Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Globalisation, rapid changes in technology, and demographic trends are all important factors that contribute to conditions that require adaptive capacity in military organisations. The context of a majority of military operations is often asymmetric with blurred boundaries, and military organisations are expected to master a wide range of operations from humanitarian disaster relief to more regular warlike situations in a joint- and multinational framework. The complexity of the challenges facing military leaders in contemporary and future operations makes it relevant to develop a meta-competency model for leadership in complex military systems, which is the main purpose of this dissertation. A Complexity Approach represents a shift from a set of conservative laws to a perception of the world as an open and highly dynamic system, and some characterise complexity as a bridge between modernism on the one hand and post-modernism on the other. Complexity and complex systems have a number of characteristics, some of them being a large number of short-ranged interactions that are dynamic, non-linear and fairly rich. Another significant feature of complexity is the emphasis on emergent patterns that are codetermined through a dynamic process between the history of the system and the interaction with its local environment. Leadership in complex systems might be described by the dynamics of emergence, not merely by incremental influence, and increasingly considered to be a collective social phenomenon. A complexity-oriented leader acts as an enabler of a rich identity interacting in richly constrained play of difference, facilitating “bounded” individual and systemic adaptive capacity. The reigning paradigm in military organisations, however, are closely linked to an autocratic and bureaucratic structure and a fundamental quest for control, equilibrium and stability, all of which are deeply embedded in Newtonian Principles of linearity, reductionism and determinism. The investigation of empirical research on Norwegian Military Officers and the Norwegian Armed Forces reveal a considerable amount of homogenous force substantiating stability and control, at the same time as complexity and uncertainty are acknowledged. This dissertation argues that the definition of competencies as “an underlying characteristic of an individual that is causally related to effective and/or superior performance in a job or situation”, is not suitable for a complexity understanding and proposes competencies to be defined as “interconnected underlying characteristics of an individual or system, which through a dynamic and non-linear process of interaction between local agents and the environment contribute to the emergence of identifiable or unidentifiable patterns of individual or systemic behaviour”. Based on a synthesis of a non-empirical literature study, empirical research and a modelbuilding study, this dissertation suggests that heterogeneity of degree, androgynousity, cognitive flexibility, ethical reasoning, cross-cultural competence, intuition, identity and courage, are necessary meta-competencies for leadership in complex military systems. It is further argued that these meta-competencies must be interpreted as interconnected and interdependent, and the metaphor of a cloud is therefore presented as a suitable image of the intricate dynamics of complexity. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Globalisering, vinnige veranderinge in tegnologie en demografiese tendense is belangrike faktore wat bydra tot toestande wat aanpassingsvermoë in militêre organisasies vereis. Die konteks waarin ’n meerderheid militêre operasies hul bevind is dikwels asimmetries met onduidelike grense, en daar word van militêre organisasies verwag om ’n wye verskeidenheid krygsverrigtinge van humanitêre rampverligting tot meer gereelde oorlogsugtige omstandighede in ’n gesamentlike en multinasionale kader te bemeester. Die kompleksiteit van die uitdagings waarvoor militêre leiers te staan kom in huidige en toekomstige krygsverrigtinge is dit gepas om ’n meta-bevoegdheidsmodel vir leierskap in komplekse militêre stelsels te ontwikkel, wat die belangrikste doel van hierdie tesis is. ’n Kompleksiteitbenadering verteenwoordig ’n verskuiwing van ’n stel konserwatiewe wette na ’n waarneming van die wêreld as ’n oop en hoogsdinamiese stelsel, en kompleksiteit word soms gekenmerk as ’n brug tussen modernisme aan die een kant en die post-modernisme aan die ander. Kompleksiteit en komplekse stelsels het ’n aantal kenmerke, waarvan sommige van hulle ’n groot aantal kortafstandinteraksies wat dinamiese, nie-lineêre en redelik ryk is. Nog ’n belangrike kenmerk van kompleksiteit is die klem op die ontluikende patrone wat vasgestel word deur middel van beide ’n dinamiese proses tussen die geskiedenis van die stelsel en die interaksie met die plaaslike omgewing. Leierskap in komplekse stelsels kan beskryf word deur die dinamika van verskyning, nie net deur inkrementele invloed nie, en al hoe meer beskou as ’n kollektiewe sosiale verskynsel. ’n Kompleksiteitgeoriënteerde leier dien as ’n instaatsteller van ’n ryk identiteit wat wisselwerking uitoefen in streng beperkte verskilspel, wat “begrensde” individuele en sistemiese aanpassingsvermoë fasiliteer. Die huidige paradigma in die militêre organisasies word egter nou gekoppel aan ’n outokratiese en burokratiese struktuur, en ’n fundamentele soektog vir beheer, ewewig en stabiliteit, waarvan almal diep in Newtoniaanse Beginsels van lineariteit, reduksionisme en determinisme vasgelê is. Die ondersoek van empiriese navorsing oor die Noorse Militêre Offisiere en die Noorse Weermag openbaar ’n aansienlike aantal homogene mag wat stabiliteit en beheer staaf, terselfdertyd as wat kompleksiteit en onsekerheid erken word. Hierdie tesis is van mening dat die definisie van vaardighede as “’n onderliggende eienskap van ’n individu wat oorsaaklik verwant is aan doeltreffende en/of superieure prestasie in ’n beroep of situasie”, nie geskik is vir ’n kompleksiteitbegrip nie en stel voor dat vaardighede gedefinieer word as “onderling verbinde onderliggende eienskappe van ’n individu of stelsel, wat deur middel van ’n dinamiese en nie-lineêre proses van interaksie tussen plaaslike agente en die omgewing bydra tot die verskyning van identifiseerbare of nie-identifiseerbare patrone van individuele of sistemiese gedrag”. Gebaseer op ’n sintese van ’n nie-empiriese literatuurstudie, empiriese navorsing en ’n bou van modelle studie, stel hierdie tesis voor dat die heterogeniteit van graad, androgienisme, kognitiewe buigsaamheid, etiese beredenering, kruis-kulturele bevoegdheid, intuïsie, identiteit en moed, nodige meta-vaardighede vir leierskap in komplekse militêre stelsels is. Dit voer verder aan dat hierdie meta-vaardighede vertolk moet word as onderling verbinde en onderling afhanklik is, en die metafoor van ’n wolk word dus voorgestel as ’n geskikte beeld van die ingewikkelde dinamika van kompleksiteit.

