Tribal Leadership in the Army
Innovation Through Cultural Leadership
Leadership. This ten letter word dominates the life of the modern Soldier. Echoing and reverberating up and down the ranks, the objective yet subjective, intuitive yet inculcated, defined yet indefinite, standards of leadership are expressed by leaders of all ranks daily. Soldiers become leaders in name by simple association with the Army. They inherit the responsibilities and obligations to lead by volunteering to serve. Guiding the Soldier Leader to the embodiment of leadership, are attributes, characteristics, ethos, and values all laid out and carefully considered. Each bullet point definition imperative and available for quick reference. While inclusive and detailed, the manuals on leadership are not definitive, as General Raymond Odierno, the former Army Chief of Staff, says in his opening statement of ADP 6–22,
“Army Leadership, describes our foundational leadership principles. I challenge each of you to study and build upon this doctrine to prepare yourselves, your peers, and your Soldiers to meet the challenges you are sure to face.”
Army Leadership is succinct, organized, foundational, and institutionalized. We are all products of this system which produces “leaders.” We were all given the same tools, the same definitions, and the same lessons. Yet, we all encounter (perceived or real) poor leadership, repeatably, across organizations and installations throughout the Army. We often throw out words like “Toxic,” “Deltas,” or “Leader-shit,” when we come across leadership styles we find insufficient. How could this be? How could there be so many inept leaders in a profession that specializes in generating leaders? Is there really a population of flawed leaders out there? Or is it our lens for assessing others that is flawed?
Our institutionally developed understanding of leadership forces an encounter between the perceived leader and the assessed non-leader, as our perspective for assessing leadership qualities is dominated by a focus on the individual. This is a dangerous and harmful frame of reference. It generates a competitive, lone warrior, mentality of comparison and evaluation between leaders— limiting organizational growth over the opportunity to improve the individual’s position/environment. Innovative and selfless leadership, built upon the Army Leadership principles, is essential to leading in this Army of Leaders, and innovation is created by cultural change, not individual specialization.
In MP Project Junto‘s February Article, “MPPJ Burnt Ends” we were exposed to snapshots of topics that Military Police Leaders are tackling and discussing across the Regiment. Of note, one excerpt highlights the complicated intersection of Army Leadership principles and organizational leadership. The contributing author to the Burnt Ends article is a First Lieutenant discussing a decision to confront or back stop leadership deltas. The conflict is summarized by the author as they write:
“…but if we all work to cover down on a leader’s deltas (and likewise others to cover our own), this leader will advance and continue to impact more and more Soldiers with their deltas…”
The conflict the author faces is rooted in the culture of their unit. They struggle with the idea of running upstream, against their leader, reacting against perceived deltas. We can all identify with the internal divergence this officer is facing. We have all been there. We have felt the moral responsibility to bring to light a gap in ability, to protect formations, or validate a cause of unit strife. We all felt the overwhelming burden to remain loyal and protect when in that same circumstance. We have weighed falling on the sword against enduring ineptness. And we were all wrong.
David Logan, a Professor of Management at the University of Southern California, co-authored the book, “ Tribal Leadership.” In his book on Organizational Management, Mr. Logan defines the cultural structures that naturally form as people come together and he discusses how understanding organizations enables groups to evolve and produce varied levels of output. He defines the stages of tribal culture, separating people by behavior and their relationship to others.
The tribal culture spectrum produced, moves from the individual victim to the enlightened team. The difference between each tribe is delineated by increasing emphasis on the group’s well being and a decreasing focus on the individual’s status within their environments. At the lowest level of the Tribal Spectrum is the alienated individual. Members of this group include criminals, gang members, and school shooters who actively undermine within a perceived unfair world. At stage two are apathetic victims. Mr. Logan describes members of this group with an example of DMV employees; people who have seen it all before and possess no passion to stop failure from occurring again. They believe their life sucks. Stage three consists of the self motivated. Stage three members believe knowledge to be power and they hoard it. They desire to win and perceive people who are not as “great” as them to lack the ambition required to succeed. At stage four, Mr. Logan introduces the first break from the individual, replacing the personal domain with tribal pride. Members of the Stage Four tribe believe that “We Are Great” and seek out the general success of the group. David Logan’s tribal management system codifies a naturally occurring process to achieve effectiveness and success by elevating tribes up the spectrum with the catalyst of cultural change.
