Toxic Leadership In The Army

Robert E. Lee once said of leadership, “I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself” (Jones, 1875). This is an instance where I believe that even though this idea or thought was mentioned many years ago, it still has relevance today. I do not have an exact date of that quote, but with General Lee fighting in the Civil War, I would imagine it came somewhere in the mid-1800’s (The book it is found in was published after his death). Our current military leaders need to listen to advice like this quote, get out and know the people they put in charge so they are better able to make decisions on who should and should not actually be leading.

Why do toxic leaders develop within the Special Forces (SF) community and how would I deal with the problem within 7th Special Forces Group? There are two reasons toxic leaders develop within the SF community; or any community for that matter. One being the 10% rule, and the other, leadership failures. The only way to deal with the problem, without undermining the system already in effect, is to prevent it from continuing to happen. These measures of prevention include reevaluating the following; counseling, annual evaluations, and how we promote.

Poor leadership, or the more widely known phrase “toxic leadership”, has been a topic of concern throughout the history of the Army. The Army’s recently published leadership doctrine says that, “Army leaders motivate people both inside and outside the chain of command to pursue actions, focus thinking, and shape decisions for the greater good of the organization.” (ADP 6-22, 2012) There are many examples of leaders in recent years that have been relieved due to negative effects on their organizations. Poor leadership is commonly portrayed by telltale characteristics of those in leadership positions, revealed by detrimental effects on subordinates and mission accomplishment, and must be addressed through consistent education and

Leadership is critical and it refers to the process of influencing followers towards achieving the groups’ goals. Toxic leadership refers to the leadership offered by leaders who abuse power and leave the group they lead in a poorer condition after they are left. Toxic leadership is associated with incompetence, insularity, evil, intemperance (lack of self control), callousness, rigidity and corruption among other bad leadership characters. The leaders involved in toxic leadership are not concerned about uplifting the people they lead (followers). Instead, they make sure they satisfy their self interests. They fight and control instead of caring for their followers. In most cases, the leaders with this leadership style are leaders who bully, abuse, and discriminate the subordinates. In addition, they create a hostile climate, self serving and arrogant, threaten and even yell at their followers among other fierce characters. They do not lead based on their qualifications. However, they apply force to be in leadership positions thus making the lives of their followers a misery . They are selfish in that they work to promote themselves without regard to the welfare of their followers. In most cases, do this by not minding about the future of their group and its members. This paper explores the effects of toxic leadership in the United States.

The FM 6-22 is a leadership manual. During my long career, I remember the Toxic Leaders as well, that's why I went a different route. I wanted something different. Integrity, Personal Responsibility, Team Player, Courage, Professionalism, Capability, Perseverance, adaptability was what I was looking for. Before Just Cause and thru most of my career, I have seen Toxic leadership, the self-centered, motivations and behaviors that had adverse effects on subordinates, organization, and mission performance. You can teach anyone from a book (FM), what you can not teach is selfness. The leaders that lack concern for other, those leaders that intimidate, coerce or unfairly punish others to get what they want. Toxic leadership, is not just in the military,

Every leader in the U.S. Army have a different leadership style. During my thirteen years in the Army I have seen several leaders placed in positions where it was obvious that they were born for that position, performing admirably and making very real contributions. In other situations leaders were placed in positions of leadership appearing unprepared for the role. These leaders over time were soon surrounded by other leaders that ensured their success. Several leaders in my career have left a lifelong mark on my leadership style. Every one of them left me with knowledge that have built a foundation for my leadership beliefs and style. There is also what we call in the Army, “toxic leadership” which produce harm to the organization, leaders

In today’s business environment, leadership is a major topic of discussion and concern. Having the right leaders in place could be the difference between a successful business and unequivocal failure. There are many different leadership styles that are proven to be effective and then there is the type of leadership that leads a business in the opposite direction. This type of leadership is known as toxic leadership. Research has shown there to be many defining characteristics of a toxic leader and there are identifiable signs that may be indicative of a toxic workplace. The effects of this type of leadership and the environment that it creates can be far-reaching. However, there are ways to assist individuals with protecting themselves from a toxic leader and the negative results of working in a toxic environment.

