The year 2024 was one intended to be slightly regressive. Emphasising other aspects beyond the romanticism and suffering of impassioned work. But, life tends to drop hints along the way, and I find myself a little overwhelmed with the ever accumulating “Extra Curricular Activites”.
As far as I enjoy the multiplicty of experienes, its more difficult when everything is new. There is only so much, and so little capacity one has within a year to adopt.
Cellini (by ways of a Jason Everman) said a “well-rounded man should be an artist, a warrior and philosopher”. In some sense I had pursued thought and thinking (evident in these posts ), a half-cooked attempt at art (which i indulge in cooking and amateur poetry). But what is it to be a warrior? A blend of hunger (to kill) and primal instincts, when one is in a life or death situation?
Taking Up Command
It took 5 years, for the incumbent, or the “system” to get me to accept the role. I was put off, largely because the role added an immense amount of administration and time demands, before and after the training period. But I caved, for there were no others.
Approach
As a first timer with first timers doing things, there were numerous uncertainties. Uncerainty of labour (in ability, in illness); Uncertainty in assets (Operating numerous heavy vehicles and equipment - all adding risk; Uncertainy in Control (fresh, unproven junior commanders).
Moreover, I had probably one of the diverse mission sets, marked by a wide variance in operational tasks to complete. This further limited my ability to cross train and build structural resiliency across the team, and limited my ability to redeploy specialised vehicles.
But as with first time things, and to be practical - I went in with several main things in mind, with a focus on laying the right foundations: Building a clear Organising Structure; Enabling a communication infrastructure; appointing a strong leadership team; and familiarising everyone to the things we need to do and train competencies for.
Makes sense - but mere directional guidance is certainly not enough to get there.
Execution takes time. Building the fundamental infrastructure for manpower necessitated a gargantuan amount of administration. Of which I treated and resourced as seriously as the front line teams. Poor admin leads to the ruin of the army. And it starts with the basics of having people well fed, well watered , well slept with a roof over their heads. While ensuring accountability for them at all times. I wonder if my past obsession with Marshal Berthier infleunced this.
Service and Motivation
Yet, it is one thing to manage things in our day to day lives (at work for example), but it is another thing to wrangle a largely voluntary reservist force to do things in the heat.
And variances in attitude are immediately noticeable - those who lean in and do their best, whether for intrinsic or extrinsic motivation; Those who take a backseat completely and those somewhere inbetween: reliable, if reluctant. The former might have elements of a higher calling, others nationalistic, but ultimately, it is also about just how one approaches life, hardship and things out of one’s control.
The discipline and enforcement needed to be in place. as the trade offs were too high: safety and security are both non negotiables, and poor planning or mismanagement (see poor admin) mutiply such risks signficantly.
Mental Tools and Skills
Having worked in, and evolved by working in startups over the past few years, numerous aspects come to mind: Multitasking, trade-off mindset to facilitate fast decision making. Rapid learning and speed to decision.
Pareto 80-20 rules, avoidance of perfectionism and the “can’t please everyone mindset”, but yet having a zero tolerance policy when it comes to safety. Bottlenecks and attaining “good-enough” information to make decisions.
Reactiveness and responsiveness ( definitely had several crises which required attention)
Having and communicating a clear macro picture, without over micormanaging leaders
Reflections on Leadership
A reflection would be remiss without considering what I could do better. I caught myself at times making worse decisions than some junior commanders suggested, something i ought to consult and listen to more.
But there was a smoothness to the whole journey, and I believe it was underpinned by several key elements: Radical trust, radical transparency and courageous decisions. This in turn, implies building and drawing confidence in my competence; fostering a secure and safe environment for discussions, and being unafraid to decide and execute.
For inaction, and inability will undermine much of the sancity of trust and transparency, resulting inthe entire entity/ team/ organisation, geting paralysed.
The Matrix Structure was useful - people had functional skills both inside or outside the military context that contributed greatly to the overall success, such as part time advising and planning, even if out of their specific role (transport management,for example)
I retain my obsession with my yet to be confirmed runner, who unfortunately was not present this time around. All this, to also point towards the immensity of what General Berthier might have done… crossing the alps before the battle of Marengo, is an immense task in logistics. If I cannot fathom moving less than 100 guys across a tiny island, let alone imagine operationalising this at a much larger scale.
But I conclde that my first “tour” was a good exercise: It allowed my mental models to be thoroughly tested, by sticking close to principles and foundational ways of thinking. It helped s build confidence to assure and impose what you want, no matter the ambiguity, no matter the task.
Do I consider myself then, a warrior? Perhaps, but it is part of a broader personality of combatting the intangible, of being generally mission driven, and fighting towards doing better.
As I finish this on a plane, i write this, as I face yet another crazy amount of first times. So much for a benign 2024. The layers of growth and experience keep adding on this year.
Written: 2 Sept 2024, Zurich Airport