Front-Line Leadership E-Book

Patrick Nelson

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 262

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

Expand your leadership toolkit and help others achieve their full potential with these empowering stories and lessons from the battlefield

In Front-Line Leadership: How to Eliminate Complacency and Build All-In Engagement, experienced leader and veteran Patrick Nelson delivers an inspiring and exciting discussion of real-world leadership that changes lives and gets results. Born out of his experience as a paratrooper in the US Army—where he led soldiers during three combat deployments and earned a Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart—the book will explore first-hand accounts of the author's time in combat that shed light on how you can lead men and women in academic, business, non-profit, military, and governmental settings.

The book offers deep insights into developing a growth mindset, service-based leadership, forward-looking accountability, and how to build self-awareness. The stories within make it clear that leadership is not just a position or title, but rather the behaviors that we demonstrate. Additionally, each chapter culminates with a practical takeaway for the reader to challenge themselves daily. You'll also find:

• Strategies for getting “unstuck” in your personal and professional life
• Techniques for developing a clear understanding of who you are and what you can bring to an organization as a leader
• Ways to propel your leadership skills forward by focusing on what you can offer others, instead of what others can give you

Perfect for managers, executives, directors, and other business leaders, Front-Line Leadership is also a must-read for active military service members, non-profit professionals, government workers and leaders, athletes, teachers, and anyone else tasked with shaping and encouraging the efforts of others.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Introduction

Being a Leader

Using This Book

PART I: Leading Yourself

CHAPTER 1: Discover and Ignite Your Purpose

Purpose Is Your Journey, Not Your Job

Proactively Pursuing Opportunities

Committing to Your Path

Changing Your Course

Handling Adversity While Finding Your Purpose

Your Challenge

CHAPTER 2: Embracing a Growth Mindset

Understanding Your Own Expectations

Managing Your Reactions

Growing Through Who You Know

Your Challenge

CHAPTER 3: Practicing Resilience

Getting Bad News

Holding Space and Emotional Intelligence

Surrounding Yourself with the Right People

Maintaining Perspective

Your Challenge

CHAPTER 4: Continuous Improvement

Learning While Working

Seeking Out New Opportunities

Transitioning Development Is an Ongoing Journey

Being SMART About Setting Goals

Your Challenge

PART II: Leading Teams

CHAPTER 5: Leading by Example

Incoming!

Setting the Example

Putting It into Practice

Your Challenge

CHAPTER 6: Service‐Based Leadership

Willingness to Learn

Leading Alongside People

Building Authentic Relationships

Having Difficult Conversations

Intimidating People Isn't Leading Them

Your Challenge

CHAPTER 7: Motivating Others

What Is Motivation?

Meet Greg

Getting Back in the Fight

Intrinsic Motivation and Extrinsic Motivation

Driven by Values

How Motivation Works

Your Challenge

CHAPTER 8: The Art of Delegation

Delegating to Grow

Why Delegate?

Challenges to Delegating

How to Delegate Effectively

Your Challenge

PART III: Leading the Culture

CHAPTER 9: Creating a Culture of Accountability

Learning the Hard Way

Forward‐Looking Accountability

Taking Accountability in the Heat of the Moment

Guiding Principles of Accountability

Rolling with a Culture of Accountability

Your Challenge

CHAPTER 10: Building a Positive Workplace Culture

Why a Positive Workplace Culture Matters

When a Workplace Culture Has Problems

When a Workplace Culture Works Well

How to Make a Difference

The Power of Respect and Recognition

Your Challenge

CHAPTER 11: Engaging and Empowering Others to Lead Cultural Change

Engage and Empower

Iron Fist

Turning the Culture Around

Working Together

Case Studies

Shifting a Safety Culture

Your Challenge

CHAPTER 12: Making a Difference

Part I: Leading Yourself

Part II: Leading Teams

Part III: Leading the Culture

Your Journey

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Index

End User License Agreement

Guide

Cover

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Introduction

Begin Reading

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Index

End User License Agreement

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PATRICK NELSON

FRONTLINE LEADERSHIP

HOW TO ELIMINATE COMPLACENCY AND BUILD ALL-IN ENGAGEMENT

Copyright © 2024 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved, including rights for text and data mining and training of artificial technologies or similar technologies.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data:

