Operational Leadership: A Case of General Helmuth von Moltke (The Younger) - Research Paper Example

?Operational Leadership: A Case of General Helmuth von Moltke (The Younger) Operational Leadership is very important for military particularly duringwarfare. What exactly makes a successful operational commander, however, has long been debated, and forming a coherent definition is difficult. Some attributes that might function incredibly well in a peace keeping context might not work in out-and-out warfare, which might also require different needs from force readiness demands in peace time. Thus it is very important to understand various nuances of Operational leadership. Writings on operational leadership, however, demonstrate that there are at least four universal attributes that are a requisite for successful operational leadership: boldness, perseverance, decisiveness and flexibility. The case study is regarding the operational leadership of General Helmut von Moltke. Literature Review The job of an operational commander is to translate national military strategy into a completely coherent operational plan that can be effectively executed by the units on the ground. In order to accomplish this one needs intelligence, creativity, professional training, experience, and perhaps most importantly, a “detailed understanding” of what can be accomplished by the assets available (Banisch 66). Effective leadership is easy to recognize but very difficult to define and it is very important to build it, which, in effect, requires a definition. Though individual examples of operational leadership literature vary, the qualities mentioned above are represented frequently throughout. However the nature of an effective leadership maybe, most experts are in unison on the basic qualities of an operational leader. The following traits are incredibly important to anyone in a leadership role, but especially within the military, as is attested to by their frequent mention in military literature on operational leadership: boldness, perseverance, flexibility and decisiveness (See Brinkley 34, Barron 41 and Blumenson 40-3). It is interesting to note that these characteristics, while praised in the military world, are also cornerstones of leadership in the civilian world, arguing for a more universal understanding of leadership (Daft and Lane 20). While all these traits are important for the success of an operational commander but the most crucial of these aforementioned traits are boldness, flexibility, decision making and perseverance. These traits have the power to make and break war time leaders more effectively than other trait. It is very important for military operational leaders to imbibe themselves completely in these traits. 1. Boldness: It is the primary requisite for military greatness. The operational commander must know when to use his boldness on field because more often than not he is caught in between the audacity of knowing he that he will succeed and he will accomplish the task given to him and the caution that is innate in him from his years of experience. This also allows an operational commander to think creatively and not be “constrained” by previous experience (Blumenson 42) 2. Perseverance: Perseverance is the will to pursue an action irrespective of the pressure telling him to go against it. Operational leadership is an inherently training role, and will, by its very nature, include significant instances of the appearance of failure – only an operational commander with perseverance will be able to get through this fact. 3. Flexibility: Like perseverance, this may be a somewhat self-explanatory trait in an operational commander. Flexibility must be taken into perspective when the fog and friction of war come in the way of best laid out plans of the operational commander. They make military objective of the operational plan perpetually impossible to achieve. At this point it is important for operational commander to be flexible. Flexibility and perseverance would always be in conflict. Flexibility can be built and cultivated in an operational commander through years of experience. 4. Decisiveness: Decisiveness is the act of balancing out all the aforementioned traits such as perseverance, flexibility and boldness. Decision taking especially in tough circumstances is very important. Naval warfare is home to such critical decision making circumstances all the time. The worst thing during war times that an operational commander can do is to rotate between various alternatives and not come down to a certain decision. This is nearly as horrible as taking a decision which could not make the desired impact. This can be especially important in a naval setting, where the crew physically surrounds leaders frequently, and so indecision can negatively affect moral (Hughes 173). Helmuth Johannes von Moltke was born in 1848 in Germany. He was man of intelligence and had a pleasant demeanour (Janner 14). He is a reflective man who could assess tough circumstances and take decisions in those circumstances accordingly. Motke was highly educated, and like many in his time this led to a role in the military. He showed exceptional diligence in his pursuance of various operational activities. A primary example of his extra ordinary diligence was in the 1905 Schlieffen Plan. In the war plan developed by his predecessor, Motke had to pursue it. The plan was to achieve Germany’s objective of being able to respond swiftly and decisively in the case of an outbreak of a European war. Motke was central in arguing that Gremany would be unable to sustain a two-front war in Europe (which turned out to be quite true). Neutralizing France incredibly quickly was thus essential for German national security (Janner 23). This plan thus demonstrated many of the qualities expressed above: it was bold and decisive (had it worked successful): few military strategists would have suggested accepting a string of early defeats on one front to decisively win another, as balanced strategies were seen as more successful. But the eventual failure of the plant that Motke was so essential in creating shows another aspect of operational leadership not touched upon frequently in the writing: a leader must be able to anticipate changes between campaigns. Trench warfare was a new technique of fighting that had not existed before, and gave defenders a huge advantage, leading to the failure of the Schlieffen plan. So a successful operational commander either needs to be able to envision such problems, or, at worst, devise contingency plans for failure of an original plan. Successful military campaigns are heavily dependent on the proficiency of their operational leaders. Thus it is very crucial for the success of the campaign. Individuals who are extremely cautious and overly reflective may not prove to be successful leaders in high stress circumstances, especially when it is quick-response situation. The military has to decide on the qualitative standards of its operational leadership and should be able to come up with crucial measures for effectiveness of this. WORKS CITED Banisch, Werner W. “Leadership at the Operational Level, “Army 8 (August 1987): 50-60. Barron, Michael J. “Operational Level Command: Who is in Charge?” Fort Leavenworth, KS: School of Advanced Military Studies, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College: 7 May 1988 Blumenson, Martin. “Essence of Command: Competence, Iron Soul.” Army 3 (March 1993):40-43. Brinkley, Phillip L. “The Operational Commander’s Will: An Intangible Element in Victory.” Fort Leavenworth, KS: School of Advanced Military Studies, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College: 16 May 1986 Daft, Richard and Lane, Patricia. The Leadership Experience. New York: Penguin (2007). Holmes, Forrest S. Jr. “The Schlieffen Plan: Case History of the Relation of Military Strategy To National Security Policy.” Carlisle Barracks, PA: U.S. Army War College: 21 September 1972. Hughes, Daniel J., Ed. Moltke on the Art of War: Selected Writings. Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1993. Janner, William, Jr. The Lions of July: Prelude to War, 1914. Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1996. Read More