Leadership Skills Training: the Importance of Communicating Leaders’ Intent

Long before strategic execution became one of the top concerns of business leaders and even before a very real and bloody Global War on Terrorism began, a senior U.S. military leader and theorist defined a prescription for both using leadership skills training. He called it the Strategic Corporal.

General Krulak’s fictional scenario, Operation Absolute Agility, is used throughout the military for developing leadership among its members. As the scenario goes, once Corporal Hernandez and his squad arrived at his post, he observed that a large crowd had formed and that a number of vehicles from one of the factions were congregating in the area and disrupting the relief efforts. So, he relayed this information to his commander. In response, he received word that another rival faction was headed directly for his position. It appeared that there was going to be a fight between the two forces and Corporal Hernandez’s small squad would be caught in the middle. A helicopter was dispatched by the Marine commander to help distract the crowd, but it came under attack by a shoulder-launched missile from somewhere nearby and crashed. A Marine observer could see that there were survivors that needed assistance. Then, the second warlord’s men pulled up to the gates brandishing weapons and rocket-propelled grenades with a crew from an international news agency in-tow. Rocks and Molotov cocktails were launched at the Marines and one was slightly injured.

So, what was Corporal Hernandez to do? To quote General Krulak: “Corporal Hernandez was face-to-face with grave challenges . . . and his actions, in the next few minutes, would determine the outcome of the mission and have potentially strategic implications.” He goes on to say that in increasingly complex scenarios “. . . the outcome may hinge on decisions made by small unit leaders, and by actions taken at the lowest level.”

Sound familiar? Do the people at the lowest levels of your organization have an understanding of the organization’s overarching goals in order to make the right decisions when faced with unforeseen challenges that demand immediate action? Do they have the freedom to exercise judgment? Do they have access to the information they need to make those judgments? Making the right decisions when faced with ambiguity and uncertainty is essential to surviving and thriving in the modern world.

Consider the following true customer service story. A customer sent a product back to the factory for repair. The factory claimed that the manner in which the customer packaged the product for return damaged some diagnostic equipment when it was opened. A front-line manager charged the customer over a thousand dollars for that damage. Because that manager did not possess a clear understanding of the company’s overall objectives, he made a request from a purely mission-focused perspective. As it turns out, that particular customer posted the experience on an industry website that was read by about 34,000 people every day. The negative press caused much more than a thousand dollars in equipment damage.

In a similar story, this one from a major airline, a customer service agent dutifully quoted airline policy in spite of a group of customers complaints of being charged over $200 for each additional bag – a fee that was, indeed, company policy. So, good for the customer service agent, right? Wrong. This group of customers needing to check additional bags was soldiers returning from duty in Afghanistan. Shocked at the expense they were liable to pay, the soldiers quickly released an internet video that went viral in no time. The airline’s reputation suffered immediate damage as an untold number of customers, including one U.S. Congressmen, expressed their dismay. Some even boycotted the airline. One short-sighted employee lost sight of an alignment with company goals. It was easier to quote policy than to exercise judgment.

In both of these scenarios, improved execution leadership would have lead to better communication and alignment of company goals and objectives. This would have resulted in the company preserving their reputation and saving thousands in damages.

Returning to Corporal Hernandez’s scenario, we are not given any information on his aligning vision, mission, goals or strategies. And, that’s the point. How can he exercise judgment without them? If it has anything to do with humanitarian aid or protecting the populace, how damaging will it be if he executes his mission order and opens fire on the crowd with a news crew recording the carnage for the world to see? This is what General Krulak meant when he said that Corporal Hernandez’s actions could have strategic implications.

Providing Corporal Hernandez with clear alignment between his mission objective, the strategy, and overall purpose of his squad’s presence there, senior leaders provide him with the guidance he needs to exercise his best judgment when things don’t go as planned or expected.

There have been many stories of young servicemen and women in combat making such critical decisions when the world starts to fall apart around them. How have they succeeded in exercising good judgment and aligning their actions to national strategy and goals? They understand why – the notion that author Simon Sinek has made famous over the past few years. It’s no mistake that he frequently references military experiences in his books Start With Why and Leaders Eat Last. The Strategic Corporal must understand the fundamental why for what he or she does. But they also have to have a clear and well-defined understanding of long-range goals and the strategy to achieve them. Only then can they be empowered and entrusted to exercise good judgment and make the right call in volatile and uncertain environments. Vision, what we call a High Definition Destination^SM in Flawless Execution^SM methodology, and strategy is intended for the front line of every organization’s force, not just the executives. Work with us, and our business strategy experts will show you how to implement Flawless ExecutionSM methodology.