Names: Nelson, Patrick, author.Title: Front‐line leadership : how to eliminate complacency and build all‐in engagement / Patrick Nelson.Description: Hoboken, New Jersey : Wiley, [2024] | Includes index.Identifiers: LCCN 2024014087 (print) | LCCN 2024014088 (ebook) | ISBN 9781394240753 (hardback) | ISBN 9781394240777 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781394240760 (epub)Subjects: LCSH: Leadership.Classification: LCC HD57.7 .N463 2024 (print) | LCC HD57.7 (ebook) | DDC 658.4/092—dc23/eng/20240416LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2024014087LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2024014088

Cover Design: WileyAuthor Photo: Courtesy of the Author

For Shanna and my four Hs—you are my everything.

Introduction

When I was growing up, most people did not look at me and think “Man, that kid is going places!” Except maybe to jail. Thankfully, some people saw potential in me and encouraged me to do better and to be better. They helped transform me from being one of the last people you would associate with the idea of leadership to someone who is now helping entire organizations successfully transform their leadership culture. In this book I want to share the lessons of how I grew my leadership skills and how you can grow yours, too. To take that journey together, let's go back and start at the beginning.

I grew up in a small town in rural Minnesota. And when I say “small town,” I mean no stop lights, no movie theater, no McDonalds. If you were driving through and blinked, you might miss the town altogether. I certainly was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth. By the time I was 12 years old, I had lived in seven different trailers/apartments/houses, often having to share a small room with my three brothers. It wasn't great, but it could have been worse. My mother and my stepfather both worked to provide for us, but they didn't make much money, and we often went without.

I enlisted in the active Army soon after high school, and this is where I cultivated my core leadership skills and behaviors. I went on to serve for nearly 7 years (6 years, 10 months, and 22 days, but who's counting?) as a paratrooper in the historic 173rd Airborne Brigade based out of Vicenza, Italy. I deployed a total of three times between Iraq and Afghanistan for a total of 39 months in combat.

As I was finishing my military service, I went to college and earned two master's degrees while also embarking on a journey that ultimately led to my career as a leadership consultant and speaker.

I have been shaped into the leader that I am today by the sum of all of my experiences, my successes, and especially my failures—I'm a big believer in learning from your mistakes. In this book I will share with you the lessons that I have learned through my stories, many of which still feel like they happened yesterday. The sounds, the smells, the taste—they are as vivid now as they ever were.

I also would not be here today without those who believed in me. From a difficult childhood, to serving in the Army and being wounded in combat, to battling addiction and trying to find a purpose in life, many people have impacted me greatly. It is an honor to share their legacies with you.

Being a Leader

As someone who cut their teeth in one of the best leadership laboratories in the world, the United States Army, I firmly believe that you do not need to be the boss or be in charge of people to be a leader. The military is one of the most bureaucratic organizations out there. We would wear our rank on our uniform every single day, and everyone knew exactly where they stood in the hierarchy of command. Yet you could still find leaders at even the lowest levels, and they were not in charge of anything. They embraced the military definition of a leader, which is not about your rank or title. It's someone who inspires others and influences outcomes, which is known as front‐line leadership.

Now in the civilian world, I enjoy leading leadership development workshops, and one exercise I like to do is to have team members design a perfect leader (as if one ever existed). Take a minute to think about what qualities you want in a leader. I imagine it includes things such as being a good listener, having empathy, motivating people, holding themselves accountable, leading by example, being credible, and so on. I've yet to see someone describe their perfect leader as being the boss or being in charge of people. And the reason people don't name those things is because leadership is about the behaviors that a person demonstrates. You do not need to be the official boss to be a good listener, and you don't need to be in charge of people to lead by example. You could be a new employee at your first job and be one of the most empathetic people in your organization. I firmly believe anyone can develop leadership skills and behaviors with the right knowledge and experience.

Using This Book

This book is written for leaders at all levels, from the future leaders who feel a stirring inside of them to make things better but are not sure what to do, to those who have led teams and organizations for years and are looking for inspirational and practical ways to continue to engage their people.

In these pages, I will take you on a journey through some of my greatest failures, challenges, and ultimately successes in both the military and civilian worlds. These are augmented by lessons from working closely with a wide range of organizations in helping them shift their cultures. These experiences have helped me develop a leadership philosophy that is positive, practical, and actionable. Best of all, anyone can use it to become a better leader.

