(clapping)
- [Speaker] So, let's talk about character.
Can anyone here draw a simple picture of character?
I mean so simple that they can draw it in four moves?
Ponder that, we'll get back to it.
Ever plucked an apple from a barrel,
at an orchard or supermarket.
Deep color, nice firmness.
You take a big bite out of it and that's when you realize,
inside it's spoiled, darkened, maybe has a wormhole
even worse, there's half a worm in it?
(audience blanches)
That's right.
But how could you know, based on its appearance?
They all looked good at first glance.
The barrel surely didn't scream: hey, we're all rotten
to the core in here!
(laughter)
I'll bet you'll think twice before you ever grab any old
apple out of a barrel again.
You may not even go to that orchard or store again right?
So, what's that got to do with character development
in the US Army?
Well,
actually,
everything.
Cause there's one thing we all know.
Like an apple it only takes one of us to spoil
the reputation of the whole group.
So,
character matters.
When members of the Army profession,
both soldiers and Army civilians violate moral principles,
the Army values, our ethic.
The American people lose confidence in us.
And then we, in turn, lose confidence in each other
and eventually the Army.
So, all we have to do about character is get rid of
the bad apples right?
(audience agrees)
Wrong.
The Army already has a way of dealing with
the occasional bad apple.
We have a disciplinary system for individuals.
But, if we are truly going to develop character
in the Army, well then the barrel, matters too.
In fact, it's more critical than the apple because
if the barrel is bad the worms spread,
even to the best apples.
So, to continue our metaphor, the core challenge
for the Army is ...
(audience groans)
Love that pun don't ya?
The core challenge for the Army is
the organizational climb.
So let's peel back that concept.
(laughter)
What, too many puns?
You've already got the seed of the idea?
(laugher)
Sorry, I was just thinking that with each new crop
of soldiers coming in.
(laughter)
Okay, okay I'm done.
I'm done, sorry.
So, think about this,
compare two companies of soldiers: A and B.
Both companies look good on the surface.
However Company A is by-the-book.
They aren't flashy but they have a professional climate
they take care of their people
and they get the mission done in the right way.
Then you have Company B.
Who act like rock stars.
Oh they're extremely competent and committed,
and they absolutely crush the competition at all costs.
But they also have a climate
that would make a rugby team blush.
(laugher)
So have you ever had a situation where the leader
had to choose one and said: I want Company B.
They'll take that hill in no time and with great force
but do not let them anywhere near my children ever!
(laughter)
Really?
So just how much collateral damage
and loss of life are you willing to tolerate?
See, character is not, the ends justify the means.
That is not good character.
Not the character that America is looking for,
nor is the US Army.
Because if Company B is rewarded in their character
deficiency, then it won't be long before the whole Army
struggles to shake off their reputation.
Let's get really serious for a minute.
Have you seen the movie, Fury?
Brad Pitt's character, Sergeant Collier, is
a battle-hardened NCO in World War Two.
He promised his tank crew that he'd get them home alive.
And he has done that for three years,
prodding his crew to kill as many Germans as they can.
But, spoiler alert, he loses his main gunner,
who is replaced by a green clerk just out of basic training.
After a major engagement,
Collier captures a lone, German prisoner.
To break his new gunner in to the brutal hardships of war,
Collier demands that the prisoner be shot, by the newbie.
Who refuses.
So, Collier puts a headlock on this young man
and pistol in his hand.
Collier wraps his grip on the young man's trigger finger
and shoots the prisoner.
The other crew members cheer and welcome the newbie
as one of their own.
Is Sergeant Collier competent?
For three years he has been.
Is he committed to keeping his men alive?
Absolutely.
But does he have character?
Army character.
Or is he the bad apple?
Regardless, his men have bought into the climate
that Collier has set.
- [Audience Member] It's just a movie.
- [Speaker] True, it is just a movie.
But it happens in real life too.
Ever see the independent documentary The Kill Team?
I highly recommend it if you want
to see how climate gets corrupted.
It tells the real story of a situation
that occurred in Afghanistan.
