Leadership Beyond the Trenches

Major-General Craig Aitchison was good enough to chat with me (online) about leadership and professional military education.  As the Commander of the Canadian Defence Academy, he is responsible for Canadian Armed Forces Education and Training including the professional development system.  We talked about socialization, organizational culture and institutional leadership as well as the stewarding the Profession of Arms.  As someone who has spent a lot of his last 36 years training and educating leaders, Major-General Aitchison is passionate about the subject which made for a really great conversation.

Fareoffice The Tribute by Mikael Hellman

Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/6095-fareoffice-the-tribute

I got the opportunity to talk with Lieutenant–General Christine Whitecross and discuss some of her ideas on leadership and her own experiences during her career.  One of my favourite moments was when she talked about breaking the glass ceiling and how important it was that those shards don’t take out those who come after you.  She emphasized how important it was to reach down and pull people up after you.  …“It’s not about being one of one.”….  It was a really great conversation – one that I am still thinking about.

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Fareoffice The Tribute by Mikael Hellman

Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/6095-fareoffice-the-tribute

CWO Kevin Mathers took time, while on leave, to chat with me about his thoughts on institutional leadership.  Our discussion ranged from how his leadership has evolved from a young soldier in Calgary to what is important now as the LANDCOM Command Senior Enlisted Leader.  He shared his thoughts on ‘Tactical Patience’ while working in a multinational environment, the importance of friendship in building partnerships that are required in organizations like NATO, and the role of mentoring the next generation of soldiers for the profession of arms.  

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I had a chance to chat with Brigadier-General Darlene Quinn, Commander Formation Europe and the National Military Representative for Canada to Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe. I was so excited because  we got to chat in person ( of course, observing social distancing )!
She shared her ideas on organizational culture, how her leadership has evolved, and her role as an institutional leader.  We also spoke about diversity and what her experience has been like as the first Canadian woman to hold this position.  

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Fareoffice The Tribute by Mikael Hellman

Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/6095-fareoffice-the-tribute

I was able to have a long chat with Colonel Tod Strickland, Commandant of the Canadian Army Command and Staff College  where we talked about leadership, culture, and his time with the United Nations in Korea.  So if you are interested in hearing about how using a command philosophy works with shaping organizational culture or what its like to work in place like Korea - give this a listen!  This was recorded on Squadcast and there is a bit of background noise - that is totally on me as I was working from hotel WIFI that was dropping in and out like crazy! So try to tune it out as the content of our chat was great!

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This episode is on how Culture interacts with leadership.  As culture is a broad topic, I discuss how culture impacts leaders from three perspectives:

·  Organizational Culture

·  National Culture

·  Cultural Intelligence (CQ)

Here are the references that I used to create this episode:

Davis, Karen D., and Justin C. Wright. “Culture and Cultural Intelligence.” In Cultural Intelligence and Leadership: An Introduction for Canadian Forces Leaders, edited by Karen D. Davis. Kingston, ON: Canadian Defence Academy Press, 20

Groysberg, Boris, Jeremiah Lee, Jesse Price, and J. Yo-Jud Cheng. “The 8 Types of Company Culture,” December 18, 2017. https://hbr.org/video/5686668254001/the-8-types-of-company-culture.

Boris Groysberg, Jeremiah Lee, Jesse Price, J. Yo-Jud Cheng, cofounder and CEO —Elon Musk, founder and CEO —John Mackey, CEO —Bob Iger, chairman —Jay Clayton, CEO —Inga Beale, CEO —Ren Zhengfei, former CEO —Sir Andrew Witty, and CEO —Tony Hsieh. “The Culture Factor.” Harvard Business Review, February 21, 2020. https://hbr.org/2018/01/the-culture-factor.

Northouse, Peter G. “Culture and Leadership.” In Leadership: Theory and Practice, 6th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2013.

Middleton, Julia.  Cultural Intelligence: A Competitive Edge for Leaders Crossing Boundaries.  Bloomsbury:  London, England. 2014.

A  Zoom conversation with Brigadier-General Greg Smith about leadership in a multinational organization, thought on stewarding the profession and what he finds satisfying about leading at the institutional level.  

The sound quality is a bit spotty due to the platform connection but still a fun conversation to listen to!

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This episode looks at leader success through the lens of theory and doctrine. 

• Overview of the evolution of leadership theories

• A few key concepts from Canadian Armed Forces Leadership Doctrine conceptual foundations including Table 4-1 Effectiveness Dimensions

• Brigadier-General Greg Smith thoughts on what is satisfying as an institutional leader

• Systems perspective on insitutional leadership 

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Trailer for a podcast about leadership at the institutional level focussed on military professionals