Military Review English Edition March-April 2016 | Page 113

HIGH-PERFORMING UNIT

Reinforce the Principles
Because new teammates were arriving to the 519th
prior to deployment, the unit needed a way to train
them as well. In November 2012, two months after training at the NTC, and before the deployment,
fifty-five leaders went to Greensboro for a one-day
“leadership tune-up.” The CCL team facilitated the
session, which was focused on the fundamentals of the
three pillars of growth. Each attendee received MBTI,
FIRO-B, and CSI assessments, and learning groups were
created with the now task-organized company teams.
The battalion staff and leadership, which included two
new members, also participated. This session reinforced
individual development while also allowing teams to
work on their goals and communication.
Soon after their trip to observe the unit at the NTC,
the CCL facilitators provided observations and feedback that helped unit members also understand the
boundaries limiting their effectiveness. To overcome
these boundaries, the facilitators then armed each leader with tools to span them. They introduced ChrobotMason and Ernst’s six practices for solving problems:
buffering, reflecting, connecting, mobilizing, weaving,
and transforming.23 Though only lasting one day, and
touching only the surface of those key principles,
the training nevertheless provided useful context for
leaders to take forward to Afghanistan. Writing from
Afghanistan later, Capt. Nick Keipper, a 519th company commander, put it best:
Direction, Alignment, and Commitment are
common practice here. We may use dif