“A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves” – Lao Tzu

For those who read articles published by the Company Leader and other leadership initiative based sites in support of the Armed Forces, you understand that in order to dissect what a “Leader” is, it is important to first understand its definition. According to ADP 6-22, Army Leadership and the Profession, leadership is defined as “the activity of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the organization” (Department of the Army, 2017). This should sound remarkably familiar, as it is one of the most common board questions asked during any evaluation or promotion board.

With this established definition, we can recount numerous other mnemonics and phrases used to define leadership and to serve as guiding principles to follow. One of these is the idea of the Servant Leader. To me, this is the most important leadership definition and one that I also feel many soldiers, noncommissioned officers and officers, are veering away from.

Though there have been many studies and opinion pieces done to articulate the differences of leaders today and in the past, as well as what will be different from the leaders of tomorrow. I don’t believe that much has changed. “Our Army exists to defend the Nation and protect our Nation’s interests.” (Department of the Army, 2019)

There is a significant gap from the greatest generation who fought the Nazis (Welfley, 2019), to the generation of today but I don’t think the change in leadership styles is a generational dilemma.

Return to our Roots

I want to focus on the servant leader of today and how this approach to leadership, especially amongst NCO’s, has changed to a point where we have lost the true meaning of what it is to be a person of character, presence and intellectual capacity (Department of the Army, 2015). I call this the Selfie Leader. The days of “Follow me, Lead the Way!” are gone and have been replaced by “make sure to click the follow button as I lead” as well as Be, Know, Do changing to Like, Share, Follow.

Ok, before you immediately disagree and turn down this observation, think about how important it is to be a leader who is present as well as be able to possess the institutional and tactical knowledge needed to be effectively present. There’s a difference. Can that really be achieved if the focus is on broadcasting what you are doing rather than just doing it?

This is a good time to take a knee, re-shoot your “leader azimuth” and ask yourself what’s more important right now? Sharing what you’re doing in order to get “followers” and convince others that you are mentoring your soldiers, or understanding that your engagement at that moment can make or break that soldier depending on what the task at hand is.

I really started seeing this at the end of my time as a Drill Sergeant on Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Many times, Drill Sergeants who were the hardest workers and spent the most constructive hours with the privates got no love when it came to end of cycle awards. It was the “Selfie Drill’s” who were Drill Sergeants of the cycle because they treated their time on the trail almost like a campaign.

They would just put a bunch of pictures and videos of themselves in order to gain high ups attention on their personal social media account knowing that their First Sergeant (1SG) and Command Sergeant Major (CSM) will see it as they are mutual friends. This happens a lot today as well. I call this doing it for the “likes”. This is what it seems to be about now, being an influencer and trying to convince someone that you are actually engaged rather than doing it because it’s…well, what you are supposed to be doing.

A Tool, Not A Style

To be very clear, I am not saying everyone that publicizes what they are doing is a bad thing. There are a couple of Command Sergeant’s Major (CSM) that I follow on social media that put out great leadership initiatives. I continue to follow them because they are using social media outlets as a proactive approach to bridge the communicate gap between senior leadership, soldiers, and involve family members. They don’t make it about themselves and are actively engaged conducting physical fitness, building professional relationships, training, and other initiatives that promote a good climate within their organization.

My concern is that many young leaders are impressionable and may feel in order to get attention, they need to turn to this “selfie type” leadership style rather than being a servant leader. The servant leader is going to be a thing of the past and the “influencer” and “selfie leader” are going to be the future senior leaders.

So, what can we do to change this and how can we once again be servant leaders rather than selfie leaders? I have broken it down into three simple steps.

Step 1: Substance over Personal Image

Step one is acknowledging the issue and choosing to be a servant leader. This means choosing substance and placing what’s important over worrying about your own personal image.

This can be done by simply doing what’s not only in your daily duties and scope but understand that it’s about the organization and not you. Be a standard bearer and most importantly don’t tell everyone about it, just do it. This is where it becomes difficult for most because it requires supervisors to be engaged.

Though it is unpopular to be the authoritarian and disciplinarian in your unit, think about what Soldiers need in a leader in general. It’s someone that will show them how to shoot, move and communicate, but also dedicate their time serving them, not their own agenda.

Step 2: Stop the “Leader Rant”

Step two is focusing more about the output and end state rather than what’s in it for you. By defining the end state and understanding what is required of you in order to accomplish that specific task at hand, it may drive you to only focus on that task respectively. Maybe, you will focus and feel the need to just simply do what is required of you instead of making it about yourself.

An example of this leader rant I commonly see is when a leader promotes a subordinate. This has almost been made into its own art form as those who step forward to promote “take a minute” to not only say a few words on the behalf of who is getting promoted, but feel the need to highlight the impact and influence they had in getting that soldier to this point. This is also re-enforced by that leader placing their photo promoting this Soldier on social media and giving a background of again, how THEY got them there. Understandably this may be hard for some but just remember to savor the moment, be proud and take step back. If there was any time to be a servant leader, this is it.

Part of step two is also getting rid of specific objective pronouns. This includes “my guys” or “my platoon.” Selfie leaders focus on the “me” rather than the “us,” “our,” and most importantly, the “you.”

Step 3: Care more about the “Joe” and less about the show

Step three is simple, care more about the Joe and less about the show. This translates to caring more about counseling, coaching, and mentoring soldiers rather than trying to convince others that you are. Actions should speak louder than words and will have more of an impact. I call this “forcing influence.” From perspective and experience, the more that fellow leaders focus on their “image” and the “show,” the less they seemed to be focused on their soldiers.

Nothing is wrong with productive engagement with soldiers when Leaders use different platforms to promote morale. Many of today’s NCOs and officers leverage technology to get the attention of a target audience. What catches my attention, are the posts that target an individual and leaders use these situations to promote their own goals by making it about themselves.

An example of this would be a leader rant that I commonly see on social media that’s normally along the lines of “just helping a soldier work out so they can pass a PT test on my only day off.” This is an action that should be done because it’s the right thing to do as well as being a part of your duties and does not always warrant a pat on the back or observation from anyone else but those involved. Again, do it for Joe and not for the show. Remember this one.

Conclusion

If anything that was discussed in this article is relevant to you personally, understand that my intentions were not to undermine or spotlight anyone in particular, but just share personal observations and attempt to help those who may need to take a knee and re-shoot their azimuth back to being a servant leader.

The purpose of this is to challenge leaders to shift back to serving and away from being fascinated with themselves and doing it for “likes.” Servant leaders focus on the organization and fulfill their duties not as an obligation, but to empower others by focusing on long term goals as well as understanding the impact they are having on soldiers at the same time. Soldiers want a leader who is present, genuine, and places their needs as a top priority.

If you need to put this in perspective, try and see yourself through a different lens for a minute, maybe as one of your own Soldiers. What impact are you making and how do you see yourself? Are you a referent leader? Is your institutional and tactical knowledge base where it needs to be in order to be an effective mentor? These questions encouraged me to make some much needed changes.

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