Assessing Leadership Potential for the Army's Future Force

摘要

A transforming Army requires a corresponding transformation in its leader development and assessment methodology to enable the future force in the volatile uncertain complex and ambiguous contemporary operational and strategic environment. A plethora of literature exists on the perspectives of direct organizational and strategic leadership to include skills actions qualities characteristics competencies and even metacompetencies. Nonetheless what is not readily apparent is a cogent definition of leadership 'potential' or the means by which to assess it. This paper provides a conceptual framework for defining and assessing leadership potential for the Army's future force. In view of an Army Chief of Staff initiative it posits a common language in the Profession of Arms to describe leadership potential and it presents an analytical construct for senior leaders to effectively identify officers with the assured potential to lead cohesive high-performing and continuously engaged units at the operational and strategic levels. Finally in light of the ongoing transformation of executive education and management development practices in benchmark organizations in the public and private sectors this paper reveals new and emerging strategic leader development and education methods in competitive rapidly changing learning organizations.