Scientific Journal of the Military University of Land Forces ISSN:2544-7122(print),2545-0719(online) 2021,Volume53,Number1(199),Pages128-136 MILITARY UNIVERSITY OF LAND FORCES DOI:10.5604/01.3001.0014.8115 Original article The possibility of using the military program Leader to shape leadership in civil organizations Andrzej Wojtusik1* , Jarosław Figarski2 , Regina Borek-Wojciechowska3 1 TerritorialDefenceForcesCommand,Poland, e-mail:[email protected] 2 MeskoS.A.Skarżysko-Kamienna,Poland, e-mail:[email protected] 3 FacultyofEconomicandLegalSciences,UniversityofTechnologyandHumanitiesinRadom,Poland INFORMATION ABSTRACT Article history: Acharacteristicfeatureoftheenvironmentinwhichcontemporaryorganiza- Submited:29May2019 tionsoperateisitsvariability.Tosurviveinsuchanenvironment,organizations Accepted:03February2020 needleaderswhocansetthemselvesandtheirsubordinatesspecificgoals andinfluencetheirachievement.Manypositiveexamplesofleadershipcanbe Published:15March2021 transferredtothecivilianenvironmentthankstothemodelsdevelopedinthe armedforces.OneofthetoolsforshapingleadershipattitudesinthePolish ArmedForcesistheauthor’sprogramfortrainingnon-commissionedofficers called“Leader”inoperationsince2008.Theknowledgepassedonduringthis program,whichisconductedintheformofacourse(consideredtobeoneof themostdifficultonesintheArmedForces),isrelatedtobuildingleadership skills.Itcanbesuccessfullytransferredtothecivilianenvironment,wherever therearerelationshipsbetweensuperiorsandsubordinates. KEYWORDS *Correspondingauthor Leaderprogram,leadership,management,competences ©2021byAuthor(s).ThisisanopenaccessarticleundertheCreativeCommonsAttribution InternationalLicense(CCBY).http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Introduction Oneoftheunderlyingconditionsforanyorganization’sfunctioningisthatithasanefficient managerialstaff.ThisrequirementappliesasmuchtotheArmedForcesasanycivilorga- nization,regardlessofitsformofownership,andincludesmanufacturingandservicecom- panies.Theentireapparatusofadministrativeauthorityinthestateisnotexemptfromthe requirementeither,frompapersinmunicipalofficestopeaksofpowerinthestate.Allthe structuresmentionedabovehaveseveralsimilarities: 1.Theyhavespecificobjectivestoachieve. 2.Theseobjectivesrequirehumanstructures(teams)thatmustbeinfluenced. 3.Peoplewiththerightskillsandcharactertraitsarenecessarytoleadteams. 128 The possibility of using the military program Leader to shape leadership in civil organizations TheelementsoftheArmedForces’leadershipmodelundertheauthor’sprogram“Leader” canbetransferredtothecivilianenvironment.Thenoticeablescarcityofauthoritiesmakesit indispensabletohaveamanagementboardwithleadershipskills.Ontheotherhand,leader- shipskillsmustbedeveloped,orpeoplewithinnatedesirablecharactertraitsmustbefound. However,eveninthelattercase,actions(training)providingthefutureleaderwithtoolsto buildauthorityandmakesubordinatesfollowhim/herarenecessary.Beingaleaderisabout shapingtheattitudesofsubordinatessothattheyperformtheirdutieswithcommitment. Asignificantdifferencebetweenthecivilandmilitaryenvironmentisthemotivationtoact economically.Itismoreinfluentialinthecivilianenvironment,especiallyintheprivatesector, wheretheresultsachievedbymanagementgiverealfinancialbenefits.Inthiscase,thebusi- nesscommunityshouldbeasinterestedaspossibleindiscoveringyetanotheropportunity togaininformationonhowtoformthemostpowerfulleadershipposition. Whenlookingforthemostimportantleaders’skills,theabilitytogenerateavision(goals)for theorganization,whichineffecttranslatesintosettingappropriatetasksforsubordinates, isseenasoneofthesignificantabilities.Leadersareexpectedtobeabletodemonstrate suchqualitiesascreativity,flexibility,andinnovation.Overthecenturies,leadershavebeen spiritusmovensofcreatingnewideas,andthen,thankstothestrengthoftheircharacter traits,theyhaveturnedthemintoaction.Tothisday,theyaretreatedwithrespectfor theirwork,althoughweoftenforgetthattheirsuccesseswereachievedthroughtheskillful managementoftheirhumanresources.StudyingtheirCVscanbeanexcitinglessonabout leaders’achievementsandfailures[1].ThePolishanthem,MazurekDąbrowskiego,alsolists theleaderswhoaretobetherolemodels:JanHenrykDąbrowski,NapoleonBonaparte,and StefanCzarniecki.Itisalsoimpossiblenottoseeinhistoryexamplesofcharismaticleaders whowereabletodestructivelyinfluencetheirsurroundings.Lessonsshouldalsobelearned fromtheiractionstoresistsuchtheirperceptioninthefuture. 