Interpersonal Communication As An Army Leader

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The purpose of this essay is to discuss the importance of interpersonal communication as an Army leader. In the Army, Soldiers are exposed to many high-stress situations; proper interpersonal communication skills can be a significant factor in their well-being and career success. First, this essay will define interpersonal communication and how it relates to being a leader in the Army. Second, we will examine the different aspects of interpersonal communication and application strategies Army leaders can use in their teams. Lastly, this informative report will discuss and describe how communication and interpersonal communication is used within the Army. As an Army leader, properly communicating with Soldiers can be imperative in relaying …show more content…

Leaders can do this by building a relationship with their Soldiers. Observations from a lecture conducted by a professor at the University of Missouri will be used to examine interpersonal communication. The professor explains that there are three aspects of interpersonal communication; instrumental, relational, and self-presentational (Klien, 2021). These attributes can be viewed as goals for a successful relationship. Instrumental communication can be set as a goal to accomplish something within a relationship by information seeking, compliance gaining, and support seeking. Information seeking is asking, “What does my Soldier need.” Compliance gaining is needing something from the person being communicated with. Support-seeking is sharing information with someone and having confidence that they will actively listen to those concerns. In essence, instrumental communication is a conversation that helps things get accomplished in the relationship. Relational communication is a goal where the communicators engage in practices to maintain a positive relationship. This can be accomplished by keeping up with the lives of each other and reinforcing that the communicators are there for each other. Self-presentational communication is adapting how we communicate to be perceived differently. This can be accomplished by observing how others respond to the communicator’s behavior …show more content…

Observed as a whole, the Army practices effective communication through clear, concise, and organized communication. This type of organized communication is essential when there is a clear-cut objective with risk involved, like attacking a hostile enemy objective to accomplish a mission. Relaying the mission’s plan of attack and rules of engagement requires clarity to eliminate possible assumptions or distractions. One of the most important traits of an Army leader is the ability to communicate intentions, goals, and decisions with