The aim of this thesis is to study trust in military leaders. Empirical data was gathered through interviews and questionnaires with military personnel mostly from Sweden, but also from four other European countries. Paper I illustrates that trust in military leaders can be theoretically understood in terms of a hierarchical system of categories, higher-level categories and two superior categories labelled Individual-related and Communication- and relationship-related characteristics. Paper II examines how trust between military leaders and their subordinates is related to negative critical incidents in international operations. The results show that trust can be affected by pre-existing influences, of both an individual and contextual nature. The level of trust that develops between leaders and subordinates appears to have an influence on perceptions and re-evaluations of leaders’ trustworthiness during and after involvement in critical incidents. In Paper III, an instrument, Destrudo-L, was developed to measure destructive leadership behaviours on five different dimensions: Arrogant, unfair, Threats, punishments, overdemands, Ego-oriented, false, Passive, cowardly, and Uncertain, unclear, messy. In Paper IV the relationship between constructive and destructive leadership behaviours and trust is examined. The results show that constructive leadership contributed most to trust in the immediate supervisor. A great deal of trust in immediate supervisors can be understood by evaluating both constructive and destructive leadership behaviours. This thesis contributes with context-specific knowledge on trust in leaders in a military context and knowledge of psychological processes and individual dispositions that shape and change the willingness to trust leaders. The main findings presented in this thesis are the identification of characteristics of the trustor, the trustee, and the context which influences trust in military leaders.

Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America, had numerous problems to solve during his tenure of office. Many of these problems were difficult, to say the least, and could not be easily dealt with, but among the most complicated was the complex problem of command. There can be little doubt that a command problem actually existed. Indeed, the tension between Davis and his generals was quite often open and above board. Because of this trouble, the armies of the Confederate government were never as effective as they could have been.

From extensive research undertaken by Rensis Likert at the University of Michigan, a modified theory of administration has been developed which seeks to build upon all that worked best in previous approaches to administration.Sufficient information from the writings of Joseph Smith, from diaries and journals of those who worked under his leadership have been used in this thesis and compared with the model of administration proposed by Likert. The results of this work were that Joseph Smith in his administration most often used a leadership approach described by Likert as Consultative and Participative.This thesis also presents a model of administration advocated by Joseph Smith which has been constructed from a careful research of the Prophet's writings. The administration of Joseph Smith from 1830 to 1844 was also analyzed in detail.

