2 Leaders are essential to the lethality and strength of any successful organization. It can be argued that nearly every rank in the United States Army possesses leadership roles that prepare Soldiers for greater responsibility. Developing leaders presents a challenging and intricate process because it fundamentally involves working with people. EndnoteRef:1 The assessment of strengths and weaknesses by other leaders is an important developmental step. The Army?s framework for leadership development and assessment integrates structured programs, education, training, and periodic evaluations to ensure that leaders are prepared for current and future challenges. 1. U.S. Department of the Army. Field Manual 6-22: Developing Leaders. …show more content…
This system provides institutional training, unit expertise, and opportunities for self-development. Required courses like the Basic Leaders Course (BLC), Advanced Leaders Course (ALC), Basic Officer Leadership Course (BOLC), and Captains Career Course (CCC), offer a well-rounded approach to leadership development. The Army?s resources for acquiring, enhancing, and demonstrating leadership competencies reflect its investment in individuals and the organization. Without an environment that fosters new ideas, philosophies, and perspectives, leaders would face significant limitations in addressing current and future challenges. 3: U.S. Department of the Army. Field Manual 6-22: Developing Leaders. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Publishing Officer, 2022), …show more content…
While acknowledging that there are issues within the Army?s development and assessment of leaders, these two arguments are based on a lack of time. Mentorship is a voluntary, developmental relationship between an individual with greater experience and one with less. Mentor relationships provide advice, and personal and professional development that help leaders reach their full potential. Within standardized courses, senior leaders vocalize the use of mentorship, but when taken out of a learning environment, very few senior leaders seem to have the time to develop junior leaders. From personal experience, my Battalion Commander only conducted one Leader Professional Development (LPD) for his group of lieutenants. At the company level, my battery commander conducted two LPDs. Time was a recurring issue for both leaders due to our high operational tempo. Biases in evaluations also stem from the time allotted to properly assess and give valuable feedback before formal assessments. Senior rater comments and evaluations carry a heavy weight on promotions during evaluations. More times than not, leaders may only see their Senior rater a few times throughout the duration of that position. This amplifies the importance of the rater?s comments because of how much more time the rater spends evaluating the leader