Posted on Feb 16, 2015
When should a leader take a passive approach and allow the soldier to make mistakes?
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Hello community! I have a question about which leadership style you follow. But first let me preface with the backstory below:
this last weekend, my unit went to the range for our annual weapons qualification. Since there were several birthdays this month, the majority of the unit decided to go into town that night and celebrate. A leader whom I will not name is an active member with AA and she and I decided to not go into town with the group but rather stay back at the barracks with a handful of other soldiers. As we were waiting for the bus to come get us from the range and take us back to the barracks, we were discussing the responsibility of leaders to ensure the wellbeing of soldiers and she admitted to not knowing the proper approach to take when it came to intervening on a soldiers unhealthy habitual behaviors.
Her quandary is this; and I would like leaders to vote and comment on which approach they feel would be most beneficial: should a leader take a passive approach and allow the soldier to make mistakes then offer constructive counseling on how to change their lifestyles or should a leader take a more "spare the rod, spoil the child" approach and prohibit the activity before a life lesson can be learned.
I will note, this discussion was premised with talking about soldiers drinking specifically when on free time during a training weekend. As a reformed alcoholic, she was having a personal existential crisis on this matter as she has been on both sides of this scenario.
I will also say, thus leader ha been mentoring me for some time and has been helping me develop my own leadership abilities and therefore I wish to omit the remainder of our discussion as I want to draw a more impartial vote on this question.
Last thing, command allowed the trip into town and ensured there were sober designated drivers to transport the soldiers to and from the bar.
this last weekend, my unit went to the range for our annual weapons qualification. Since there were several birthdays this month, the majority of the unit decided to go into town that night and celebrate. A leader whom I will not name is an active member with AA and she and I decided to not go into town with the group but rather stay back at the barracks with a handful of other soldiers. As we were waiting for the bus to come get us from the range and take us back to the barracks, we were discussing the responsibility of leaders to ensure the wellbeing of soldiers and she admitted to not knowing the proper approach to take when it came to intervening on a soldiers unhealthy habitual behaviors.
Her quandary is this; and I would like leaders to vote and comment on which approach they feel would be most beneficial: should a leader take a passive approach and allow the soldier to make mistakes then offer constructive counseling on how to change their lifestyles or should a leader take a more "spare the rod, spoil the child" approach and prohibit the activity before a life lesson can be learned.
I will note, this discussion was premised with talking about soldiers drinking specifically when on free time during a training weekend. As a reformed alcoholic, she was having a personal existential crisis on this matter as she has been on both sides of this scenario.
I will also say, thus leader ha been mentoring me for some time and has been helping me develop my own leadership abilities and therefore I wish to omit the remainder of our discussion as I want to draw a more impartial vote on this question.
Last thing, command allowed the trip into town and ensured there were sober designated drivers to transport the soldiers to and from the bar.
Training
Leadership
Alcohol
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 14
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SPC Lukas Jones
I tend to side with SFC James Sczymanski on this one. There are rules and regulations already in place to maintain good order and discipline i.e. drunk on duty, failure to report, etc. One thing that Soldiers always complain about is that they are not treated like adults so, I treat them like adults and if they fail to act like adults then they receive adult punishment. Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.
Leaders are encouraged to mitigate risk which is a good thing but, you will never emplace enough measures to operate without risk. Safety briefings, curfews, two drink limits are all emplaced to mitigate risk yet everyday we have DUIs, drunk on duty, failure to report, etc. Sometimes those measures make doing the wrong thing more attractive but, most of the time Soldiers aren't even listening.
On another note, if you notice one of your Soldiers that has a problem with alcohol or drugs (high risk) you should definitely attempt to assist that Soldier. There are plenty of good options for you to reach out to and get that Soldier some help.
I tend to side with SFC James Sczymanski on this one. There are rules and regulations already in place to maintain good order and discipline i.e. drunk on duty, failure to report, etc. One thing that Soldiers always complain about is that they are not treated like adults so, I treat them like adults and if they fail to act like adults then they receive adult punishment. Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.
