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As we know, leadership carries with it more than just a title - it is comes with additional responsibilities. In a literal sense, these responsibilities should not be taken lightly. At times, that weight may be more than we can bear or sometimes it may even be absent. How much weight we should bear should be somewhat consistent with the position we hold.
As you are given your initial leadership duties, you tend to feel a deep sense of responsibility. Now you are responsible for those soldiers that are your subordinates. If you don’t feel this weight, I would start to question whether you are really accepting those responsibilities or just passing the weight off to another soldier. As you progress in your career, you should bear more weight as you are given more responsibility. If you are that leader whose last thoughts for the day are of your soldiers, then you understand what a tremendous responsibility you have.
If this system is disproportionate, you will find that some leaders carry the weight of others. When you see a leader that is more concerned about his or her personal wellbeing, then you know that he/she passed that weight to another. You will often find a subordinate leader carrying the additional weight. If this behavior continues, roles and responsibilities will be blurred as the expectations and burdens will be passed to those that understand what it means to be a leader. The end result will be a subordinate carrying twice the load they should be.
As a leader, the military expects much of you. You are there to lead your soldiers and set the example. Your soldiers will be able to sense your commitment to your position, or lack thereof. This could be no more evident than when GA Dwight D. Eisenhower took command for what would be the largest amphibious assault in history. To pass the time and get some perspective on his anxiety, GA Eisenhower scribbled a memoranda in his journal listing all of the things that were worrying him. “Probably no one who does not have to bear the specific and direct responsibility of making the final decision as to what to do can understand the intensity of these burdens,” he wrote.
Leadership does create burdens for soldiers. These burdens should be met with recognition that you are there for more than yourself. Others now depend on you. If you don’t willfully accept this, you may do more harm than you could ever imagine. Too much weight on a junior soldier could crush him as he is bearing that weight more than his own. If you don’t realize how much weight you should be carrying, you may not have enough. Too many gleefully move on in their career without realizing the impact they are having. Many of the duties are passed off to others while they may fail to realize what is really expected of them. This is the greatest disservice to our soldiers as a leader.
As you are given your initial leadership duties, you tend to feel a deep sense of responsibility. Now you are responsible for those soldiers that are your subordinates. If you don’t feel this weight, I would start to question whether you are really accepting those responsibilities or just passing the weight off to another soldier. As you progress in your career, you should bear more weight as you are given more responsibility. If you are that leader whose last thoughts for the day are of your soldiers, then you understand what a tremendous responsibility you have.
If this system is disproportionate, you will find that some leaders carry the weight of others. When you see a leader that is more concerned about his or her personal wellbeing, then you know that he/she passed that weight to another. You will often find a subordinate leader carrying the additional weight. If this behavior continues, roles and responsibilities will be blurred as the expectations and burdens will be passed to those that understand what it means to be a leader. The end result will be a subordinate carrying twice the load they should be.
As a leader, the military expects much of you. You are there to lead your soldiers and set the example. Your soldiers will be able to sense your commitment to your position, or lack thereof. This could be no more evident than when GA Dwight D. Eisenhower took command for what would be the largest amphibious assault in history. To pass the time and get some perspective on his anxiety, GA Eisenhower scribbled a memoranda in his journal listing all of the things that were worrying him. “Probably no one who does not have to bear the specific and direct responsibility of making the final decision as to what to do can understand the intensity of these burdens,” he wrote.
Leadership does create burdens for soldiers. These burdens should be met with recognition that you are there for more than yourself. Others now depend on you. If you don’t willfully accept this, you may do more harm than you could ever imagine. Too much weight on a junior soldier could crush him as he is bearing that weight more than his own. If you don’t realize how much weight you should be carrying, you may not have enough. Too many gleefully move on in their career without realizing the impact they are having. Many of the duties are passed off to others while they may fail to realize what is really expected of them. This is the greatest disservice to our soldiers as a leader.