As societies progress, moral principles that govern a person’s behavior evolve. Due to the demographics of our nation and military, the U.S. Army is a conglomerate of people with different cultural backgrounds offering a different ethical perspective. The U.S. Army instills the Seven Army Values representing a set of common beliefs that leaders are expected to uphold and reinforce by their actions. As a veteran, I can relate in how interactions with the local national’s changes as your time elapses in a forward ever-changing environment.

Toxic leadership is something that is present in the Army today and has several devastating effects on that leaders unit. By now, if you have spent any time in the Army, I’m sure you have experienced some form of Toxic leadership. Although not every toxic leader has a loud, decisive, and demanding demeanor. Some toxic leaders can have the same affect with a quit and soft demeanor.

At the end of the day, a true leader “in the army will do these three things live by the army core values, know the warrior ethos, and lead by example”-MSI textbook. Leaders both in and out of the army are held to a higher standard holding themselves in a professional manner at all times. The success of the group is attributed to the leadership styles and core values instilled in the solider to do his job effectively. General Eisenhower once

The purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss how Sergeants Major can use positive psychology and Master Resiliency Training (MRT) to foster a command climate free of toxic leaders. The use of positive psychology and MRT competencies and skills can assist in identifying and preventing the effects of toxic leaders. Incorporating these methods in Professional Military Education (PME) and leader development programs are an extremely important center of gravity for senior NCOs have on a unit’s Soldiers. Sergeants Majors are inherently responsible for the health, welfare, training, and development of the most precious of commodities, the soldiers. Toxic leaders present an extremely difficult leadership challenge at all echelons. Soldiers

Toxic leadership as defined by Wilson (2014) “is a combination of self-centered attitudes, motivations, and behaviors that have adverse effects on subordinates, the organization, and mission performance”. NCOs, just as civilians, range from poor leaders to excellent leaders; but when does poor leadership become toxic leadership and what causes this toxic leadership? Not every soldier is born to lead. Some soldiers are bad decision makers, poor time managers, or just unable to inspire confidence in their fellow soldiers. There is nothing wrong with being a follower if you are a competent individual who can perform the given tasks. A NCO who cannot step up and lead is not a toxic leader, they are a bad leader. With education and training NCOs with poor leaderships skills develop into competent leaders.

Toxic Leadership is a growing point of discussion in the highest levels of military leadership. The phrase toxic leadership has been present since 1996(2). With increasing military suicide rates the finger has been pointed to leadership not just personal issues that the member had. (1. Forbes) A majority of the research and opinions are those of the United States Army, but I think that they are well researched and thought out. The definition of Toxic Leadership is quoted from the Army Doctrine Publications (3) “A combination of self-centered attitudes, motivations, and behaviors that have adverse effects on subordinates, the organization, and mission performance.” The biggest point to remember is that a toxic leaders can be found in a shapes, sizes and varying levels of toxicity. They can appear to their superiors as excellent performs, and receive accolades for their achievements, all while meeting many of the toxic leader

Another Team Sergeant with toxic leadership style stayed in his position because he was the most senior in the company and had good relationship with company leadership. In two years’ time frame three soldiers left the Army and three other soldiers asked SGM to move them to other teams. This particular toxic leader knew how to entertain the command, get the job done, and as a result he stayed in his position. Subordinates on the other hand had been overworked, underappreciated and not valued.

Why do toxic leaders develop in Special Forces – I think most would agree that toxic leaders don’t actually intend to be toxic, or arrogant, self-serving, or petty. In fact, toxic leaders actually want to and think that they are very successful. They certainly don’t self-assess very well or they would be aware of the effects that it has on their subordinates. That has been my experience with one specific case that I have dealt with. The bottom line is that I don’t think toxic leaders become toxic while in Special Forces. Those people just don’t have the necessary attributes to make them good leaders. We all know people that don’t have the ability to interact well with others. People that say the wrong thing at the wrong time and don’t realize