Decentralized Leadership In The Military

The entire military structure is based on the idea of decentralized leadership. This is centered upon the concept of Commanders intent, be it at the company level or from a four star general. The commander defines the overall mission or objective and supplies concepts of accomplishment (or intent), and is then supposed to trust subordinates to take these charges and complete them. The true measure of success of a leader is how well they empower subordinates to accomplish a task. We have all had a superior at some point in our lives give us a task, then look over our shoulder the entire time the assignment was being completed. This is poor leadership that causes resentment from the worker and wastes time that the commander could be spending

The organization had the responsibility of covering 4 different FOB’s and hundreds of square miles of Afghanistan. In order to accomplish this mission, the Commander had to trust that his subordinates were carrying out his intent, knowing that they were miles away from the “flag pole”. With this level of trust, the soldiers, in turn, were more likely to carry out his intent because there was a form of pride in that trust and also a fear of letting him down. By empowering his soldiers, my commander created a better functioning unit then would have ever existed had we been under his

As the drawdown continues, the lines between Warrant and O grade are becoming blurred. Warrants are being placed in company and battalion level positions that were once completely staffed by lieutenants and captains, while still being expected to function as a subject matter expert in our field. We have become a more economical replacement for these positions. We are being told the mentality of “I’m a Warrant Officer, that’s really not my job” needs to leave our vocabulary and that we must embrace the fact that we are commissioned officers. In the very next breath, Warrants are being micromanaged out of a fear that we might make mistakes. This casts a double standard for an individual that is expected to function at an O grade level one minute, and is then treated like a child the next. Leadership must decide to treat us as capable officers, or keep us in positions where we possess expertise. The fact of the matter is that they cannot have it both