This book is organized in three main parts:

Part I

: Leading Yourself

Part II

: Leading the Team

Part III

: Leading the Culture

If you expect others to follow you, you obviously need to be able to lead yourself first. This first part of the book will give you practical tips that will help you increase your self‐awareness, embrace a growth mindset, learn how to more effectively manage your emotions during times of stress and change, and how to persevere better through adversity.

The second part of the book will examine ways in which you can help better lead teams. You'll learn how to help meet the needs of others, lead by example, motivate your team, and delegate in a way that promotes trust and growth.

The third part of the book provides stories, tips, and techniques for shaping organizational culture. These chapters will focus on developing a culture of accountability, the importance and ways in which we recognize and reward people, and how we can take all of this to truly empower our people to do great things.

My hope is that you find inspiration in these pages through the challenges that I have faced and overcome. However, that inspiration cannot just live in the moment. Please take the practical tips that I share to help you navigate your own challenges. I would love to hear how they help you, so please don't hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected].

PART ILeading Yourself

Leading yourself is a profound journey of self‐awareness, discipline, and continuous growth. In this first part of the book, we're going to explore key topics that serve as building blocks for enhancing your leadership skills and propelling you to new levels of effectiveness. By delving into these foundational aspects, you'll gain valuable insights that contribute to your development as a more adept and impactful leader.

CHAPTER 1Discover and Ignite Your Purpose

Everyone's lives changed on the Tuesday morning of September 11, 2001. Whether you were getting ready for school, at the office, or not even born yet, the world was never going to be the same after that day. The innocence of years past was shattered as we watched the tragedy unfold live on television. This became a defining moment for many of us—a moment that helped me discover and ignite my purpose.

On September 11, 2001, I was in the third week of my first semester at a small community college in rural Minnesota. I didn't have the type of family that encouraged me to go to college. They didn't take me on college visits, help me fill out applications, or submit financial aid forms. I had to do it all myself. I had barely graduated high school, and with no real direction in life, I started skipping classes that very first week. As far as college was concerned, I wasn't on the fast track to success.

As I watched the events of 9/11 unfold on the television before me, I felt those same feelings that most of us felt—helplessness, sorrow, and anger. I knew I had to do something. I couldn't just sit idly by as our country was getting ready to go to war with those responsible.

I visited the Army recruiter's office the day after the attack, but they were closed. I came back the next day and told them that I wanted to enlist in the active Army. At that time I was a member of the Minnesota National Guard, but I knew the National Guard would not be the first ones called up, if at all. Little did I know that the prolonged Global War on Terror would see numerous National Guard units deploy multiple times to combat zones and many National Guard soldiers pay the ultimate sacrifice. The challenges that I faced as a child helped fuel my desire to achieve more in life and I think even gave me a leg up on others as I began my active‐duty military career.

Purpose Is Your Journey, Not Your Job

I was only 18 when that defining moment happened that set me on a journey driven by purpose. But that journey has been filled with many ups and downs, twists and turns—many times where I had to rediscover and shift my purpose as I grew older. Though the stories I share in this chapter will be different than your specific situation, the principles I outline still apply, and when put into practice they can help you discover and ignite your purpose.

When I think of purpose, I think of the sense of having meaning and fulfillment, the idea that what I do in life—whether it's my personal life or professional life—is bringing me joy and making a difference. That purpose is different for everyone. Does that mean that your day‐to‐day job is always going to define what your purpose is? Of course not. One of my best friends since I was a kid, Bruce Koepp, works full‐time at the local soybean processing plant in our small town in rural Minnesota. He likes his job, but that doesn't mean it defines who he is and or what his bigger purpose is. He knows that it is part of the process. You see, Bruce's purpose is farming. He loves it. But farming is tough and his full‐time job allows him the benefits he needs to support his family while also pursuing his passion.

Proactively Pursuing Opportunities

Do you ever feel stuck? Like you're just going through the motions day in and day out? You don't have to. You can change that. 9/11 was obviously a big event, one that served as a call to action for many. I pray we never have another event like that. Your opportunity to break out of the rut may not play out on television like mine did; it may not knock on your door or ring on the phone. More than likely, you need to be proactive, willing to take a chance to step outside of your comfort zone and take a risk doing something different. That idea was put to the test early on in my military career.

