As a Junior NCO you are the bedrock of the British Army. You’re at the first leadership rank in the Army, perhaps the most difficult. Junior NCO leadership is about taking the first step that makes a distinction between you and your friends. Getting that right can be tough. On the other hand, you are the most powerful group of role models a unit has – you live with your soldiers, train with them, parade with them, eat with them and sleep in the same block. To a young new soldier you are a god. And you have the same level of power over him and responsibility for him.
Junior NCO leadership can be tough, but it’s the first rung of leadership and one of the most satisfying jobs in the Army. You’ll find our recommended leadership podcasts will give you some reflections on leadership that might be helpful. If you are looking for books on leadership – from sports, the military and business – then check out our list here. Spammed for a leadership presentation? Our leadership quotes page might help you.
Your section or team will look up to you and you can mould them – not into being another version of you but into being the best version of themselves. You’ll need to know how to get the best from people – inspiring them, motivating them and sometimes grabbing them by the scruffs of their necks. The articles below are for you.
If you wanted the latest Junior NCO leadership advice, written by other Army leaders, then subscribe to The Army Leader and you’ll get it straight into your inbox.
Subscribe To The Army Leader
Media Credit: Image © Crown Copyright under Open Government Licence v3.0
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…
Details
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…
Details
The Acceptable Face of Wargaming: Risk-free, Cost-free Combat Leadership? By Dom Wiejak Wargaming gets a bad rep. Like reading doctrine, or wearing yesterday’s underpants, it is not something you necessarily want to admit to in public. We are coloured by our predjudices; wargaming is either the horror step of Course of Action development or something…
Details
Honest Mistakes and Better Soldiers By Lance Corporal David Griffiths My Company Commander once briefed my company on how to make honest mistakes into positive experiences. He explained how they were, in retrospect, good if not essential things. We can all read about leadership and talk about being better soldiers until the sun goes down…
Details
Leading as a JNCO: An Army Reserve Perspective By Huw Davies How do you lead a section that ranges in age from 18-50 and contains civil servants, police officers, students and executives? How do you motivate soldiers for whom the Army is not their primary source of income? How do you career manage soldiers you…
Details
Sympathy or Empathy? How feeling enhances leadership in training By Oli Wettern Any aspiring leader should be familiar with the maxim that “no one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care”. The meaning is clear: those that are in your command will listen to you and follow you only when…
Details