The 19th century steel industry magnate and philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie said, "You develop people the same way you mine gold. When you mine gold, you have to move tons of dirt to find one ounce of gold. But you don't go in there looking for the dirt. You go in there looking for the gold." I think that is particularly true for recruiting and/or developing leadership talent.
There is an old saying, "People don't leave bad jobs, they leave bad bosses." As it turns out, this is more than just a cliché - there is evidence to back up the statement. A Gallup poll of more than 1 million U.S. workers found that 75% of the workers who voluntarily left their jobs did so because of a bad boss or direct supervisor. As the Gallup CEO at the time, Jim Clifton, summarized the 2013 "State of the American Workplace" survey, "The single biggest decision you make in your job - bigger than all the rest - is who you name manager. When you name the wrong manager, nothing fixes that bad decision. Not compensation, not benefits - nothing."
I should point out that most, if not all, of the studies citing "bad bosses" as one of the most important reasons that workers leave their jobs were performed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. If selecting managers and supervisors was important before the pandemic, it is even more so now! Investing in leadership training and development is not only a good idea, it is an organizational imperative! Just as important is the leadership selection and recruitment process.
I think the military definitely understands the organizational imperative to identify, select, develop, and train leaders. In this case, it's not just the survival of the organization that is at stake. As the former Army Chief of Staff, General James McConville explains, "From where I sit, command is a privilege. It's a great privilege to lead America's best, and we have a sacred obligation to get absolutely the best, most committed leaders that we have in charge of these great Americans, who have raised their right hand to serve."
The U.S. Army has invested significant resources to getting leadership identification, recruitment, development, and training right. The military has been and always will be an important source of government and industry leaders. It's important to recognize, however, that even the military doesn't always get it right, when it comes to leadership development. According to a survey performed in 2009 of over 22,000 soldiers in the Army, 20% said that they were serving under a toxic leader. Recognizing that they could do better, the Army has developed a new selection process that I think captures perfectly the importance of leadership recruitment and development, called the Battalion Commander Assessment Program, or BCAP. One of the architects of this innovative program, Colonel Everett Spain, summarized the components of BCAP in an article from the Harvard Business Review published a year ago.
Battalion commanders generally have spent 17-20 years of military service and represent the first executive-level position in the Army. They are lieutenant colonels who are in charge for approximately 500 soldiers, and the Army selects about 450 of these commanders every year. The Army completely overhauled the Battalion Commander selection process, and the level of attention and investment into this process is quite instructive.
The interview and selection process takes four full days. All candidates undergo a battery of tests, including physical fitness test, writing and oral communication skills assessments, psychometric tests, cognitive and strategic talent tests, and formal interviews. Somewhat unique to this process was the fact that both the interviewees (the officer candidates) and interviewers were trained prior to participating in the four-day event. Interviewers received extensive training on ways to reduce bias, as well as training on scoring systems and behavior-based interviewing techniques. Candidates were provided with an orientation to the process in general, as well as an introduction to the STAR method (which teaches people to answer questions by describing the situation, the task, the action taken, and the result). As an additional way to eliminate bias, the program used double-blind auditions (a black curtain separated the candidates from the interview panel at all times), a technique adopted by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the 1950's.
The impact of the BCAP program is unknown at this time. Only time will tell how effective the new assessment will be in identifying and developing the most talented leaders for the Army. What is clear is that the Army has made a significant investment in their new program. To paraphrase the quote by Andrew Carnegie at the beginning of this post, they are moving tons of dirt to find a little gold. I think it will prove to be worth it.
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