Private Winfield knew his platoon was committing
heinous war crimes under the leadership
of Staff Sergeant Gibbs,
the one you followed if you wanted to survive the war.
But Winfield's life was threatened by Gibbs
and the rest of the team, if he ever reported them.
His officers ignored his pleas and that of his father,
who raised the alarm stateside.
It sounds like Fury.
That Staff Sargent Gibbs is the bad apple.
Private Winfield tries to be a good apple,
but the climate of his Unit, the barrel, presents risk.
Deadly risk, in doing the right thing.
So, does character matter?
(audience agrees)
Absolutely.
But how do you look inside the person to find it?
To measure and develop it?
When you talk about the true nature of someone,
how do you draw a conclusion as to their character?
Well, everyday we make decisions.
We take actions, all of which can be observed
as to whether those decisions adhere to the Army Ethic.
Consequently, we can counsel Army professionals
to improve their ethical reasoning and decision-making
once we know what we are looking for.
- [Audience Member] What's the Army Ethic?
- [Speaker] What's the Army Ethic, that is a great question.
You probably heard the phrase:
make sure your compass points to true north.
Well, the Army Ethic is the heart of the Army.
It's our True North, our ethical code.
It includes the moral principles and values
that guide our decisions and actions.
In order to measure and develop character
you have to have a standard, and this is ours.
This is the Army Ethic.
So, now we know what we're looking for
when it comes to character.
- [Audience Member] How do you develop it?
- [Speaker] How do you develop that,
that's another great question.
We can't just write an ethic, take an oath
and order people to follow it.
Like the examples of Company B, Fury and The Kill Team,
people may comply on the surface but not all will be
committed to doing the right thing in an unethical climate.
We must intentionally develop character along with
competence and commitment as an integral part
of our leadership development strategy.
We can't leave it to chance.
It appears that ethical behavior, character,
hates a vacuum.
So in the absence of character the climate gets filled
by all sorts of other codes, creeds and loyalties.
Because, ultimately, this all comes down to trust.
It's the bedrock of our profession.
The Army's motto is: This... we'll defend.
Defend what?
- [Audience Member] The Constitution.
- [Speaker] Right, the Constitution of the United States.
It's why the Army exists.
To defend America, it's values, people and interests.
When we accomplish the mission in the right way,
effectively, efficiently and ethically,
we build trust with the American people.
Which leads to mission command,
in combat we trust that the solider
to our left and right has our back.
But also, on an increasingly dispersed and complex
battlefield, leaders have to trust that subordinates
will carry our their intent with disciplined initiative,
while accepting prudent risk.
Risk, a very important word.
It's not enough to be competent and committed,
your leaders have to trust you.
Likewise, subordinates must trust that leaders will
underwrite their mistakes made with honest intent.
There's no room for a bad apple here.
And there's definitely no room for a bad barrel either.
Developing character requires the deliberate alignment
of culture, climate and identity.
The Army as an institution must value character
within it's culture at the same level
as competence and commitment.
Army organizations must create professional climates
in which character is supported and can thrive.
And individuals, leaders and followers must share
an identity as trusted Army professionals who live by
and uphold the Army Ethic.
This, is the Army's framework for character development.
These are three spheres that impact character.
Identity, Climate and Culture.
Here's the bottom line.
Leaders at each level have responsibilities to develop
character in themselves and others by positively
influencing identity, climate and culture.
The sphere's are interdependent and mutually supporting.
There are no loners here, no islands out there on the
horizon, sorry Madison Avenue, but contrary to what you
may have heard, we're no longer an Army of One.
(laughter)
So, think of this like playing Twister.
You know with the mat that has all the colored dots
and you have to have your hands and feet on
all the corresponding colors?
Except you're not all tangled up,
you're lined up exactly where you need to be.
And that's because, as an Army professional,
we exist in all three sphere's simultaneously.
When you first start out in your profession,
your feet are firmly planted in the individual area.
You are both a direct leader and follower with a great deal
of influence in developing a shared identity
in this thing called The Army.
