U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Ian Ives, Jan. 25, 2019

Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value. – Albert Einstein

Einstein’s quote is one of many I have scribbled in my journal over the years. I did not grow up writing in journals. I actually came into the practice fairly late. I was a newly promoted Army Major in my mid-thirties when I bought a journal to make a single depository for my accumulated life and professional lessons. The two sections with the most notes are entitled “Leadership” and “People.” Leadership because it is a continuously evolving process and people because relationships are the most important part of our journey through life.

Journaling is not for everyone. I have found it valuable as a reflection tool and for capturing nuggets of wisdom that I would undoubtedly forget if I did not write them down. After more than a decade of journaling, my scribbles also serve as a historical record and a living document with evidence of how I have grown and changed. I can look at the early entries when I was finishing the Command and General Staff Officer Course at Fort Leavenworth, about to start my first key developmental (KD) assignment as a field grade officer, and trace the arc to now as I prepare for brigade command.

The period preceding my assignment as a battalion operations officer was filled with excitement and anxiety. More excitement than anxiety for sure, but I would be lying if I did not admit that there was a healthy dose of nervousness. Nervous because I did not know what to expect from the unit or the leadership, and whether I was truly prepared to do the job. Reflecting on it, I have come to realize that you are never fully prepared for the next level job, but you can and will be successful if you leverage your past experiences and apply the leadership skills you have developed as a junior officer.

A field grade officer is expected to consistently perform their duties at a high level of proficiency. Those expectations are high because the units and organizations where majors are employed are counting on you to run them. Majors also have more than ten years of service experience, almost double that of company grade officers in a battalion. Leverage this experience; the good and the bad, to run an effective and mission-focused organization.

As you prepare for the field grade KD assignment, think about the strengths and weaknesses in your leadership and personality. What do you bring to the fight? How can you best leverage your strengths to help the team and what weaknesses must you mitigate or improve? This self-reflection will lead to a level of self-awareness that will go a long way in your new role as an organizational leader.

There are some immediate and practical steps to take when preparing for responsibility as a field grade leader. You can start by reviewing the training schedule, learning the key personalities, understanding the environment on the base or post (key personalities, adjacent units, training areas, etc.), and reading any critical source documents that give you an understanding of your higher commands’ guidance and intent.

Looking again at my journal, I am struck by what has changed and what remains the same since I started my first KD assignment in 2010. The operational environment has continued to evolve over the last decade. In 2010 we were at the height of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. The Afghanistan surge was in its first year. The Force Generation process dictated life in the Army. Today, our shifted focus to strategic competition provides the motivation for decisive action training readiness. Army doctrine was in the early stages of a significant update. The dual foundations for the Army’s doctrine were the Full Spectrum Operations and Unified Land Operations (ULO) concepts, but we were principally executing counterinsurgency operations. Now, we are moving from ULO to Multi-Domain Operations where many, if not all, of the domains will be highly contested. The necessary doctrine updates in progress emphasize the changing operational environment.

So what has not changed in the last ten years? Leadership. You are expected to lead. You must lead your staff or section andrun the organization. Majors can have a tremendous impact on junior officers and non-commissioned officers. Remember this and make time for leader development, coaching and mentoring. You never stop being a leader, even as a staff officer.

A positive, confident, ‘go-getter’ attitude will help you and your organization. Your reputation carries the day. You can create a positive reputation by being authentic, confident, positive, and competent. You are expected to be a relationship builder and a team player. Communicate often and make a real effort to actively listen – especially when it is your boss, or boss’s boss, doing the talking. These things have not changed in ten years and I do not expect they ever will. Einstein was right. It is not about you, it is always about the team. Do your best, lead, and add value to your team.

LTC Josh Bookout is currently a student at the National War College. An Infantry officer, he has served in Airborne, Air Assault, Stryker and Infantry Brigade Combat Teams with multiple deployments to Afghanistan. He will serve on a DoD Task Force before assuming command of 3 BCT, 25th ID in the summer of 2020.