How Elements Of The Full Range Leadership Model (Frlm) Can Be Applied

A few years back, a fellow lieutenant and I have been tasked with organizing a huge code alter operation for our squadron. Code modify is an annual occasion exactly where hundreds of ops, cops, maintainers, and assistance personnel devote a week in the field to alter out coded components at 55 different sites within the missile squadron. This occasion is typically described as the most difficult peacetime operation inside the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) force. This specific situation stood out to me as a excellent instance of how elements of the Full Range Leadership Model (FRLM) have been applied and how the outcomes may possibly have changed if applied differently.

Our squadron commander tasked us with the arranging of this occasion at a single of our weekly employees meetings. He supplied us with open and simple direction: take ownership of the preparing and execution of the occasion using the continuity of details and individuals from previous years and make improvements exactly where accessible. In the months top up to the event, we continued to hold weekly staff meetings where we provided updates on the organizing method. These updates have been constantly conversational, never ever in a briefing format, and our squadron commander’s greatest issues were focused on if we had been running into any difficulties and what other resources we may possibly want.

All through this approach, our squadron commander exhibited a variety of components of the transformational leadership strategy. The strongest of these behaviors was his use of intellectual stimulation (IS). The reading on IS states: “Leaders that foster creativity and innovation for their followers whilst supporting new approaches to organizational challenges exemplify the IS behavior” (. He did this by his encouragement of ownership and approach improvements, such as efficiency of the schedule or the checklists, binders, and other sources we generated and provided for the crews. Not once were we discouraged from taking risks to try out new concepts.

The secondary effects of his IS method fall into the other three behaviors or elements of the transformational leadership model. My squadron commander was a leader whom I respected and looked up to falling into the element of idealized influence. He inspired us to challenge to status quo and increase the method via his use of inspirational motivation. During our weekly meetings he supplied person consideration as an active listener and presented assistance when needed and provided coaching when needed.

Thanks to his leadership, we instituted many changes that continued to be implemented in subsequent years. Without having his encouragement to look for procedure improvements and to take dangers, we would have by no means been in a position to make the adjustments that we did for the far better. Achievement medals were awarded to our team for the efforts we place in and the effective execution of the occasion.

With years of continuity in spot, a transactional leadership method could have simply been selected and the code adjust would most likely have been productive as it had been in years previous. The amount of function that is needed to program this event tends to make it an undesirable process to handle. To alleviate this, the squadron commander could “enter into an agreement” with us to accomplish the activity. The use of a contingent reward, such as a promotion to flight commander or to the instructor shop, could have been utilized to attract volunteers. Possibly this reward could even be as simple as removing the men and women from all other work or further duties to solely focus on this one particular process. A lot of of us may have seen that as an opportunity to take a break from the demands and stressors of our day-to-day ops tempo plus added duties.

A follow-on impact of the use of a contingent reward could be a decrease level of pressure in taking on the task. As stated in the reading on contingent reward: “In a constructive transaction, the leader sets overall performance goals, guidance for meeting these expectations, and rewards or supports followers for meeting desired outcomes”. I tend to discover a lot more stress when expectations are not clearly defined, and the job includes more function than originally anticipated.

As described ahead of, following this strategy would have most likely led to a productive completion of the job nonetheless, innovation and efficiency improvements would have been stifled. If the expectations had been clearly set, without the encouragement of creating changes to the approach, I would have followed it like a checklist. Overall, I believe the transformational leadership method employed by my squadron commander was the appropriate approach for the task.