Developing Attributes of the Leader: From Military Service to the Civilian Workforce

Abstract

The Problem Organizations struggle to find effective ways to identify needs and consequently develop the leadership skills of leaders. At the same time, veterans are entering the civilian workforce with significant, valuable non-technical leadership skills that are rarely studied as leadership attributes. As a result, there is scant research on the contribution of leadership attributes from military leadership. The Solution This article will introduce the Be-Know-Do framework used in the U.S. Army’s leadership development program. The premise of the model is that when the attributes and competencies of the leader are developed, organizational results will be produced through the people they lead. The Stakeholders Human resource development (HRD) scholars and practitioners, human resource management (HRM) practitioners, professionals, and trainers

Insights on the Transition to Leadership: The Power of Onboarding and Networking

“…Likewise, onboarding practices in the business sector, such as providing learning opportunities, can be intentionally applied to the development of new leaders (Jeske & Olson, 2021). In the military sector, new leaders are typically onboarded in the attributes needed to exhibit resilience in the face of disruptions and crises (Henderson, 2024). In the non-profit sector, governing boards use onboarding to ground new leaders in the societies' ideological orientation through clear and inspiring communications (Park et al, 2018).…”