Critical Leadership Problem and Solution in 4th ABCT Brigade

This essay examines the challenges and issues resulting to critical leadership problem among the 4th ABCT brigade that led to division and differences, gives a vision for the brigade, the solutions to the problem as well as the implementation and effective measurement of the vision.

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The 4th ABCT brigade Critical leadership Problem and Solution
Student’s Name
Institution

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The success of 4th ABCT brigade three years back was admirable and the brigade excelled
in their assignments. Currently, the environment is different. The battalions compete to create
division among the units as well as the existence of superficial differences among the
commanders and command sergeant majors, therefore, creating critical leadership problem.
As a result of this, the essay examines the challenges and issues resulting to critical
leadership problem among the 4th ABCT brigade that led to division and differences, gives a
vision for the brigade, the solutions to the problem as well as the implementation and effective
measurement of the vision.
The 4th ABCT brigade experienced frequent changes of authority and order of command.
This change of command prior to the mission affected the readiness of the team because of the
introduction of different leading style. The change in style of command creates instability and
confusion among the battalions. In addition, wrong full delegations of duties affected the running
of the battalion. The delegation of authority during brigade’s deployment to the deputy brigade
commander to supervise, synchronize, control and act as the liaison officer created confusion to
the deputy brigade commander as well as the team. This act portrayed a weak 4th ABCT structure
of command and demoralizes the team.1
Moreover, the health of the soldiers is wanting. It is seen with the increase in cases of
trained brigades who are ready for deployment experiencing healthy problems forcing them to
remain at the base. This shows that there is an issue with physical fitness as well as their health.2
On the other hand, there are poor communication channels. While at the mission, there
was the breakdown in communications systems that led to ineffective command and control. The
digital system available was prone to failure due to network challenges hampering control and
1 Clark, Barry. "Organizational Leadership Analysis: 4th Armored Brigade Combat Team Scenario." (2016).
2 Clark, Barry. "Organizational Leadership Analysis: 4th Armored Brigade Combat Team Scenario." (2016).

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command of the brigade. This led to friction among the personnel. Consequently, there was lack
of enough personnel. The number of battalions deployed was not sufficient leading to the captain
being part of the mission in the field. It resulted in untrained personnel taking over the control and
command operations yielding to friction among the personnel.3
The diversification of duties during the mission became a challenge to the battalion. The
training given to the soldiers at home was meant for a particular operation and hence was not
commensurate to what they encountered during the mission and is augmented with lack of
organization and equipment authorization. It affected the units adversely creating difficulty in the
support of brigade and battalion operations. It reduces the expertise’s focus because the
encountered challenges were outside the brigade’s area of expertise which is in contrary to
infantry and armor skills within maneuver battalions. In addition, severe environment forces
soldiers to carry out tasks not within their specialty during the operation. It poses a huge challenge
to the entire battalion since supporting and resourcing tasks reduced staff’s effectiveness
completely.4
The combat organization was poor since there was the alignment of SFAT and ABCT
battalions without rethinking combat organization. It presented strain between the ABCT combat
role and STAF mission because the two factions have different roles and mixing together creates
mix-ups and deviating from focus. Besides, the culture of the organization deteriorated from the
norm of spirit building to one full of differences in relation to rank, elite and professionalism.5
3 Clark, Barry. "Organizational Leadership Analysis: 4th Armored Brigade Combat Team Scenario." (2016).
4 Clark, Barry. "Organizational Leadership Analysis: 4th Armored Brigade Combat Team Scenario." (2016).
5 Clark, Barry. "Organizational Leadership Analysis: 4th Armored Brigade Combat Team Scenario." (2016).

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As a result of these challenges, change of leadership is paramount. This begins with the
creation of the brigade’s vision.6 The vision to be adopted for the brigade is: A highly-disciplined,
focused and result in oriented 4th ABCT workforce for successful mission’s endeavors.
The first step in achieving the vision is to stop frequent changes in command. It is possible
by giving clear direction, guidance and setting priorities so as to allow determination of the right
course of action for immediate missions as well as projecting for future missions. It is done by
setting the right and establishing unifying direction for the brigade. It will be implemented with
the use of coercive techniques together with leadership principles to establish a clear line of
command that enables setting up of future leaders who will take up leadership responsibilities
when the need arises.7 In the delegation of authority, there is need to delegate roles that impact
less on performance and effectiveness of the brigade’s discharge of duties. Therefore, the
establishment of a good relationship between the brigades is of paramount and is possible by the
creation of the trust, commitment, and effective communication. The case of soldiers not being
deployed after training requires examination of their health status as well as their physical fitness
which is essential for success in the battle.8
In the cognizant of the fact that organization’s working environment emanates from the
leader’s actions, priorities, and attitudes; as a leader of the 4th ABCT brigade, there is a
requirement to provide clear guidance as well as the focus (determination, course, as well as
inspiration) to change ABCT brigade to the anticipated state. It will be possible through the
creation of a climate that encourages values and nurtures ethos, inspires knowledge, upholds
6 Walker, Carey W., and Matthew J. Bonnot. "The Vision Process: Seven Steps to a Better Organization." CGSC (August
2012) 2, no. 6 (2012): 6-22.
7 Kem, Jack D. Planning for action: Campaign concepts and tools. Army Command and General Staff Coll Fort Leavenworth
KS, 2012.
8 Schloesser, Robert Philip. "Officer trust in Army leadership." PhD diss., 2003.

