit appreciates it if it doesn't happen.

I want to thank everyone for their sound advice. When asking this question I honestly didn't think I would get such a great and positive response. I have already started implementing some of the advice that has been giving and I am also keeping my eyes and ears open to try and figure out exactly what it is that's bringing the Soldiers down. Again, thank you all. I hope this discussion can reach other NCO's/Junior Leaders in similar situations.