ISSUE 152 : Jan/Feb - 2002 - Australian Defence Force Journal

38AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE JOURNAL NO. 152 JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2002The ACM depends upon the strength of itsculture to act as the foundation stone.Leadership then acts as the builder to correctlyplace and secure the remaining parts of themodel.Leadership - The BuilderThe Army places great emphasis on theselection, training and education of its leaders.Leaders are important as they contribute to aclimate of trust by demonstrating commitment,moral courage, honesty, respect for humandignity, and integrity. 16 This fosters anatmosphere that inspires creativity without fearof failure. Leaders and subordinates are willingto take calculated risks and learn from theirmistakes. In turn the organisation continues tolearn, grow and evolve, thus maintaining acompetitive edge.An atmosphere of trust is not consistentthroughout the Australian Army. The Army’sleaders must bear the majority of theresponsibility for this. Recent surveys infer thatmany subordinates have a genuine distrust ofsenior leaders across the Army. 17 Theimpression is that elements of Army’s seniorleadership would prefer to disguise or ignoreorganisational shortfalls in order to gain selfadvancement.While such a perception may bea gross generalisation, it nonetheless highlightsa potential weakness in Army’s leadership.Without trust in its leadership, the Army willnot step outside its “comfort zone” andembrace change.The Australian Army’s leaders mustdemonstrate a strong set of personal andorganisational values that complement theculture and promote teamwork and trust.Organisational values will, in turn, give theArmy a self-ordering quality, which providesdirection and stability in periods of turmoiland stress. 18 Leadership begins with values andthe Australian Army’s values of courage,initiative and teamwork are a starting point onwhich to build. The Army’s leaders areresponsible for enforcing these values and thevision. It is only through leading by examplethat trust will be established.Vision – The FocusLeadership by example is vitally important,but the leader and the organisation must knowwhere they are going. Further, it must knowthe key milestones that mark success along theway. Hence, the leader has a role in providingthe focus for transformational change. Leadersdo three things:a. they help create a vision for thefuture;b. they communicate that vision to theorganisation; andc. they implement the vision. 19The Australian Army’s vision has beenimposed upon the organisation from the top,reflecting its hierarchical nature. Senge arguesthat the imposition of a vision can onlycommand compliance, not commitment. 20Building a shared vision relies upon leaderswho encourage members to develop their ownvision. Alternatively, a leader with a sense ofvision can communicate their vision in such away that others are encouraged to share in it. 21The Army’s leaders must play a critical rolein this regard. They must educate theorganisation about the strength, purpose andintent of the Army’s vision. New leaders mustbe inculcated with the Army vision and valuesduring training to further ingrain it into theculture. Support for the vision will comethrough sharing and investing responsibilitythroughout the organisation usingempowerment.Empowerment – The Key Building Block of TrustEmpowerment is about sharing theresponsibility and rewards of management. Itis not about power as much as investing trustand delegating control. Empowerment appealsto the intrinsic motivation of staff as they gaina level of self-determination and responsibilityfor their efforts. In turn, this promotesteamwork, unity and helps focus staff on thecorporate vision. 22 It requires leaders that are