Although there are several robust leader development programs in the U.S. Army, no standardized access to leader development is provided to all service members at the start of their career. Forty-four percent of the Department of Defense (DoD) active duty personnel are 25 years of age or less. Despite this known experience gap, there is a shortfall in policy that ensures standardized access to leader development during this foundational period. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of service members who participated in the United States Army Pacific's Regional Leader Development Program-Pacific (RLDP-P) to inform DoD policy on leader development. The RLDP-P and its unique participant composition provided the conceptual framework and transformational leadership provided the theoretical framework for this study. Semistructured interviews of 16 RLDP-P participants were used to identify scalable and feasible elements of the program that positively impacted the service members' professional goals. Data were analyzed using inductive coding to identify the study's major themes. This study's central research question addressed the RLDP-P's impact on the participants' professional goals. The findings revealed the program inspired participants to create or refine their professional goals, increased their desire for self-development, and motivated them to develop others. Policy recommendations to the DoD for future leader development programs include diversity of mentor engagements in a small group environment and exposure to professional broadening opportunities. These findings will inform future DoD policy on standardized access to leader development from the start of service members' careers.

Master of Science / Department of Psychological Sciences / Clive J. A. Fullagar / This mixed-methods study consisted of two phases. First, interviews were conducted with ROTC instructors responsible for organizational socialization of newcomers to the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force. This data shaped surveys given to organizational newcomers in phase II, which measured organizational culture and cognitive leadership schemas. It was hypothesized that implicit leadership theories (ILTs) would reflect respective organizational cultures. Although this was supported in the qualitative results from Phase I, it was not supported in the quantitative results from Phase II. However, analyses showed that leadership is still perceived as a masculine role in both the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force, as was hypothesized. It was also hypothesized that leaders in line occupations would be seen as better leaders than leaders in staff occupations. This was supported for the Air Force sample, but not the Army sample. During the interviews, ROTC instructors asserted that male and female leaders were equally capable, and that line and staff leaders were equally capable. However, questioning revealed that organizational stereotypes still defined the quintessential leader as a male in a line occupation, although females had more opportunities to fill those key occupations in the Air Force than in the Army, at the time of this study. This discrepancy, along with the discrepancies in results between the qualitative and quantitative data, indicate that organizational culture has perhaps changed at the levels of visible artifacts and espoused values with respect to diversity, but has not yet changed at the fundamental level of basic assumptions.

<p>Den här uppsatsen har syftat till att redogöra vilka teorier som presenteras i studielitteraturen för direkt ledarskap i Försvarsmakten och U.S. Army. Uppsatsen har vidare syftat till att redogöra för skillnader och likheter i hur dessa teorier presenteras. Slutligen har syftet varit att visa hur detta påverkar ledare och soldater i praktiken.</p><p>För att genomföra arbetet har litteraturstudier med kvalitativ metod använts. För att visa på ovan nämnda likheter och skillnader har komparation använts.</p><p>Först har fem mätpunkter ställts upp och redogjorts för. Därefter har dessa jämförts och ett resultat har påvisats.</p><p>Resultatet som påvisats är att den jämförda litteraturen har samma ambition med vilken ledarstil som förespråkas samt hur denna beskrivs. Emellertid skiljer sig böckerna åt på ett flertal punkter såsom språkbruk, pedagogisk utformning, vetenskaplighet och användarvänlighet.</p><p>Vidare har konstaterats att ovanstående skillnader troligen påverkar hur ledaren tänker och agerar kring sitt ledarskap vilket förmodligen också påverkar underställda. </p> / <p>The purpose of this study is firstly, to describe the differences and similarities between theories presented in literature on leadership used by the Swedish Armed Forces and the U.S. Army. Secondly, to describe differences and similarities regarding how those theories have been presented in the literature. The final purpose is to find out how this can affect leaders and soldiers in real life.</p><p>To achieve the purposes described above, both a Swedish and an American book have been studied and then compared.</p><p>The comparison is based on five criteria which have been described and then compared and then conclusions have been drawn.</p><p>The result of this study shows that both the Swedish and the American literature focus on Transformational Leadership Style. This style is described in the same way in both books. However differences have been found between the books, which are the use of language, a pedagogical design, a scientific starting point and a user friendliness.</p><p>Finally, the result of the study indicates that the differences mentioned above affect the way a leader acts and looks upon his/her leadership (style) which in its turn influences the relationship between a leader and his/her subordinates.</p>

