The aspect of leadership in the contemporary army is very significant in determining the success of its operations, roles, and responsibilities. This is because the contemporary army engages in a systematic development of various military officers to assume active roles and responsibility in different leadership positions. Moreover, senior leaders in the military are usually charged with the responsibility of ensuring the prudent management other soldiers, large sums of finance as well as various decision-making processes in times of conflicts and wars. Leadership in the army extensively revolves around the aspect of influence where a leader often works towards affecting the behavior and character of his or her followers. In this respect, member of an army may find themselves operating under the leadership of someone who either may have a quality of toxic influence. Studies have revealed that several military organizations around the world have been faced with the challenge of being led by toxic leaders (Lipman-Blumen, 2015).
There is a considerable difference between a quality leader and a toxic leader. A quality leader ensures that all the necessary leadership attributes are applied positively and work for the good and success of the entire organization. On the contrary, a toxic leader does not usually consider useful characteristics of leadership such as teamwork and discipline in decision-making processes as well as the operations undertaken in the implementation of such decisions. In this way, a toxic leader in a military organization often fails his followers by failing to achieve success in both internal and external operations. Toxic leaders usually make it difficult for their followers to operate in a harmonious environment owing to their incompetence in handling and solving problems in times of crisis. Additionally, toxic leadership tends to create a working environment that often frustrates the effective performance demonstrated by competent staff and various other military officers (Holmes, 2017).
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According to Lipman-Blumen (2015), self-centeredness, cruelty, narcissism, and arrogance are some of the features that can be used in the description of an environment created by a toxic leader in the army. It is also observed that toxic leaders in a military organization are made up of features such as a combination of incompetence and selfishness. Selfishness may not be the reason why a leader fails to ascend up the leadership ladder provided that the leader is able to demonstrate a considerable level of confidence. Toxicity in leader may begin gradually, but as time goes by, the level of this toxicity may get to the point that is beyond the capability of a leader. Nonetheless, the kind of leadership in the military demonstrated by a quality contains many elements of effectiveness namely doctrines, training, techniques, procedures, tactics and daily operations. Besides, quality leadership in the army finds its basis on foundational leaders with traits and attributes that have proven themselves over a considerable duration especially among those who have been able to accept unique roles and responsibilities in dealing with the military and civilians.
Some of the traits of quality leadership that are often sought after in the contemporary military include adaptability, agility, physical and mental resilience, flexibility and competence among others. The demonstration of positive character in a quality leader operating within a military organization is often associated with the closeness of his or her actions, relationships, decisions and adherence to military values and ethics. Further, the development of leadership competence through professional training, rigorous training and commitment to excellence in the course of discharging the required duties and responsibilities are crucial indicators of the existence of quality leadership among the leaders in a military organization. Comparatively, toxic leaders in a military organization operate within an environment that is often defined by lack of appropriate levels of competence and character (Sozzi, 2018).
Regarding personal experience, Holmes (2017) points out that it is worth appreciating that dealing with toxic leaders in a military organization has been accompanied by some difficulties and resentments. Moreover, the experience encountered through working and operating under the leadership of toxic leaders is something that can easily demotivate and discourage a military officer or a soldier from performing his or her duties and responsibilities diligently. This is because the presence of toxic leadership in an army environment made it quite tricky and challenged for the welfare of the soldier to be considered as a way of boosting the working morale. In some instances, soldiers who find themselves being led by toxic leaders have been forced to opt out of their carriers owing to numerous frustrations and lack of understanding between them and the leadership. Another instance of personal experience while working under the guidance of toxic leaders in a military organization involved leaders demanding that their followers and subordinates do as they say and not as they do.
This was a pure failure on the part of the leadership to demonstrate critical military principles, rules, and procedures through leading by example. This implies that leaders are capable of requiring their subordinates to undertake specific tasks that may not be humanly possible to be done even by the leaders themselves. Further, the leaders have always tended to withhold some useful information from their followers thereby creating a situation of uncertainty amongst them. In other instance, the personal experience has involved working under the guidance of toxic leaders who are quick to punish and yell at their juniors without providing them with proper procedures on how to perform specific roles and responsibilities. Based on the personal experience with toxic leaders within the military, it is clear that leadership should always strive to ensure soldiers are guided appropriately, and priority is given to their welfare matters (Sozzi, 2018).
References
Holmes, E. (2017). Leadership in the quest for quality. Leadership In Action , 12 (3), 5-7. doi:
10.1002/lia.4070120303
Lipman-Blumen, J. (2015). Toxic leadership: When grand illusions masquerade as noble
visions. Leader To Leader , 2005 (36), 29-36. doi: 10.1002/ltl.125
Sozzi, R. (2018). Leadership: the essence of being a mentor. Leader To Leader . doi:
10.1002/ltl.20366