In January of 2002 I was stationed in Bamberg, Germany, with the headquarters unit of an artillery brigade. This unit had Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, rather than the type of job that the Army had specifically trained me for: shooting howitzer cannons. Since they didn't have my particular job, they assigned me to be the colonel's driver. I didn't drop out of college after 9/11 to drive a colonel around and make sure his coffee was hot. I signed up because I wanted to be part of the fight.

Early in the summer of 2002, our unit was conducting a two‐week training rotation to a place called Grafenwoehr in Germany. As I finished unloading some of my stuff from the Humvee, I looked up in the sky as I heard the unmistakable “whoop‐whoop” of the double rotor blades of a Chinook helicopter passing overhead. I watched as, one by one soldiers, jumped out of the back and their parachutes opened. At that moment, I knew that was what I wanted to do. My first sergeant, George Harvey, happened to be standing next to me. He knew that I would rather be doing something else besides driving the colonel. Later on that evening he did something very uncommon—he took me to where this unit was staying and introduced me to some of their leadership, telling them that I wanted to join them. I never saw or heard that happen again throughout my nearly seven years in the Army.

As a young private first class in the Army, you can't just say you don't like your job and ask for another one. You are there for the needs of the Army. Where they tell you to go, you go. But that moment standing there, watching these high‐speed soldiers parachute to the ground, stirred something inside of me. A few weeks later, my first sergeant called me into his office and recommended that I try to get what is known as a letter of acceptance from some of the senior leadership in that airborne unit. With his connections and my tenacity, I secured letters from Command Sergeant Major Wade Gunther—the top enlisted soldier in the 173rd Airborne Brigade based in Vicenza, Italy. I also received one from the command sergeant major of the Southern European Task Force, which the 173rd fell under.

There was a lot of back and forth on the phone and through email over the next month with people from the Army personnel command. At that time, there was only one Field Artillery Battery in the 173rd Airborne Brigade—Delta Battery (The Doghouse) of the 319th Field Artillery Regiment. So out of roughly 2,500 soldiers in the brigade, only about 120 were Field Artillery. You need to either be lucky and/or know someone to get assigned to that unit. I think I had a little bit of both on my side as I officially got reassigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade in August of 2002.

Take a moment and think about your career. Most of us have probably taken a job with an organization with the hopes of moving up the ranks in that company. But depending on the size of the company and the industry, moving up might require you to have a breadth of experience. What are you doing to seek out those experiences? Are you actively pursuing them or just waiting for someone to ask one day? I knew that I wanted to do something unique in my military career and I was not satisfied with my initial role. We will always have some type of constraints on us—financial, time, geographical, family, the list goes on. I found a way to work within the constraints of the military by getting letters of acceptance. Trust me, if I can do that as a private first class in the Army, I know you can do it too.

What might that actually look like for you? Maybe you have a strong desire to work in marketing, but you took that open job in HR to get your foot in the door. Are you networking with those who are currently working in marketing? Does your manager and their manager know your desire? Have you sought opportunities to potentially partner on projects with marketing? You also need to be performing in your current role if you want them to help you pursue your professional goal.

Committing to Your Path

I would be lying If I said it was easy showing up to a new unit full of paratroopers who proudly wore their jump wings on their uniform, and I had nothing. Let's just say they did not let me forget that I was still a dirty nasty leg (a term of endearment paratroopers have for those not airborne qualified). Serving in the military can be very physically demanding but they do a really good job of getting you in shape. I really didn't find it all that difficult to find success and move up in the ranks early in my career. My new first sergeant, James Mitchell, gave me some great advice: “If you want to be successful in this Army, all you have to do are three things: do what you're told, do what you're told, do what you're damn well told.” For the most part, it worked out pretty good for me.

I mentioned how the Army does a good job of getting you in shape, but I was definitely not prepared for the demanding physicality of being a paratrooper, which was quite different than the unit I was in previously. This was evident in the very first run I did with my new unit. In my old unit, I used to run with what was known as the “A Group,” which consisted of the fastest runners in the unit. When the time came early in the morning to get into groups to run at my new unit, I bravely lined up with the “A Group.” It was not pretty. That was the only time I have ever fallen out of a run—when you're not able to keep up with the rest—and it was very humbling.