<p>The transformational leadership and the Swedish Armed Forces’ basic outlook on pedagogy are two factors that affect a Swedish military officer. The author has identified a need of understanding the process of personal development. An understanding that couldn’t be supplied by the transformational leadership but that was found in the Swedish Armed Forces’ basic outlook on pedagogy. This essay’s purpose is to analyze and describe how the roles of the leader and the teacher are portrayed in the Swedish Armed Forces’ basic outlook on pedagogy and the transformational leadership. The essay’s aim is also to evaluate what value the Swedish Armed Forces’ basic outlook on pedagogy can add to the transformational leadership. Important conclusions in the essay are that the understanding of the collective’s influence on its members and surroundings could possibly be used as a means to spread the transformational leader’s visions and goals. Both in the form of intentions and in the form of a critical approach to knowledge in order to stimulate the individual development. This also helps to capture moments where learning can be achieved even when the leader isn’t present. As an added bonus the Swedish Armed Forces’ basic outlook on pedagogy offer a wider insight in the individual’s needs to grow but also how the proper conditions for development are created.</p>

The transformational leadership and the Swedish Armed Forces’ basic outlook on pedagogy are two factors that affect a Swedish military officer. The author has identified a need of understanding the process of personal development. An understanding that couldn’t be supplied by the transformational leadership but that was found in the Swedish Armed Forces’ basic outlook on pedagogy. This essay’s purpose is to analyze and describe how the roles of the leader and the teacher are portrayed in the Swedish Armed Forces’ basic outlook on pedagogy and the transformational leadership. The essay’s aim is also to evaluate what value the Swedish Armed Forces’ basic outlook on pedagogy can add to the transformational leadership. Important conclusions in the essay are that the understanding of the collective’s influence on its members and surroundings could possibly be used as a means to spread the transformational leader’s visions and goals. Both in the form of intentions and in the form of a critical approach to knowledge in order to stimulate the individual development. This also helps to capture moments where learning can be achieved even when the leader isn’t present. As an added bonus the Swedish Armed Forces’ basic outlook on pedagogy offer a wider insight in the individual’s needs to grow but also how the proper conditions for development are created.

Den här uppsatsen har syftat till att redogöra vilka teorier som presenteras i studielitteraturen för direkt ledarskap i Försvarsmakten och U.S. Army. Uppsatsen har vidare syftat till att redogöra för skillnader och likheter i hur dessa teorier presenteras. Slutligen har syftet varit att visa hur detta påverkar ledare och soldater i praktiken. För att genomföra arbetet har litteraturstudier med kvalitativ metod använts. För att visa på ovan nämnda likheter och skillnader har komparation använts. Först har fem mätpunkter ställts upp och redogjorts för. Därefter har dessa jämförts och ett resultat har påvisats. Resultatet som påvisats är att den jämförda litteraturen har samma ambition med vilken ledarstil som förespråkas samt hur denna beskrivs. Emellertid skiljer sig böckerna åt på ett flertal punkter såsom språkbruk, pedagogisk utformning, vetenskaplighet och användarvänlighet. Vidare har konstaterats att ovanstående skillnader troligen påverkar hur ledaren tänker och agerar kring sitt ledarskap vilket förmodligen också påverkar underställda. / The purpose of this study is firstly, to describe the differences and similarities between theories presented in literature on leadership used by the Swedish Armed Forces and the U.S. Army. Secondly, to describe differences and similarities regarding how those theories have been presented in the literature. The final purpose is to find out how this can affect leaders and soldiers in real life. To achieve the purposes described above, both a Swedish and an American book have been studied and then compared. The comparison is based on five criteria which have been described and then compared and then conclusions have been drawn. The result of this study shows that both the Swedish and the American literature focus on Transformational Leadership Style. This style is described in the same way in both books. However differences have been found between the books, which are the use of language, a pedagogical design, a scientific starting point and a user friendliness. Finally, the result of the study indicates that the differences mentioned above affect the way a leader acts and looks upon his/her leadership (style) which in its turn influences the relationship between a leader and his/her subordinates.