Leadership Case Study
Quick hint: This is my last chance with this professor to pass and obtain my Degree and I must say that he's so demanding person he said due to my previous failures, HE IS MERCIFULLY ACCEPTING ONLY A+ so please if you don't think that you can make it happen, please don't waste your time, its necessary to read every single line of the case study, analyze it and comply to the instructions mentioned below and the Rubric File.
DRY RUN : Before you read the instruction, basically I want you to choose 4 concepts from the 8 concepts I have attached below and then read the case study, after that write the essay on the four concepts you have chosen by analyzing, discussing and providing examples from the case study.
QUESTION
Background: During the Art of Command block, you applied organizational development concepts and examined eight specific aspects of organizational leadership associated with the commander's role in unified land operations. These included (1) transition to command, (2) developing leadership capacity, (3) complexity, (4) leading multinational operations, (5) commander’s visualization, (6) decision making, (7) ethics in war, and (8) morally courageous followers. Effective organizational leaders understand how commanders exercise the elements of command, view problems, make decisions, and manage risk in complex environments, all to accomplish the mission while improving the organization. The select leadership case studies and various application exercises in the Advanced Operations Course (AOC) enabled you to gain a better appreciation for the organizational leadership challenges commanders face while conducting large scale combat operations.
Requirement: Analyze and explain how multiple commanders applied the art of command while executing large scale combat operations using evidence from the “The Eighth Army Fights Back” case study. In your essay, discuss four of the eight concepts mentioned above to support your argument.
Your answer must be no less than 10 and no more than 12 pages (2500-3000 words) , double-spaced, use 12-point Arial Font, and standard 1 inch margins. References and citations must be done with footnotes .
BELOW ARE THE 8 CONCEPTS THAT WE HAVE STUDIED, BUT YOU ONLY CHOOSE FOUR OF THEM TO ANALYZE, DISCUSS, GIVE EXAMPLES FROM THE CASE STUDY ABOUT. THAT’S HOW TO WRITE THIS ESSAY.
The case study is in a separate file.
1- Transition to Command
L411 introduces the leadership lessons in the Advanced Operations Course (AOC) by examining the art of command and how command is distinctly different from other responsibilities an officer faces. Army policy asserts "commanders are responsible for all their unit does or fails to do." What does this really mean and what are the implications? What accounts for the unique challenges of command and how do leaders address these challenges? L411 addresses these questions while examining three aspects of command; developing an understanding of the mental shift required of a leader assuming command, how commanders solve problems to accomplish the mission and improve the organization, and how commanders apply judgment when assessing an organization. As you consider these areas, you also examine the differing roles of a commander and staff officer. While both officers accomplish the mission and improve the organization, the expectations of commanders are greater. These greater expectations distinguish the responsibilities of command from those of a staff officer and create the proverbial 'burden' of command.
2- Developing Leadership Capacity
The Army recognizes leadership as an element of combat power in FM 3-0 and reinforces the idea in ADP 3-0. This lesson examines how organizational level leaders develop leadership capacity in organizations to enhance combat power. The Army's primary quality shaping tool is the leader development process, described in broad terms in the Army Leader Development Strategy 2013. This strategy for developing competent leaders' focuses on individual leader development tasks and skills; overlooking details on building leadership capacity. Since 2006, "Develops Others" is the lowest rated Army leader competency in the Center for Army Leadership Annual Survey of Army Leadership (CASAL), often by a very wide margin. Almost half the respondents on the 2012-2018 surveys did not believe their superiors showed genuine concern when it came to developing their followers' leadership skills. There are varieties of reasons for this perception among subordinates. One of the likely reasons is a lack of understanding of what respondents considered leadership development. Often individuals do not recognize training opportunities or experiences as developmental activities and as essential parts of the leadership development process. In other words, subordinates fail to attach meaning to the experience. Meaning making is the process people go through to interpret, understand, or make sense of life events. Often, meaning making involves creating a personal understanding of the event's relevance to the participant. In this lesson, you explore the importance of meaning making to developing leadership capacity in organizations.
3- Complexity
This lesson focuses on the challenges of command within the complexities of war. You examine the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, also known as the Yom Kippur War, through the Cynefin framework developed by David Snowden. The purpose of the lesson is twofold. The first is to analyze a military case through the perspective of senior leaders, both military and civilian. The second is to analyze how commanders might use the Cynefin framework as a systems approach within an operational environment, and apply critical and creative thinking to understand the nature of problems, determine solutions, and make decisions. You also learn the importance of having a problem-solving approach within the context of modern warfare to address unexpected or changing conditions. As a result of this lesson, you improve your knowledge of the challenges of determining cause and effect relationships between people, events, and outcomes in a complex, uncertain environment while assessing changes in human behavior within that environment.
