You're the Boss: Own the Culture
By Maj Mike Breslin
Stand by for a “Captain Obvious” concept: as the commander, the culture in your unit is your responsibility. I witnessed something in class about a week ago that has had me pondering the duties of the commander when setting unit culture.
For context, I’m executing a one-month elective period at school. One of my electives has devolved into something quite different than what was advertised upfront. Several readings that we have examined served to place the students into opposing camps, with some folks affirming the author, some folks negating the author, and other folks hiding and counting down the minutes until class ends. From almost the first day, a distinctly unprofessional vibe entered the room.
A few days ago we read an article that created massive dissension within the ranks. Everyone seemed triggered. Professionalism, tact, and basic human respect flew out the window. Towards the end of the seminar, one officer offered a comment calling out several other officers unwilling to engage in the topic on its merits and structure, having instead devolved into mealy-mouthed, ad-hominem attacks. That officer was publicly shamed, belittled, and dismissed by a peer, simply for having the audacity to have an opinion that cut against the grain and having the courage to share it. While this drama played itself out the seminar leader sat there and did nothing to get the conversation out of the playground and into the professional realm.
After several days of reflection, I think I’ve nailed down why this small bit of rudeness bothers me so much. If placed into the context of a combat unit, it’s the type of interaction that could wreck a unit's culture. If an interaction like the one I witnessed happened in a company training meeting or a battalion command and staff meeting, the Marine on the receiving end would probably check out forever, and unless the commander responded with an immediate and forceful rudder steer, everyone else in the room would walk away with the impression that they should never offer an unpopular opinion. That’s dangerous in our profession. We need to create environments that support debate when debate is appropriate. If we didn’t, there would be no reason for the senior enlisted advisor-officer relationship. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes we all must shut up and color, but up until that point, we have to accept debate and communication in peacetime if we expect to execute mission-type orders in combat.
In this instance, a leader failed to establish a culture that supported professional discourse. The leader should have been able to expect that a room filled with mid-career officers would default to mutual respect and professionalism, but by the time this incident occurred, the seminar had soundly proved its inability to do so. As current or future commanders, what is our duty to make sure that we get all the team into the discussion, even when our own ideas are challenged?
Commander’s Words = Unit Actions
I’m a dummy, and that means the most impactful lessons have been the hardest to learn, simply because I can be slow on the uptake. As an NCO, I worked under great Lieutenants who were commanded by a terrible company commander. No one listened to the CO, so when I transitioned to the officer side, perhaps I didn’t understand the power of the commander’s words and speech. I eventually figured it out, but I had to get clubbed in the head a few times before the loop closed fully. Here are some of those clubs:
As a lieutenant, right after a Marine was CASEVACed, I once commented (while very angry) about how much I’d like to find a solution for this part of my AO, “Tin Can Alley”, which was the source of 90% of the IED and direct fire attacks that my platoon was dealing with. The next day the platoon sergeant briefed me on his plan for myself, the team leaders, and the squad leaders to go out on a ghost patrol to murder every military-aged male in Tin Can Alley to end the constant attacks. Spoiler alert, we didn’t do that, and my previously unshakeable trust in the platoon sergeant was severely damaged.
Three years later, as I prepared to take command of a new unit, my Marines handed me a framed guidon that they all had signed. The plaque had my name, insert and extract dates, and the phrase “This is bullshit!” imprinted upon it. I was kind of annoyed. When I asked why they put that on the frame they told me that they were going to put “This is FUCKING BULLSHIT!” on the plaque but wanted me to be able to hang it up in my next office. When I stood there blankly, the course chiefs and several instructors each shared a story about some instance on range or patrol exercise where I had lost my mind for some reason or another. They thought it was hilarious. I was very embarrassed.
Two years after that I made an off-hand comment to my company gunny about how tired I was of our inability to keep hold of our company water jugs. In retrospect, I was actually concerned about how little the leaders in the company seemed to care about accountability, but what I said was related to the water jugs. The water jugs were a symptom, not the actual problem. The next morning the entire front lawn of the Battalion CP had a platoon-sized working party of Marines spray painting our company crest (Blackhearts!) on every one of our jugs. He’d made the stencil the night before.
As a company commander, and later as an operations officer, I went to lots of meetings. It took me a while to figure it out, but the meetings that were tolerable were always led by leaders/planners who knew how to set the right tone. Different planning rooms had different feels, and the rooms that functioned better got more people into the planning fight. In my three years at EWS, I observed (48) different conference groups. The highest-performing conference groups had the best cultures, and the best cultures were set by the faculty advisors leading them. Those strong cultures allowed the students to attack problems that were deliberately designed to challenge them with vigor, good humor, and fantastic outcomes. They didn’t function well unless all hands were rowing, and that doesn’t happen if the faculty advisor doesn’t set conditions to get the whole team involved.
What’s the throughline in these anecdotes? What I eventually figured out was that while you are in command, or a similarly impactful leadership position, every single thing that you say and do will be observed, analyzed, and will impact the unit. At OCS (that’s Officer Candidate School, for the boathouse folks), they tell you that you are always under observation. I’m not sure if they are only talking about your time at OCS, but I’ve found it to be true during my entire career as an officer, and triple when I’ve been in command. You are the avatar for your command. Your priorities, activities, behavior, physicality, morality, and level of motivation become your unit. If you suck, your team will suck.
Your Marines and sailors will challenge you on multiple levels. Guard against the desire to railroad your team for the sake of efficiency and treat all hands like they deserve to be there. The way you treat your worst Marines will serve as a leadership example for your best Marines. You don’t even have to like the folks, but you have to love them to do the job right.
I’ll close with one tip that I remember reading as a young officer in an older version of The Armed Forces Officer. The advice was that in a mixed-rank setting, if it was appropriate for the commander to seek feedback before making a decision, he should take pains to start with the junior member of the group and work his way up through the ranks before rendering his judgment. Practically, this allows the boss to hear honest opinions, unshaped by what the juniors think the commander might want to hear. That’s good stuff from an effectiveness standpoint. From an organizational cultural perspective, it reminds you, commander, that your youngest studs are part of the solution. It also creates a behavioral mindset for you to embody that will set a positive example; all your people matter. When you take charge of proving that with your words and back that up with your actions, you are taking the steps towards building a command culture that will enable your battlefield success.
Maj Breslin can be reached at breslinmd@gmail.com.
Exceptional Work Mike..... Retreat Hell!
Thank you, sir. A clear and convincing explanation that rings true for human nature across many kinds of organizations (and less structured groups, too).