U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. William Chockey. Oct 21, 2019

In the eyes of many young Soldiers, “their LT” represents the Army. If you care, the Army cares. If you don’t, the Army doesn’t.  When an organization cares about your well-being, the natural reaction is to return the sentiment. Leaders who take a genuine interest in their subordinates will see their teams achieve amazing feats. To help new leaders get started in this important facet of their stewardship this article will discuss four topics: get to know your Soldiers; assist in their personal and professional needs; find out their goals and help develop a plan to achieve them; take care of your soldiers, they will always take care of the mission.

“Leaders who take a genuine interest in their subordinates will see their teams achieve amazing feats. This goes hand-in-hand with counseling. You must get to know your Soldiers and help them personally and professionally. Find out their goals and help develop a plan to achieve them. If you take care of your Soldiers, they will always take care of the mission.”

This is the seventh in an 8-part series that expands on Major Nathan Player’s “Eight Essential Characteristics of Officership.” The series is geared towards newly commissioned officers and is a resource for developmental counseling and mentorship of new lieutenants regardless of branch.

Get to know your Soldiers

Soldiers are not clones or machines purpose-built to follow your orders. They are human beings with families, goals, hopes and dreams. As a leader, it is your responsibility to get to know the people behind the uniforms. Understanding your team’s backgrounds and motivations will help you lead more effectively. Like you, each Soldier is different and brings to the table diverse experiences and capabilities. Effective leaders understand this and tailor assignments to fit the individual skills of team members and mitigate potential weaknesses. Equally as important, Soldiers can tell when you are interested in them or just interested in yourself. The mission always comes first, but when your desire is for the team’s success, as opposed to your own, the difference is stark and noticeable by subordinates, peers, and superiors alike.  

Assist in their personal and professional needs

As their first-line commissioned officer, you can open doors for your team that others cannot. This can be as simple as calling finance on behalf of a Soldier to find out why their pay inquiry is moving so slowly, or something more time consuming such as helping a subordinate with an OCS or WOCS packet. You also set the tone in your platoon or section in terms of family obligations. Soldiers are often afraid to ask for time off work to attend a spouse’s medical appointment or a child’s award ceremony. Make it clear from the beginning that you are in your position to support your individual team members and that Soldiers perform best when they are not worried about their families. Never say no just to say no. If mission requirements do not allow a Soldier time to meet a personal obligation, explain in a compassionate way and offer them the opportunity to develop an alternate solution. 

Find out their goals and help develop a plan to achieve them

Taking an active interest in your subordinate’s goals and helping them achieve those goals gives each Soldiers a vested interest in the success of your organization.  What goals and aspirations do your Soldiers have? As was discussed previously, Soldiers are unique individuals who each have their own idea of “what success looks like” in the Army. For some it is civilian education, for others physical fitness or a particular military school. Still others may have loftier goals such as becoming a Sergeant Major or receiving an officer’s commission. You can learn about your Soldier’s goals from both formal counseling sessions and informal interactions. Once you understand those goals, help them take the next step of forming a plan of action for you to review. This gives them ownership over their goals and allows you the chance help them refine the plan and provide assistance along the way. For many young Soldiers this may be their first time they attempt to backwards plan off of a goal. Take the time to teach them some of the TTPs you learned pursuing your university degree and in BOLC. This is one area where your education and experience will be particularly advantageous to your Soldiers.  

Take care of your Soldiers, and they will take care of the mission

It is impossible to achieve your team’s mission singlehandedly. You need your Soldiers help and they need yours; so be reciprocal. Starting a meeting or conversation with the words “what can I help you with?” is a very powerful thing. Once that question is answered, follow through and do your best to provide the needed support. Do not spend your time micromanaging the team. Instead, focus on providing clear guidance, and allowing your subordinates the ability to maneuver within the limits you have established. As you spend your time opening doors and securing resources for your team they will repay your efforts tenfold as they accomplish the assigned mission. 

Conclusion

Truly taking care of Soldiers is a Venn Diagram of guidance, resourcing, and compassion. A leader who achieves and sustains a balance in these areas will foster an effective team that is capable of performing under high pressure in the most complex of environments. 

This is the 7th article in Nate Player series on leadership. Check out the first post in the series HERE

Major Nathan Player is currently assigned to 3rd Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg. He has 13 years of combined enlisted and officer service, has commanded and served in various joint staff and professional education assignments.