Leadership
Military Life
Command Post
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 17
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Almost made me cry. Very thought filled post, thanks for sharing. I would say that there is a flip side to your narrative. Some leaders will burden too much weight themselves, failing to cross load and distribute the weight "evenly" among their subordinate leaders. This is also very harmful to the fabric of the unit, not to mention extremely dangerous for the leader bearing all the weight.
You also need to balance your family with your responsibilities to your Soldiers. It is very easy to engulf yourself in leading your unit as your family life quickly crumbles from underneath you. There is an amount of weight that you must distribute to your spouse and children, they must understand that burden and communicate if it gets too heavy for them to bear.
You also need to balance your family with your responsibilities to your Soldiers. It is very easy to engulf yourself in leading your unit as your family life quickly crumbles from underneath you. There is an amount of weight that you must distribute to your spouse and children, they must understand that burden and communicate if it gets too heavy for them to bear.
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SGM Mikel Dawson
And one little comment to add: Don't "lead" your family as you do your troops, I hope you understand my meaning. Yes, you are in front, but they are your family.
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CPT (Join to see)
That is a great point about the family. I spoke to my wife the other day and she is ready for me to be home for a while. I am in the National Guard but have only spent a few months at home over the two years. When I left Active Duty she, nor I, didn't think it would be this busy in the Guard. After I get back states side I want to make a run at SFAS. I plan on doing that but not anytime soon. I will wait till the spring at the earliest. I do need some family time. I have too many times where the Army came first. And the Army will take advantage of that if you let it.
I also agree about the overburdened leader. I know one personally. I can say that I help as much as I can to correct the issue but it is still a challenge. When you have a soldier that knows that it won't be done right unless he does it it will lead to him taking on more than he should.
I also agree about the overburdened leader. I know one personally. I can say that I help as much as I can to correct the issue but it is still a challenge. When you have a soldier that knows that it won't be done right unless he does it it will lead to him taking on more than he should.
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I remember once after we'd shipped our Privates off to AIT I sat down and asked myself, "Did I give them everything they needed to know?"
One other thing as a leader, one of the biggest fails I've seen and probably one of the most important things is counseling. I'll never forget when I took over my 12B squad and started pulling my guys in for counseling. I got started on one team leader and was shocked. He told me he'd never received a counseling from his past squad leader! I was set back at this. Then I learned the old excuse, "no time". Yea, we were a Reserve unit, but that made no difference. Our soldiers expect to know what we (leaders) expect of them. By the end of the next drill I expected every one in my squad to be counseled and they were. One thing of leadership I've seen slip but I hope it is better now is the counseling of Junior Enlisted. So what if you got to take that extra time, today it's all on computer, so it can be prepared ahead of time anywhere. Yes Leadership can't be taken lightly - we owe it to those we lead.
One other thing as a leader, one of the biggest fails I've seen and probably one of the most important things is counseling. I'll never forget when I took over my 12B squad and started pulling my guys in for counseling. I got started on one team leader and was shocked. He told me he'd never received a counseling from his past squad leader! I was set back at this. Then I learned the old excuse, "no time". Yea, we were a Reserve unit, but that made no difference. Our soldiers expect to know what we (leaders) expect of them. By the end of the next drill I expected every one in my squad to be counseled and they were. One thing of leadership I've seen slip but I hope it is better now is the counseling of Junior Enlisted. So what if you got to take that extra time, today it's all on computer, so it can be prepared ahead of time anywhere. Yes Leadership can't be taken lightly - we owe it to those we lead.
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SrA (Join to see)
With that being said even as a Junior enlisted when I was in the Army there were many times where I was having to lead the troops below me due to poor leadership, as a Junior enlisted when your leadership doesnt carry the weight that being in that position entails it falls on the next person down the line.. Every troop it doesnt matter what branch should be carrying some weight for those below them whether they are in a leadership position or not
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