Normally, when people think of military leadership they picture a classic image of a grizzly old sergeant screaming at a group of soldiers who can do nothing else but stand in formation with only the occasional“ Yes, sir!” in reply. However, the realities of the modern military are quite different. There will always be a requirement for unquestioned orders in combat situations, where any delay in delivering and executing instruction could endanger lives, but this is by far the exception rather than the rule.
The same could be said of a municipal environment, such as when emergency services are involved in complicated and dangerous situations. However, the reality of both modern military and municipal environments is that these high-stress situations are not typical, and whether it is soldiers or municipal workers, almost all employees are spending more time in offices.
With this in mind, militaries around the world have developed modern leadership programs deeply rooted in natural leadership tendencies, while taking into account the realities of maintaining large forces in peacetime. These programs leverage the most basic and natural inclinations of human behaviour, such as individuals’ tendency to form groups and respond to reasonable direction from others. They also recognize that, as a rule, all employees prefer to do their jobs well and want to learn and develop their abilities. These leadership programs encourage the majority to perform at their best by maintaining high expectations and effectively using rewards and discipline.
The leadership-and-command style militaries use has always been a direct result of battlefield tactics. This includes the centralized command structure that accompanied large military formations before the 20th century and the decentralized command structure used in small-unit tactics on the modern battlefield.
This evolution in tactics was accompanied by a shift in leadership approach from a centralized model focused on senior leaders to a decentralized model focusing on the junior leaders and encouraging
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Municipal Monitor 29