Leaders are encouraged to mitigate risk which is a good thing but, you will never emplace enough measures to operate without risk. Safety briefings, curfews, two drink limits are all emplaced to mitigate risk yet everyday we have DUIs, drunk on duty, failure to report, etc. Sometimes those measures make doing the wrong thing more attractive but, most of the time Soldiers aren't even listening.
On another note, if you notice one of your Soldiers that has a problem with alcohol or drugs (high risk) you should definitely attempt to assist that Soldier. There are plenty of good options for you to reach out to and get that Soldier some help.
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CSM (Join to see)
After I wrote all that I read your comment to SSG(P) Keith Fay which would of skewed my comment a little. Would of been nice to know in the initial post. Anyway, he is right there should of been a plan for Soldiers that did not want to just go to the bar. If I didn't drink I would of planned something and invited everyone that didn't want to go. Would of pitched in for a cab to the movies or had pizza delivered and watched some movies wherever we stayed.
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SPC Lukas Jones
I agree with that CSM. I did ask those that stayed back if they wanted to watch a movie on my laptop with me or something, but the most of us were only interested in getting ready to leave on the busses in the morning, or catching up on some sleep. Obviously, I didn't ask the females over to the male barracks, but I did text some of my battles in the female barracks and found the mood over there to be the same. Quite honestly, our Brigade has over 150 on our UMR and had they all showed up to the range, I am sure some other form of celebration would have been implemented. This really did feel less like a typical drill and more like a very large ADVON.
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I personally do not approve the plan to do strait to the bar and drink all night; I find it hard to believe that most people are mission capable after that kind of night out.
I do believe that grown adults have the right to make their own choices.
As far as the commander, he/she did ensure a DD (for safety) and hopefully a safety brief to include the consequences of not being prepared for training/morning formation the following day.
In the past, especially during training, as a commander I have placed drink restrictions and time limits on outings but it was due to the nature of the mission. It is hard to impose restrictions during drill weekends mostly because the Soldiers are not use to being restricted.
As a leader, it is yours/mine/our responsibility to ensure the safety of our Soldiers. Sometimes that means cutting off the resources to negative influences and other times it means being available for DD or counseling.
I do believe that grown adults have the right to make their own choices.
As far as the commander, he/she did ensure a DD (for safety) and hopefully a safety brief to include the consequences of not being prepared for training/morning formation the following day.
In the past, especially during training, as a commander I have placed drink restrictions and time limits on outings but it was due to the nature of the mission. It is hard to impose restrictions during drill weekends mostly because the Soldiers are not use to being restricted.
As a leader, it is yours/mine/our responsibility to ensure the safety of our Soldiers. Sometimes that means cutting off the resources to negative influences and other times it means being available for DD or counseling.
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SPC Lukas Jones
Thank you for your comment ma'am. I do agree that there should have been more consideration for those of us that didn't want to party and would rather just have a nice dinner instead of the DFAC. I understand that when someone turns 21 some see that as a reason to go wild, but I think there is a time and place for that. Perhaps Sunday night after we have been released would have been better.
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You cannot instill your own beliefs on others. They may not believe the same as you or have the same struggles as you. There are times when leaders do need to enact preventative measures. These usually involve instances that will jeopardize life and limb. In this particular instance though, I think the best thing a leader can do is to let his/her people know that they have a standard to uphold being part of the military and to monitor and conduct themselves accordingly as well as that of their buddy. In the Air Force we call this wingman concept, i believe the army calls it battle buddy. I would also let them know that should something happen with their plan, they need to call you and you will be there for them. Again each situation is different, and that is part of being a leader. You have to learn how to adapt to each situation. I am finishing up leadership school and recently we had a briefing by our O-6. I asked him "What is something you do for your new subordinates to get them started on the right path?" He said that he sits down with them and gets to know them and their personality, what they need, and how they respond to different types of leaders. Then he adapts to help them accordingly. He said "It is not the follower's responsibility to change to match the leader, but the leader's responsibility to adapt to their followers to get the best possible response from them." Just my thoughts. :) Good luck.
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