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ingenuity and performance, as well as creating unity.9 Besides the creation of good ethical
climate, there is a need for creation of clear work environment coupled with a well-defined
purpose.1011
There is need to prioritize nurturing of future succession leaders by setting leader
development system as an investment for leadership succession in the future. This allows
mentoring potential soldiers who will assume positions from their superiors thus avoiding
leadership succession gap.12 The training of soldiers requires inculcating collective confidence in
order to develop soldiers who work hard and fight resolutely. This is possible by the creation of
cohesive teams full of confidence and equipped with diverse skills. It is going to avoid skewed
mission operations and instead permit soldiers to fight in different combat situations.13
So as to meet the goals of the 4th ABCT brigade, the leader has to master resources and
systems in order to help manage and prioritize resources for optimal readiness of the 4th ABCT
brigade mission. Through evaluation of objective and anticipation of resource requirement, the
leader is able to allocate resources available appropriately. Also, there is need to extensively
undertake a thorough research on the target area of operation so as to establish the amount of
resources to allocate for the mission. This is augmented when the leader has mastering,
understanding, and synchronization of systems to be employed for combat.14
9 Walker, Carey W., and Matthew J. Bonnot. "Improving while Operating: The Paradox of Learning." Command and General
Staff College Curriculum (August 2014) 4, no. 15 (2014): 3.
10 Kem, Jack D. "Ethical Decision Making: Using the ‘Ethical Triangle.’." Lecture Readings L 102 (2016).
11 Hall, Courtney N. Improve Organizational Effectiveness, Culture, and Climate Through Servant Leadership. US Army
Command and General Staff College Fort Leavenworth United States, 2017.
12 Coyle, Andy. "Failure is not an option." (1997).
13 Estes, Steven, Joel M. Miller, and Marcus D. Majure. Characteristics of Army Reserve Officer Training Corps Leader
Development. Institute of Land Warfare, Association of the United States Army, 2016.
14 Fallesen, Jon J. "Army Leader Characteristics for Full Range Operations." In The Army Science of Learning Workshop, p. 134.
2007.

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The strength and success in battle come when working together as a unit. In realizing this,
the leader encourages the subordinate to create and bring innovative ideas and seek feedback from
them as well. The creation of selfless service is a requirement for effective teamwork because
working together as a team while promoting group pride is building trust for the team. To enhance
this, the leader set and maintains consistent standards of good performance.15
In ensuring the establishment of highly-disciplined, focused and result oriented 4th ABCT
workforce for successful missions endeavors, assessment is crucial. This gets done through the
use of surveys, feedback event or multi-purpose assessment. This allows the leader to know
whether commanders, as well as subordinates, meet the set requirements. Additionally, as
commander, it of an essence to be moving round among subordinate units so as to assess their
preparedness. This paves way for knowing additional units and motivates soldiers at the same
time. Moreover, one ensures that subordinates work well with fellow subordinates to establish a
shared understanding of every situation.16
In conclusion, a highly-disciplined, focused and result in oriented 4th ABCT workforce is
realizable when the moral across the brigade is high, are dedicated and focused. Additionally, the
creation of supportive work atmosphere augmented with free information flow with no
differences exhibits strong work ethic and positive competition. With this, the 4th ABCT brigade
is going to be admirable as it was three years back.
15 Garner, Harry C. "Empathy: A true leader skill." Military Review 89, no. 6 (2009): 84.
16 Kretchik, Walter. US Army Doctrine: US Army Doctrine. University press of Kansas, 2012.

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References
Clark, Barry. "Organizational Leadership Analysis: 4th Armored Brigade Combat Team
Scenario." (2016).
Coyle, Andy. "Failure is not an option." (1997).
Estes, Steven, Joel M. Miller, and Marcus D. Majure. Characteristics of Army Reserve Officer
Training Corps Leader Development. Institute of Land Warfare, Association of the
United States Army, 2016.
Fallesen, Jon J. "Army Leader Characteristics for Full Range Operations." In The Army Science
of Learning Workshop, p. 134. 2007.
Garner, Harry C. "Empathy: A true leader skill." Military Review 89, no. 6 (2009): 84.
Hall, Courtney N. Improve Organizational Effectiveness, Culture, and Climate Through Servant
Leadership. US Army Command and General Staff College Fort Leavenworth United
States, 2017.
Kem, Jack D. "Ethical Decision Making: Using the ‘Ethical Triangle.’." Lecture Readings L 102
(2016).
Kem, Jack D. Planning for action: Campaign concepts and tools. Army Command and General
Staff Coll Fort Leavenworth KS, 2012.
Kretchik, Walter. US Army Doctrine: US Army Doctrine. University press of Kansas, 2012.
Schloesser, Robert Philip. "Officer trust in Army leadership." PhD diss., 2003.
Walker, Carey W., and Matthew J. Bonnot. "Improving while Operating: The Paradox of
Learning." Command and General Staff College Curriculum (August 2014) 4, no. 15
(2014): 3.
Walker, Carey W., and Matthew J. Bonnot. "The Vision Process: Seven Steps to a Better
Organization." CGSC (August 2012) 2, no. 6 (2012): 6-22.