2. The term leadership is an all-encompassing term that is at the very heart of the military
profession. Without leadership, the best Soldier, the most efficient organization, a superior logistics
system, and the finest weapons that can be produced by modern technology cannot be meshed to
realize full and proper potential as a fighting force. With leadership, inferior forces with obsolete
equipment and meager supplies have accomplished miracles as the long history of warfare can
attest. Leadership, then, is both a necessary and sufficient requisite for any professional military
organization.
3. In military as well as in civilian usage, the functions of command, management, and
leadership are a question of interpretation due to their interrelationship. Nevertheless, it is
necessary to understand each of these terms as we define them to have a common foundation with
which to begin our study of leadership.
4. A command is the authority a person in the military service lawfully exercises over
subordinates by virtue of his rank and assignment or position. Command, to the NCO, is based
primarily on authority delegated through the chain of command. Command provides the legal basis
for the exercise of the broad activities of leadership and management. Legitimate authority also
carries with it responsibility such that we are all morally and legally accountable for our actions.
Guidelines for the responsibility and authority exercised by officers and NCOs come from
regulations, manuals, orders, and directives. But these do not cover all situations. Lacking
established guidelines, personal judgment and experience come into play so that the effective
commander or leader does that which is right and continues to function.
5. Management is the process of planning, organizing, coordinating, directing, and controlling
resources such as personnel, material, time, and money to accomplish the organizational mission.
Of all the resources available to the manager, personnel are the most important as this resource is
central to the employment of all other assets. A manager uses the process of leadership to manage
personnel. A commander is therefore both a leader and a manager.
6. There are many definitions of leadership, but all such definitions indicate that it is a process
involving both personnel and a mission or goal. Military leadership is the process of influencing
personnel in a manner to accomplish the mission. Leadership involves the personal relationship of
one person to another and the ability to use one's personality to directly influence one's subordinates
to accomplish the mission. Ideally, the process of leadership obtains the willing cooperation of
subordinates through persuasion. Persuasion does not mean that the leader takes a vote to
determine a course of action or that the leader's decision to act is open to argument from his
subordinates. It means that, because of the leader's sound judgment, knowledge, and personal
relationships with his personnel, he is able to direct his personnel's attitudes, as well as their
behavior, toward the attainment of organizational goals. But because of the unique circumstances
of the military organization, with particular emphasis on the combat always effective or appropriate.
It is sometimes necessary to apply a more authoritarian form of leadership in combination with
persuasion.
7. The concept of leadership for the US Army is based on accomplishing the organizational
mission while preserving the dignity of the individual. This concept requires that a continuing
effort be made toward maintaining a proper balance at all times between fulfillment of the goals of
the organization and the needs and goals of its members. It therefore follows that leadership
behavior must be both flexible in technique and personal in application to motivate the Soldier and
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