ADP 6–22, Army Leadership, provides the Soldier Leader with the tools, knowledge, values, characteristics, and attribute guidelines to achieve results and elevate the individual from a “Stage 2,” to a “Stage 3” member. The Army’s whole leader development institution is built around creating stage three leaders. We focus professional development schools on those who earned it. A specialist earns a slot at the Warrior Leadership Course through demonstrated ability or by the very nature of new stripes on their chest. A Staff Sergeant seeks out Battle Staff Course to distinguish themselves from others. A young Lieutenant earns a slot at Ranger School. Captains compete individually for broadening assignments. Majors work professional relationships to find a seat on a Joint Staff. Each individual seeking out the “I’m Great” badge. Falsely correlating gained knowledge, professional victories, and unique experiences to the acquired status of “Leader.” Army Leadership foundational principles do define success in the personal domain but a more important purpose they serve is as a platform to expand influence and stimulate organizational achievement.
Within the personal domain we find conflicts similar to the one described in the Burnt Ends excerpt — and to one in our memory. It is within this personal domain that individuals rationalize and identify incomplete leadership qualities and pit themselves against another individual; their style of leading compared against a different variation. Their discovery is amplified by other lone warriors with similar observations, until momentum is gained and they reach an artificial opportunity to detour from a “backstopping” tribal culture and expose deltas.
It is vital that when considering this detour, that we step back and ask if we desire a new leader or a new culture? ADP 6–22 draws a firm, unwavering line for the standards of conduct. Our Warrior Ethos and Army Values an unambiguous requirement. If your leader’s actions are not consistent with those values, then your cause is just and a detour is required. But what if their actions are consistent with those values? What if there is just a Leadership Attribute unrealized or a lack of competency present? Is that grounds for confrontation? Will confrontation yield cultural change — solve the issue identified? Are you an advocate of the tribe or of yourself?
In Mr. Logan’s Stage Four Tribe (We Are Great), he argues that this tribal mindset is the beginning of realizing higher performance, as members invest in their organization, innovate through collaboration, and grow, together, as a tribe. With a “We Are Great” mentality, the organization is less concerned with isolating weakness and is committed to identifying risks and mitigating them through stable and effective relationships; the strengths of tribe members balanced against their collective weaknesses. The stage four tribe rallies around the values of the group, the purpose for their existence, and seeks to achieve more by building and developing each other.
These types of organizations are currently found in the Army. The 75th Ranger Regiment a shining example. Here stage three leaders earn the right to enter the tribe by demonstrating ability to contribute to the Regiment. Once a member, the ruthless enforcement of standards are the values the tribe rallies around as the group competes to be the most lethal, professional, instrument of the U.S. army. The concept of “We Are Great” runs deep in the 75th Ranger Regiment.
Creating tribal pride only requires a catalyst; a tribal leader, a passionate cause, or deep rooted values. Transformation begins when a cluster of leaders, who commit themselves to improving their organization, acknowledge that deltas are not isolated to an individual, but are instead a naturally occurring characteristic of an organization and must be covered down on, not to protect the individual, but to improve the group.
This is our way ahead. We must break free from the association of achievement, skill, experience, or knowledge as a personal possession and recognize the value these add to the group. Elevating our squad, platoon, company, or battalion, through cultural growth, with collaboration, and innovation, centered around a collective focus on the betterment of the tribe is how we meet GEN Odierno’s challenge to build upon the principles outlined in the Army’s Leadership manual. This is how we must lead.
If you find yourself considering a detour to build a coalition and expose a leader with deltas, take a step back and reflect. Could the coalition of lone warriors, who concur with you, be used differently? More effectively? Absolutely. It just requires a shift in culture. Start by refocusing energy away from isolating individuals and start movement towards improving the tribe. Innovate. Build the team. Backstop your organizations weaknesses by posturing others’ strengths. Protect your tribe. Be the agent of positive change and alter your unit’s culture. Be a Tribal Leader.
For more on David Logan see, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTkKSJSqU-I , or read, http://www.triballeadership.net/media/SoL-Journal.pdf .
The ideas and thoughts contained are the author’s alone and do not reflect the official opinion of the DoD, the Army, or the Military Police Corps.
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