You focus on setting the right example by upholding
the Army Ethic with your decisions, actions, coaching,
counseling and mentoring others to do the same.
But you also have one hand in the Organization
and one in the Institution.
You have less influence than more senior leaders
but you contribute to climate through your example.
And by rejecting and reporting the influences
of those who would subvert our shared values.
You are always affected by the culture of the Army,
but every once in a while you get to point out
what is right and wrong in the culture
through survey's, focus groups
and engagements with senior leaders.
As you become a mid-grade leader your feet shift
to the Organization.
Now your greatest influence is on Climate.
And you set a professional atmosphere where all are
inspired and expected to live by, and uphold,
the Army Ethic in the exercise of mission command.
You certify your subordinates through education,
training, experience, thereby ensuring the Unit
is ready for its mission.
Of course, you still have a hand in developing
the shared identity of individuals.
But now, your other hand,
has increased access in the Institution.
Influencing Army culture through
the advice you provide senior leaders.
And with hard work and good fortune,
let's say you become a strategic leader in the Army.
Now your feet shift to the Institution.
This is where you have the greatest influence
on building a culture of trust within the Army.
You make decisions and take actions
that affect the whole system.
So, if you set policies in place
that recruit the wrong people,
or reward and advance results over character
it breaks down trust and breeds cynicism.
This is where you're extended the most.
With your feet over there you have one hand here,
in the Climate of the organization you lead.
And the other hand is over here developing
the identity of yourself and others.
However, now, your example is seen by all.
With greater access, power and influence comes
greater responsibility to be a steward
of the Army profession.
- [Audience Member] I wanna just break and kill things.
(laughter)
- [Speaker] So you're in Company B right?
(more laughter)
(chuckles)
But not so fast.
I know, when the bullets start flying I can't kill
the enemy with character.
But you are so much more than a person
who kills people and breaks things.
No doubt, the Army must get results.
The nation depends on us to win, but in the right way.
Yeah, sometimes we have to take lives or break things.
But that's exactly why we have to have the character
to understand why we fight.
We have to aspire to honorable service,
to be worthy of the sacred trust given to us
by the American people.
Face it, without a true north, without character,
how many of us could become
Staff Sergeant Gibbs in Afghanistan?
Without a culture of trust, professional climate
and shared identity
how many Sergeant Collier's will we produce?
But this isn't only about combat,
and the big lapses that make the news.
It's also about everyday life in the Army.
On and off-duty, even when no one is looking.
This is about the leader who says:
just get it done, I don't need to know how you did it.
And the next day Company B has Company A's doors
on it's Humvee's.
(laughter)
This is about the solider, or the Army civilian
who complies with the Army Ethic on-duty
but then lives a completely different life
on social media, off-duty.
Three C's everybody.
Competence, Commitment, Character.
It's not enough to be competent,
Staff Sergeant Gibbs in The Kill Team
was more than competent.
It's not enough to be committed,
when the bullets start flying we will fight
for the men and women around us.
This is about character.
We must deliberately develop it in a way that our
culture, climate and identity are aligned.
Because when they aren't, you get a farmer's market.
That institution that attracts and rewards bad apples.
Or a barrel, an organization, that spoils the good ones.
Either way it leads to a lack of trust.
But, when all three spheres are aligned with
the Army Ethic as our truth north.
Then we as Army professionals develop
and demonstrate character along with competence
and commitment and the outcome is trust.
I asked at the beginning if anyone here could draw
a simple picture of character in four moves.
Lemme me show you.
This, is character.
Because that's not a box,
it's a mirror.
And we need to look into it everyday.
As a direct leader or follower ask:
do my words match my deeds?
Do I live by the Army Ethic?
As an organizational leader ask:
Is our climate professional?
Does it uphold the Army Ethic
and the exercise of mission command?
As a strategic steward ask:
does our profession promote a culture of trust?
Does our system reward character along with
competence and commitment?
Our profession depends on the answer to all
these questions being a resounding, yes!
So,
we've talked about character.
Now,
let's go look in the mirror
and find it.
(cheering and clapping)