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How does an organization turn an entry-level employee
into a “leader of character” committed to a “lifetime of selfless
service?” Sound impossible
or maybe a function of chance? Neither,
learned a group of Wharton students, faculty, and staff that recently
visited the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.
The officers of the Academy’s Behavioral Sciences
and Leadership Department help structure an experience to build that
character and selfless service among the 4,000 cadets enrolled at the
Academy. They achieve this
through a three-legged, “Be-Know-Do” model.
The “do” part of this equation is ready-made for
West Point. Since its
founding in 1802, the Academy has built a range of experiential courses to
prepare its soldiers for warfare. The
“know” piece comes readily from the many courses in engineering,
military history, and battlefield history required of the cadets.
The “be” part presents special challenge, but the
Academy takes advantage of the fact that its cadets form a captive
audience for 47 months. Requiring
academic, military, and physical training among all cadets, it
consistently weaves moral and ethical development into each.
On the academic front, West Point seeks renaissance
leaders and provides a comprehensive curriculum with 31 core courses
ranging from philosophy to physics. On
the military front, it joins classroom education with hands-on small unit
leadership experienced both at the Academy and during summer service as
“intern” leaders in regular army units around the world.
On the physical front, West Point builds on General
Douglas MacArthur’s dictum that “Upon the fields of friendly strife
are sewn the seeds that upon other fields on other days will bear the
fruits of victory.” It
requires that all cadets participate in either intercollegiate or highly
competitive intramural athletics while also carrying core physical fitness
courses.
The cadets live out all of these experiences within
the confines of a strict written code of honor and respect, the violation
of which can lead to dismissal. At
the end of their four-year experience, West Point intends with these
elements that all cadets have internalized the mission of the Academy,
“be”coming leaders of character committed to a lifetime of selfless
service.
Most organizations don’t have 47-months and few can
offer the total experience provided by the Academy.
But companies still face the same challenges that confront the
officers of the Academy: How
to create a reflective environment in which to foster leadership
development among all new employees and to instill the values and
principles of the organization in each?
Drawing on the experience of West Point’s
Behavioral Sciences and Leadership Department and the Academy’s other
leadership components, companies may want to eschew quick fixes in favor
of the long-term investment required for building an army of employees who
are committed leaders of character. By
allowing all new managers to experience leadership and learn from that
experience through dialogue with veteran mentors, they are likely to
foster not only “know”ing and “do”ing but also “be”ing.
Past practice speaks for itself.
The roster of the more than 50,000 graduates of the U.S. Military
Academy lists Dwight David Eisenhower, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee,
George Patton, and Norman Schwarzkopf.
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