Real leadership and the U.S. Army : overcoming a failure of imagination to conduct adaptive work / John B. Richardson IV.

Format:

Book

Government document

Author/Creator:

Richardson, John B., IV

Contributor:

Army War College (U.S.). Strategic Studies Institute

Series:

Letort papers

Letort Papers

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States. Army--Leadership.

United States.

United States. Army--Attitudes.

United States. Army--Officers.

United States. Army--Management.

United States. Army.

Command of troops--Decision making.

Command of troops.

Organizational behavior--Armed Forces--United States.

Organizational behavior.

Leadership.

Adaptability (Psychology).

Adaptation, Psychological.

Armed Forces--Attitudes.

Armed Forces--Management.

Armed Forces--Officers.

Medical Subjects:

Leadership.

Adaptation, Psychological.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 136 pages) : illustrations.

Place of Publication:

Carlisle, PA : Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, [2011]

Summary:

Introduction -- Case study : Iraq 2008-09 -- The Army's campaign of learning -- The Army's adaptive challenge -- Real leadership -- The real work ahead.

This monograph begins with a case study that provides a means for analyzing the complexity of organizational leadership in the contemporary security environment. As such, it presents a high stakes problem-set that required an operational adaptation by a cavalry squadron conducting combat operations in Baghdad. This problematic reality triggered the struggle to find a creative response to a very deadly problem, while cultural norms served as barriers that prevented the rejection of previously accepted solutions that had proven successful in the past, even though those successful solutions no longer fit in the context of the reality of the present. The case study highlights leaders who were constrained by deeply-held assumptions that inhibited their ability to adapt quickly to a changed environment. The case study then moves on to provide an example of a successful application of adaptive leadership and adaptive work that was performed by the organization after a period of reflection and the willingness to experiment and assume risk. The case study serves as a microcosm of the challenges facing the U.S. Army, and the corresponding leadership framework presented in this monograph can be used as a model for the Army as it attempts to move forward in its effort to make adaptation an institutional imperative. The paper presents a more holistic approach to leadership where the leader transcends that of simply being an authority figure and becomes a real leader who provides a safe and creative learning environment where the organization can tackle and solve adaptive challenges. The paper concludes by recommending that U.S. Army leaders apply Harvard Professor Dean Williams's theory to the challenges confronting the Army's leader development process thereby fostering a culture of adaptive leaders.

Contents:

Summary

Introduction

Case study : Iraq 2008-09

The Army's campaign of learning

The Army's adaptive challenge

Real leadership

The real work ahead.

Notes:

Title from title screen (viewed Dec. 21, 2010).

"December 2011."

Includes bibliographical references.

Electronic reproduction. [S.l.] : HathiTrust Digital Library, 2011.

Other Format:

Print version: Richardson, John B. Real leadership and the U.S. Army.

Online version: Richardson, John B. Real leadership and the U.S. Army.

ISBN:

1584875178

9781584875178

OCLC:

768996073

Access Restriction:

Use copy Restrictions unspecified