Military Review English Edition January-February 2014 | Page 10

Competence and the Expert
Base of Power
Retired Col. Pat Sweeney, one of the leading
theorists and researchers of trust and leadership
in dangerous contexts, conducted a study with
soldiers across Iraq that indicated leader competence was the most important attribute for
influencing trust in combat.34 Army competency
is akin to French and Raven’s expert base of
power, where followers choose to follow leaders
who demonstrate expertise or proficiency in a
field. If soldiers do not see leaders often, leaders
can demonstrate proficiency or expertise through
photos, video, or dialogue on social media. If
leaders actively participate in the social media
community and submit high quality or original content, members may see the leader as an
expert in their particular field over time.35 A few
photos or remarks cannot prove competence in
a virtual world, but can definitely augment it if
that competence is authentic, especially in geographically decentralized operations. If leaders
cannot be with their soldiers in all locations at
all times, this is an alternative. Face-to-face communication and observation are preferable, but
leaders can enhance and promote the climate of
trust and the competency of their command by
using social media. Connections made between
leaders and followers are what make these tools
so potentially powerful.

Enhancing Communication
A network is a group of people or things
interconnected for a purpose. Social and technical networks enable leaders to communicate
info, create connections with others, control
forces, strengthen those connections, encourage
more participation, and help lead to successful
operations.36 In Taking the Guidon: Exceptional
Leadership at the Company Level, authors Tony
Burgess and Nate Allen declare, “Excellent
communication—up, down, and sideways—is
fundamental to a motivated and effective unit.”37
Social media can enhance communication not
only within a unit, but also across networks of
their families, future members, departed members, and anyone else interested.
Leaders can develop and leverage various
social networks to exchange information and
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ideas, build teams, and promote unity of effort.38
The “social” part of “social networking” implies
two-way communication as the minimum. To
engage people and reinforce the team concept,
leaders should cultivate social dialogue and prepare for it. Social networking facilitates nearly
instant feedback from all levels, and not all feedback will be positive. However, that might make
it more valuable. Members can voice opinions,
and leaders can solicit ideas for the betterment of
the organization. The conversation alone serves
to increase member participation, engagement,
and buy-in, no matter what decisions may result
from the dialogue.
For example, when I had the privilege of
working for the 72nd and 73rd Commandants of
Cadets at the U.S. Military Academy, each made
it a regular practice to post cadet and academy
photos on their professional Facebook pages.
The commandants commented on events occurring at the academy, explained some of their
command decisions, and lauded members of the
Corps of Cadets for their many varied accomplishments. Graduates and parents thanked them
daily for the information, and that resulted in
more photos and information sharing. Both commandants stayed less than two years; however,
the combined total of their site members in that
short time was over 9,000. While many of the
9,000 followers were undoubtedly duplicates,
the numbers clearly demonstrate social media’s
communication reach and its potential influence
on others.
On 1 March 2013, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey posted a two-minute
message on YouTube about sequestration.39 In just
a few days, his message reached over 9,500 viewers, and the comments posted under his video were
overwhelmingly positive and appreciative that he
took the time to transmit his message. Additionally, hundreds of the viewers reposted his video on
their personal pages, and others also reposted the
message. There is no telling how many received
his message, but his reach was considerable.
Incidentally, over 39,000 people currently follow
his Facebook page, which means 39,000 people
can see what he does daily, read his thoughts on
emergent issues, and unknowingly build trust in
someone they will probably never meet.40
January-February 2014 MILITARY REVIEW