In February of 2003, I was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia, for airborne school. At that time, there was a lot of talk of an imminent war in Iraq. As much as I wanted to go to airborne school, I was afraid I would miss the war—my chance to actually do something. Airborne school is three weeks long. It's been said that after the first week, they separate the boys and girls from the men and the women. After the second week, they separate the men and the women from the fools. The third week, the fools jump out of the airplanes. I successfully completed airborne school and earned my wings in early March and went straight back to Italy to join my unit. They were getting everything ready to head to Iraq once we received the word. I was excited and scared.

I ended up deploying a total of three times during my military career: once to Iraq beginning during the initial invasion for 12 months, once to Afghanistan for 12 months, and back to Afghanistan again on my last deployment for 15 months. I had reenlisted twice to stay in the Army and specifically to stay with the same unit. I didn't want to go anywhere else. I wanted to be in a unit that was going to be on the front lines on the Global War on Terrorism. And the 173rd Airborne Brigade was the tip of the spear.

The last deployment to Afghanistan was challenging, to say the least. We jokingly called our platoon the most versatile platoon in the Army, and I don't think we were far off with that assessment. We were artillerymen by trade but with this being my third deployment, I had only done that job for about half of the time. The other half was conducting missions normally reserved for our infantry brothers. On this last deployment, our mission changed drastically three different times.

We started out conducting force protection operations at a small Combat Outpost (COP) in northeast Afghanistan, in the Nuristan province. This location would later be made infamous in the movie The Outpost, which depicted the final battle at the COP on October 3, 2009, in which 8 American soldiers were killed and 27 were wounded. Two brave men were awarded the Medal of Honor for their courage that day, Clint Romesha and Ty Carter. Tactically, it was a terrible location to be at. We were surrounded on all sides by towering mountains. We were the proverbial fish in the barrel.

We spent May to August of 2007 at COP Keating, and then our platoon was tasked with dusting off our howitzer cannons and heading south for a more traditional artillery‐type mission supporting ground operations and conducting counterfire operations. In January of 2008, we were once again tasked with a different mission—conducting border control operations at the Torkham Gate, the highest‐trafficked legal border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Changing Your Course

All good things must come to an end, or so I've heard. I had a decision to make during my last deployment to Afghanistan. Should I reenlist for another couple of years? Should I make a career out of the Army? The three back‐to‐back‐to‐back deployments had taken a toll on me mentally and physically. During my last deployment, the Army had put me on orders to go train new lieutenants in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, at the Officers Basic Course (OBC). OBC is designed for newly commissioned officers fresh out of college to prepare them for service in the Army. Now, nothing against lieutenants or the great state of Oklahoma, but I had zero desire to do that. I knew that if I was going to be in the Army, I needed to be in a front‐line unit like the 173rd Airborne Brigade.

I had seen many soldiers leave the Army with high aspirations to go to college or start a business when they got out. But from my experience, many of them didn't have much of a plan in place. They had a dream, but they weren't taking any steps to help get them in the right direction. When I made the decision to leave the Army, I knew that I was going to go back to college and finish my bachelor's degree. It was a goal that I had ever since I was in elementary school. But I also knew that if I waited and didn't start right away, I probably wouldn't do it. I've seen it happen to many people. On my R&R trip back to the States from Afghanistan, I started to put the wheels in motion. I needed a vehicle, and I needed a place to live.

I honestly didn't put a lot of thought into where I was going to go to college—I just knew that I wanted to be close to Shanna, the beautiful girl I had met while I was back home right before my last deployment. She was playing basketball at a small private college in Mankato, Minnesota. There was a four‐year state college in that town—Minnesota State University, Mankato—and I figured that would work for me. During that last time back home, I bought a car, and I signed a lease for an apartment in a small town near Mankato. Now I just needed to figure out how to get accepted into college while I was busy in Afghanistan conducting combat operations.

When you change course while pursuing your purpose, you need to make sure you're networking with the right people. I found LinkedIn and other social media apps to be great tools to help connect with me those who were doing what I wanted to do. I started to connect with former military members who had left the Army and started going to school. I sent them messages and asked for their advice. You need to be proactive.