What Training Creates Great Leaders?

Great leaders are often propelled upward by the people they lead. I like to look at whether an individual leads simply because they have the title or because their people follow them because they respect what their leader has done for the squad/crew/organization.

It is not one specific thing but a combination of many. In the military, there must be some degree of military education in order to understand, gain proficiency, and eventually become an expert in a respective field. Coaching and mentoring are also important as it develops trust and addresses the human element. I've know several very intelligent leaders who had not ability to empathize or connect with his troops.

A leader must also be challenged and tested under difficult and strenuous conditions in order to not only know his unit and soldiers but also himself and his own limitations. I think we lose this when we try to replace real training with simulations.

Experience in any field can make you a leader, but having a good mentor that helps you develope is what makes someone a "GREAT" leader!

However, in order to be a "GREAT" leader, a mentor that dedicates time to your

1. Home Training
2.Spiritual Training
3.Life Training
Whatever you learned under those 3, that is what you will bring to the table when you sign up for military service.

I think all of them are good for building good leaders, myself I preferred to be taught by a good Sr NCO. You can't be a good leader by going to school you need hands on also.

Menorting is unique from the rest. Experience is the long way to being a great leader, but if someone who already possesses experience has mentored you, it's likely you will apply his/her experiences in your decision-making.

Mentorship opportunities are also lacking in the military, and are being supplemented with brief PowerPoint slides and courses (*cough* SSD), which simply isn't effective.

Try having PFC Joe do a "job shadow" with the company commander once or twice a year, and SSG Blow do a job shadow with the SGM. Results may inspire people.

Crawl, Walk, Run phases are excellent for training. You reiterate this with repetition until all the contact drills are done instinctively. Leaders have to work much harder considering they have one or more elements to direct. Some of us studied the theory and applications of war to try to understand the nature of war.

In the Infantry Leadership and Leadership skills are a life and death matter, so any great leader will set that as the standard in which everything he does derives from. Such as tactical decisions , as a Leader other's follow the plan of action , but the question will be first will the plan complete the mission ? , Second can the plan be accomplished with minimal loss of life ,third will the plan allow for maximum effect on the enemy . Contrary to popular belief grunt's are not stupid, they see from a leader's example and standard who they want to follow , and who they don't , I was taught by LTC Beal, Commander of 2bn 15th inf ( mech) Wildflecken,Gy. I observed how he turned the black sheep of the U.S. Army into the best Infantry unit in Europe , which is why that unit was tasked to go to Iran in support of the hostage rescue operation, due to a proven record of readiness for Combat. But more importantly was the wartime mission readiness of the 15th inf in Europe which was first encounter in order to get to the famous Fulda gap, they had to get through us at the mouth of the Fulda gap a 1 kilometer wide Valley of Death with a 72hr life cycle , that's how long the European military force had to hold back the red hord to allow for the reinforcement to arrive.... Brilliant leader's simply show other's how it's done , LTC Beal could outrun 17-18 year olds without breaking sweat, I know I was one of those young men . He taught me if you want to be the best ,you gotta bump the standards as equal to the degree of your idea of what being the best means to you.... Sometimes that requires a failure to make one reach for higher place ... In my case it was a PT test only one I ever failed at Recondo school I passed the graduate or walk away PT test, my arrogance of the regular PT test did not prepare me for the higher standard PT test conducted on day 1 , it did however get me into the best shape of my Life upon graduation , there good tactical skill's and then there is genius in tactics, final test for graduation was a field leadership tactical test , the mission was defense and or offense ,given the military odds of 3 to 1 offense vs defense , your mission as leader was to win either in offense or defense, only one student ever won on defense in the history of the course , and not just win but rendered the offense 85% Combat ineffective , would have been 100% but the test was stopped before that occurred .3 day's after graduation I reported for Air Assault school, 3 day's after graduation I reported to Sniper school , 3 day's after returning to my unit from graduation I was given a squad as a Spc4 waiting on orders to corporal , my standards were way above other's, my squad did squad PT after company PT, all knew to volunteer for guard duty during the run. My squad knew I was an expert in every weapon on the range used in our squad as well as foreign military weapon's, they knew I ran on every kind of land navigation course ever setup and never missed a point , never got lost on the point no matter the distance or obstacle's and most importantly they knew I always played to win no matter the odds. Great Leadership is about higher standards, those you set for yourself , and those you lead . Once the bar is set just a matter of reaching for it .....

By far individual mentorship has been the most beneficial to me throughout my career. I have had numerous Soldiers come to me and thank me for mentoring them as well.

I was always told there are two types of training - Mindless Repetition and Blunt Trauma. We don't get a lot of blunt trauma, unless you are in combat, and that is sometimes not the best time for leader development. All young leaders need to be allowed to make mistakes. Innovation and experience grow out of failure. Ranger School is not a guarantee to produce a great leader, granted it's loaded with blunt trauma. Realistic and resourced training as well as great mentors create great leaders. Leaders should be graded on their mentoring, and it's not just senior leaders. Should be one and two levels down.