1. Leadership: management versus leadership in organizations Leadershipinorganizationsisbasedonmanagementanddirecting.Theseconceptsareof- tenusedinterchangeably,andpeoplearerequiredtobebothefficientleadersandgood managers,whichisnotalwayspossibleduetohumanpredisposition.Aleader’sfunctionis performedduetohis/herauthority,whilethefunctionofamanagerresultsfromthepow- erthathe/shehas.Agoodmanagerwillperformhis/hertaskseffectivelyandefficiently.In turn,aleadershouldhavetheabilitytosetappropriategoalsforhimself/herselfandforthe employeesthathe/shedirects,andthenhe/shewillbeabletoinfluencethebehaviorof his/hersubordinates,sothattheystrivetoaccomplishthesegoals[2,p.161].Toproperly understandtheprincipleofleadership,itwouldbenecessarytoseparateitfrommanage- ment.Effectivemanagementaimstoreducecomplexityleadingtoorderandsimplification ofthesurroundingreality.Inturn,leadershipisbasedontheabilitytoactinachanging environment.Aneffectivemanagerdoesnothavetobeagoodleader,justasaleaderdoes notnecessarilyhavetocopewithmanagement.Thereby,organizationsmusthaveaplace forbothtypesofpeople[3,p.45-47]. Theimportanceofvisionanddeterminationinaleader’spersonalitytoachievethedesig- natedgoalsisdemonstratedbytheexampleofanAmerican,long-timepresidentofGeneral Electric,JackWelch.AsPresidentofGeneralElectric,heintroducedtheSixSigmaquality managementprogramtothecompanyin1995.SixSigmawasfoundedtenyearsearlierin Motorola,butitwaswhenGEapplieditthatandbenefitsweresospectacularthatitspread 129 Andrzej Wojtusik, Jarosław Figarski, Regina Borek-Wojciechowska throughouttheworld.JackWelchismentionedasoneofthebiggest(ifnotthebiggest) managersworldwideduetohischarisma.Inmanyenterprises(includingtheworld’slargest armamentscompanies),involvementinbuildingtheSixSigmaculturehasbecomeaspring- boardtothehighestmanagerialpositionsandconstitutesapartofbuildinga“secondsuit” ofleadershipintheorganization.ThebenefitsoftheSixSigmaprogramhavealsobeenrec- ognizedbyandimplementedintheU.S.Army.Formanysoldiers,participationintheprogram guaranteestofindhigh-paidjobsafterhavinglefttheservice. Leadershipshouldbeconsiderednotasaprocessofinfluencingpeoplebutastheability toimpacttheminsuchawayastoreleasetheirstrengthandpotentialtostriveforgreater good[4,p.XIV].Thatmeansthatleadershipisactingforothersandshouldnotbeconsidered amerepathtomaterialsuccess.Afocusonearningmoneycanonlyhelpachieveastrong leadershippositionintheshortterm.Itisnecessarytointroduceaphilosophical,nottosay metaphysicalelementtoperformahighlevelofleadership.Thespiritualelementwillbe theformulationofavisionofanorganizationthatrequiresadditionaldedicationandtakes precedenceovershort-termaspirations.Inthisaspect,leadershipbecomesaprocessthat affectsthesatisfactionofbothinternalandexternalclients.Theprocessitselfmustthen beredefinedandspecifiedas“achievingvaluableresultswithanequitable,caringandre- spectfulapproachtoallinvolvedpeople”[4,p.XV].Whetheritbearmedforcesoracivilian organization,theleader’sexcessiveegoorhis/hercommitmenttogainbenefitsforhimself/ herselfwillbedetrimentaltotheirmissions.He/Sheshouldalsotestifybyhis/herbehavior thathe/sheidentifieswiththeactionshe/sheimposes. Napoleon’swordssayingthatanarmyofsheepledbyalionwoulddefeatanarmyoflions ledbyasheep;itwasbettertohaveanarmyofsheepledbyalionthananarmyoflionsled byasheepalsobesuccessfullyappliedincivilorganizations.Theprinciplesworkedoutin combatcanbeawaytosucceedinenterprises,everywherewheretheteam’sobjectivewas torealizeaspecificmission.Alltextbooksrelatedtoqualitysciencesemphasizetheneedfor benchmarkingactivities.Nothingstandsinthewayofsuchactionsbeingtakenbymanagers toobtainthebestpossibleleadershippatternsthathavebeenusedinthearmedforces. Anessentialaspectwithoutwhichthefunctioningofamodernorganizationcannotbesep- aratedistheneedforittofitintoachanging,turbulentenvironment.Thisenvironmentwas definedaftertheendoftheColdWarasVUCAbystrategistsfromU.S.ArmyWarCollege. Theynoticedthatinthenewpoliticalsituation,realitydidnotbecomemorecomfortableto explain,butonthecontrary,thefollowingelementshadtobeconsideredtomovearound moreeffectively:Volatility,Uncertainty,Complexity,andAmbiguity.Thetermcoinedbythe militaryhasfounditswaytothebusinessworld,whereitadequatelydescribesthestate oftheworldandtheorganization’senvironment.Asneverbeforeinhistory,thebusiness environmentseemstobefullofturmoildeepeningthechaos–financialcrisis2008-2009, Brexit,currencyfluctuations,oilpricespikes,migrationofspeculativecapitalcanbemen- tionedasexamplesofsuchvariables.Besides,othertrendsaffecttheinfrastructureand cultureofcompanies:thedigitaltransformation,theentryofthemillenniumsintothelabor market,andthecrisisofengagement.Suchahardrealityrequiresthatpeoplemanaging theorganizationarecapableofrunningiteffectively.Thus,therecanonlybeonesolution. Leadershipthecriticalfactoronwhichthe“tobeornottobe”organizationshouldbebuilt. Inturn,“leadership”aloneisnotenough.Theneedforaleadershipculture,i.e.,basingthe functioningofanorganizationonleadershipactions,comestothefore[5]. Duetotechnologicalprogress,theemployeesthemselvesarealsoexposedtosolvingincreas- inglycomplexproblems;theymustbeopentoinnovationsandchangingconditionsofthe 130 The possibility of using the