The Modern Regimental Sergeant Major By WO1 Lee Jones I write this as I reach the end of my non-commissioned career, finishing my time as RSM of the 1st Battalion, The Rifles. Before I left, I wanted to share my thoughts on what I think it means to be an RSM these days. Gone are…
Rifle vs Support Company: How Cultural Bias is Damaging the Infantry’s Specialists By Carl Brindley There are two thousand years of experience to tell us that the only thing harder than getting a new idea into the military is getting an old idea out. B.H. Liddell-Hart As someone currently serving as the Officer Commanding (OC)…
Get off Their Backs! A JNCO’s Guide to Avoiding Micromanagement By Ben Hayden I walked down the stairs to the company offices ready for the obligatory 1030 post-phys roll call. At 1020 I was welcomed by the sight of 72 Guardsmen, stood in the rain in three ranks, nearly ten minutes early on a wet…
The Five Dysfunctions of an Army Team How to build a cohesive team using Patrick Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team model By Joe Kay, Principal Consultant at The Table Group and former Army Officer When it comes to leadership and team performance training, the Army often leads the way. When I went through Sandhurst…
Conflicted: Why Arguing is the Right Thing to do. Interviewed by The Army Leader For years Ian Leslie was fascinated by the question of why public and private disagreements go so badly, so often. In public, they descend into acrimony or get stuck in a grinding neutral gear. In private, disagreements should shatter groupthink or…
Peak Performance Under Pressure by Dr Stephen Hearns Reviewed by Dan Spiers In June 2020 the British Army’s Centre of Army Leadership published Leading Through Crisis: A Practitioner’s Guide. It was written after the Centre provided mentors and leadership advice to the NHS and local government during the peak of the COVID-19 crisis. Peak Performance…
Locked Up Potential: Thief, Prisoner, Soldier, Priest By The Army Leader Team Does the leadership style or the lessons learned in one institution translate from that organisation to the next? Paul Cowley MBE is a man whose life has been spent working in and around different institutions; he served time in a young offenders’ prison…
50 Free Online Courses for Your COVID-19 Self Isolation By The Army Leader Whether you are self-isolated at home due to family infection, following government advice, or dispersed to protect yourself before you get activated as part of the Army’s Covid Support Force, this does not need to be wasted time. Of course you can…
Do Not Take Leadership for Granted: An Interview with Major General Charlie Collins By The Army Leader Team Major General Charlie Collins commissioned into the Royal Green Jackets in 1995, beginning a career that has seen him deploy around the world for over 25 years, preparing and deploying light combat forces on operations. Between 2012…
The ‘Adding Value’ Dilemma: An Interview with Lt Gen Richard Nugee By The Army Leader People are at the heart of a leader’s business. This is something every junior leader gets – you need to understand your people, put their needs before your own, motivate and develop them. It is at the centre of leading…