Introduction

After completing three years of key and developmental assignments as a Major, I’ve taken some time to reflect and evaluate bothmy shortcomings and successes.  A couple of things came to mind immediately; first, there are a bunch of lessons learned and tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), that have been learned the hard way by others.  The second, I remember going into my first key developmental job as a Battalion Executive Officer and wishing there was more out there in terms of ‘how to’ from people who had held the position before. I wasn’t looking for doctrinal checklist of things I was responsible for; I was looking for some useful advice.  Things like – what’s the best way to synchronize a Battalion? Best practice for task management? How do I keep myself armed with relevant information? I found a few articles.

I reached out to mentors for TTPs. I was blessed that the BDE XO in the organization I was joining, was an old friend who allowed me to bombard him with questions every day. Now, as I sit and AAR my KD time, I’d like to pass along my lessons learned so they don’t have to do it the hard way.

In this article I’ll discuss the art of managing yourself, key relationships that should be cultivated, some specific advice for S3s and XOs, leadership as a Field Grade Officer and pass on some specific TTPs that worked for me. All my thoughts are ‘a way’, not ‘the way’ and the goal of this article is to help Officers conceptualize and frame their strategies for filling these positions. Do not mistake anything in this article as me touting my superior knowledge and practice of organizational leadership.  Many of the things chosen to highlight are the result of failing and eventually coming to conclusions at a point that was too late for me and my organization to benefit. Being a Major is a lot of work and if you do not stay organized and disciplined it can easily become overwhelming; however, once you get the hang of it, it’s a lot of fun and extremely rewarding.