Immersion in Leadership Focused on Persuasion to the Subordinate

For decades it has been taught leadership focused on the example of the superior (LFES). Below, you will find some ideas that go against this dogma. Aspects of leadership such as motivation, discipline, supervision, command and control, and decision-making are discussed from an angle far from the conventional wisdom, but which is part of the author’s experience.

This article seeks to deliver an innovative leadership perspective, with an approach to a leadership concept focused on persuasion to the subordinate (LFPS), leaving aside the repetitive idea that example is the only way to train leaders.

What happens to the members of an organization that lacks direct supervision and strict control, either due to the physical absence of a leader, supervisor or due to a boss who has distanced himself from noble institutional principles? Are you a manager whose example is not worth following? What should the members of this organization do?

Concerning these questions, history teaches us various operational situations in which the commander’s unfortunate example leads his unit to fail. In some cases, these setbacks may be the consequence of an order issued contrary to the established doctrine or perhaps of a direct instruction contrary to legal norms.

In other cases, when subordinates have become accustomed to receiving permanent controls under overloaded supervisory methods, the result of their performance depends on the constant presence of a supervising leader. Consequently, the absence of direct control by a superior results in a decrease in the performance of these subordinates who lose interest in doing the task well because they do not receive timely feedback from their direct managers.

When subordinates have been trained with leadership focused on the example of the superior, they will be part of an organization that for lack of control and supervision is doomed to failure.

Another would be the fate of this “lack of control” organization if its members had been trained with leadership focused on persuasion to the subordinate (LFPS). Through the LFPS, subordinates learn to follow an intrinsic motivation, which focuses on unrestricted fidelity to institutional values.

Intrinsic motivation can be taught and learned; it is strengthened by the will of each individual. In the LFES the subordinate depends on stimuli such as acknowledgments and congratulations to achieve a positive motivation, that is, his motivation depends on external factors, in this case, on a superior who fulfills the duty to give recognition to a job well done.

“A leader makes sure his subordinates feel empowered when they are properly trained to fulfill the mission when they know the task they are going to accomplish is going to be successful, and when they have the necessary conviction to make the right decisions.” [1]

Superiors who apply an LFPS take care of their subordinates, seek to instill in them institutional values, and root them through training. They understand that by doing so they create an organizational culture in which all members know the importance of doing things well by their own conviction and not by the sole fact of receiving external recognition.

The discipline observed from the LFPS emphasizes positive reinforcement with opportunity in corrective ones. Within the framework of a culture of continuous improvement, the superior analyzes and highlights what has been done correctly, reviews the failures presented so they are immediately corrected, and closely supports his subordinate, giving him a new opportunity for him to demonstrate his capabilities and can meet the proposed objectives.

Persuasive Leadership Matrix

Comparative matrix LCES-LCPS
	LFES	LFPS
Motivation	Depends on the superior	Subordinates achieve intrinsic motivation
Decision-making	Initiative and creativity are limited. The superior must approve all decisions.	The subordinate has the autonomy to decide, he knows the boss trusts his criteria. Maximum display of initiative and creativity.
Supervision	Excessive controls to make things work.	The subordinates have a sublime conviction to carry out their tasks and do not require heavy supervision.
Command and control	Detailed. The intention of the commander is not valued.	Based on the mission, the priority is the intention of the commander.
Discipline	Repressive corrections and calls for attention.	Corrections are made with positive reinforcements and an opportunity to improve.

Leaving aside the persuasive approach to leadership, it is common to highlight only the errors of subordinates and adopt a negative reinforcement through reprimands to correct the issues presented. In some cases, these negative reinforcements by themselves are counterproductive since they can turn subordinates into people who focus their actions on avoiding negative consequences and not on purposeful subordinates whose actions are conducive to the search for success.

Command and control is the way through which a commander recognizes what needs to be done, both in the operational field and in administrative activities, allowing him to verify that appropriate actions are taken. The LFPS proposes a mission-based command and control, assumes that planning can change, and accepts clutter and uncertainty, communications are vertical and horizontal, planning is centralized and execution decentralized, but most importantly, all the personnel has full knowledge of the commander’s intent, and in this regard, the decision-making process has as a priority to address this command’s intention.

With an LFPS, small unit leaders are autonomous in tactical maneuver decisions, deploy all the initiative necessary to fulfill the commander’s intent, they are trained to confront and resolve situations of chaos without direct supervision from the superior.

It is essential to prepare commanders of small units with strategic decision-making capacity in the operational field since the complexity of the modern tactical environment include variables that definitely impact the strategic level and in most cases are the commanders of small units who, without the presence of a superior, decide and act.

Likewise, most units targeting an LFES, direct operations through detailed command and control, with the focus being on the top-level commander who directs the tactical maneuver from command posts. In this type of command and control, the leaders of the small units, responsible for the tactical maneuver, do not make decisions that are not previously authorized by the superior commander. Initiative and creativity are limited.

“The remaining vestiges of the ‘zero defects mentality’ must be exchanged for an environment in which all Marines are afforded the ‘freedom to fail’ and with it, the opportunity to succeed. Micro-management must become a thing of the past and supervision ~ that double-edged sword » must be complemented by proactive mentoring.”[2]

Commanders of small units, who do not receive the preparation to act without the direct supervision of the superior, are exposed to decision gaps when acting in scenarios where they are without the superior’s observance. In practice, these scenarios are the day to day of the units deployed in the areas of operations.

This is how it is inferred that beyond «the lack of control» over a unit, it is the lack of preparation to act in an environment of chaos without the supervision of the superior that determines its fate.

It is up to each individual to define their leadership style. Leaders have a valuable opportunity to set up their teams with the highest level of readiness possible. It is appropriate to ask the following questions when taking on your challenge as team leaders:

1. What leadership philosophy is proposed in the team?
2. What kind of mentality do team members require to accomplish the mission?
3. What is the organizational culture to be promoted?
4. What kind of command and control will be applied in the development of task fulfillment?
5. What is the training necessary to be successful in executing team activities?

Although the example is indeed a non-negotiable condition in a good leader; an excellent leader learns to base his leadership on persuasion to his subordinates, preparing them to maintain intrinsic, sublime motivation, with their conviction allowing them to make the right decisions in each situation presented to them, however complex it may be.

[1] Geller, Scott. “When no one’s watching”, 2010.

[2] Krulak, Charles, Gen. Marines Magazine, “The Strategic Corporal: Leadership in the Three Block War”, 1999.