Growing Strategic Leaders for Future Conflict

Abstract

[...] interviewees frequently associated terms such as "communicator," "facilitator," "consulter," and "collaborative space maker" with the term "commander." According to a former Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force (CJSOTF) commander and senior service civil affairs leader, this social energy permits "staff guerrilla warfare" or, in the words of a GPF division-level commander, "maneuver warfare in the gaps and seams" of bureaucracies, based on personal relationships and the avoidance of explicit confrontation. Some, however, were uncomfortable regarding the lack of rigor in identifying those officers at mid-career with the skill-sets, abilities, and background to excel at leading in hybrid environments.