4- Leading in Multi-National Operations
How does a commander influence forces in a multi-national operation? As a multi-national operation commander, is it possible to understand and leverage fundamental beliefs or concepts that appeal to all militaries? Can good social, emotional, and cultural intelligence overcome national differences? These are some of the challenges experienced by Lt. Gen. William Joseph Slim as one of the senior allied battlefield commanders during WWII. Conducting large-scale combat operations in the Burma campaign in 1942-1945 against superior Imperial Japanese forces and without adequate resources, Slim turned defeat into victory using a multi-national operation consisting of a broad mix of allied nations. This lesson's case study provides a constructive example of how an Army commander inspired his multi-national force to unite and fight under a common cause.
He was a rising star as a brigadier general. He excelled as a staff officer and was cited for his decisive leadership in battle as an assistant division commander. By August 1944, he was one of the most decorated senior officers in the U.S. Army. Based on his well-earned reputation as a "fighting general," he was selected to be a division commander. However, when Norman 'Dutch' Cota led his division into the Hürtgen Forest in November 1944, he found himself faced with not only an entirely unfamiliar operational environment, but also a new problem set unlike any he had faced before.
6- Decision Making
In this lesson, you analyze the dynamics of decision making in large-scale combat operations. The case study focuses on key U.S. military leaders during the opening months of the war in Korea-General Douglas MacArthur, MG Ned Almond, MG OP Smith, MG David Barr, BG Henry Hodes, COL John MacLean, and LTC Don Faith. You analyze the major decisions they made to determine how they formed their situational understanding and why they chose one course of action over another. You also analyze the various commanders' capacities to assess situations and draw conclusions while identifying and adjusting to external influences. Your analysis of leader decisions from the case study provides critical insights into what influences their decision-making, the challenges of achieving situational understanding, using appropriate influencing and communication techniques as an organizational leader, and applying judgment within the mission command framework and decision making. This lesson supports previous instruction in the L100 common core leadership lessons, as well as the lessons on complexity and commander's visualization. Furthermore, this lesson is a foundational lesson in the course and you can apply many of the insights you glean from this lesson to inform the decisions you make during the large-scale combat operation scenario in AOC.
7- Sustaining an Ethically Aligned Organization in War
Do ethics change in war? Does an organization with a sound ethical climate in CONUS apply a different set of rules when deployed? Does a commander make allowances for stress in the organization when assessing the actions of Soldiers in war? L100 discussed the challenges of developing a healthy, disciplined, and ethical command climate within organizations. Now we want to look at the challenge of sustaining an ethically aligned organization in war. This lesson examines the responsibilities of the organizational leader in maintaining the systems in place that ensure ethical behavior, the factors that contribute to unethical conduct in war, and the consequences of undisciplined and unethical behavior on the command climate if left unchecked. The commander must align behavior (both personal and organizational) with espoused beliefs and values by setting high expectations and establishing and imparting clear intent and purpose. The case study for this lesson is an incident in Iraq involving Soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division under the command of LTC Nate Sassaman, commander of the 1-8 Infantry, 3rd BCT. In reviewing this incident, we examine the findings from the Peers Commission, which investigated the 1968 My Lai Massacre in Vietnam, and consider the relevance of those findings on today's operational environment.
8- Morally Courageous Followers
In this lesson, you examine the concepts of moral courage and followership, and how leaders develop morally courageous followers. The case study for this lesson, "Darker Shades of Blue," pits an Air Force squadron commander's moral courage and followership against the unchecked "expert power" of his influential peer. To protect his subordinates, Lt Col Mark McGeehan puts his career at risk by attempting to influence his supervisor's unrealistic assessment of the most qualified aviator in the wing-a pilot whose risk-taking behavior jeopardizes his fellow aviators. This battle of wills between two senior officers ends in tragedy, the crash of a B-52 at Fairchild AFB, and leaves us with a series of challenging issues to consider. When is taking a stand and putting your career at risk acceptable? How can a follower usurp the authority of multiple commanders over a period of years and never be held accountable for his actions? Why is it easier for leaders to display physical courage than moral courage? Does it take more courage to put your career at risk than your life? This case study also provides an opportunity to examine the relationship between followership and moral courage. What is this relationship and is moral courage required for effective followership?