Great article on the role of a leader and on maintaining readiness and esprit de corps.
Re: "keep the Soldiers actively engage without overworking them." When I first joined the government as an employee(regular public service, not armed forces like you), leaders used this approach. If there was a week between big assignments, the leaders would assign us an internal project to keep us active, engaged, and focused.
This wouldn't be "fake work" or "bisywork"; rather, it would be a "nice to have" project that isn't essential to core business, but which nonetheless helps prepare the team.
For example, in a unit working on homeless in our country (Canada), during a slow week, the leaders might assign teams to report on what major IS, UK and Australian cities were doing to address homeless.
This kept us focused and learning and it kept us working as a team. The team could be asked to presetheir findings to senior management (our equivalent of officers), which is a good opportunity for the staff to develop confidence and a good chance for senior management to do talent spotting.
As well, since it was a non-essential "nice to have" project, it was a place that the leaders could take risks, like assigning a person their first team leader role. If the person couldn't handle the stress or struggled with issuing directions or dealing with interpersonal squabbles, this was a good way to see who was ready to rise, and who needed more time to grow.
Over the decades, there has been a move away from doing these non-essential projects during slow periods. I think that's a shame, since they serve a valuable purpose for keeping the team engaged, helping the team develop skills, and testing our people in new roles.
The Russkies returned just as I left in 22, and the serious overcame the teenage lol.
The only other suggestion I stumbled into… it works-
Give them a taste of excellence.
It WILL take away from filling out the spreadsheet of tasks,
Cuz
They’re going to do this ONE difficult thing REALLY WELL
and then having tasted excellence, like sex or alcohol they want more.
Yes it costs training time, less boxes are ticked, the return is engagement.
Curve of road calculation ,
Bridge classification ,
Mark/clear mines-
Commo task
Some war task … that is grilled into them and then in freezing rainy night they perform to excellence - grill to anal retentive like a senile CSM doing a police call -
But it MEANS SOMETHING
And they shall having tasted excellence want more.
This will be done on no goddamn paperwork beyond technical reference, and if someone says SME .. or any other buzzword 💩 tell them that rasping sound is a ghostly E5 coming through the internet to stab them.
Thanks fir this article!
Great article on the role of a leader and on maintaining readiness and esprit de corps.
Re: "keep the Soldiers actively engage without overworking them." When I first joined the government as an employee(regular public service, not armed forces like you), leaders used this approach. If there was a week between big assignments, the leaders would assign us an internal project to keep us active, engaged, and focused.
This wouldn't be "fake work" or "bisywork"; rather, it would be a "nice to have" project that isn't essential to core business, but which nonetheless helps prepare the team.
For example, in a unit working on homeless in our country (Canada), during a slow week, the leaders might assign teams to report on what major IS, UK and Australian cities were doing to address homeless.
This kept us focused and learning and it kept us working as a team. The team could be asked to presetheir findings to senior management (our equivalent of officers), which is a good opportunity for the staff to develop confidence and a good chance for senior management to do talent spotting.
As well, since it was a non-essential "nice to have" project, it was a place that the leaders could take risks, like assigning a person their first team leader role. If the person couldn't handle the stress or struggled with issuing directions or dealing with interpersonal squabbles, this was a good way to see who was ready to rise, and who needed more time to grow.
Over the decades, there has been a move away from doing these non-essential projects during slow periods. I think that's a shame, since they serve a valuable purpose for keeping the team engaged, helping the team develop skills, and testing our people in new roles.
Solid advice and outlook for any day.
The Russkies returned just as I left in 22, and the serious overcame the teenage lol.
The only other suggestion I stumbled into… it works-
Give them a taste of excellence.
It WILL take away from filling out the spreadsheet of tasks,
Cuz
They’re going to do this ONE difficult thing REALLY WELL
and then having tasted excellence, like sex or alcohol they want more.
Yes it costs training time, less boxes are ticked, the return is engagement.
Curve of road calculation ,
Bridge classification ,
Mark/clear mines-
Commo task
Some war task … that is grilled into them and then in freezing rainy night they perform to excellence - grill to anal retentive like a senile CSM doing a police call -
But it MEANS SOMETHING
And they shall having tasted excellence want more.
This will be done on no goddamn paperwork beyond technical reference, and if someone says SME .. or any other buzzword 💩 tell them that rasping sound is a ghostly E5 coming through the internet to stab them.
Merry Christmas Sir.