Clarifying the Definition, Techniques, and Integration of Self-Development to Enhance Army Officer Leader Development

By Franklin Annis

The Army Leader Develop Model (ALDM) utilizes operational assignments, institutional training, and self-development practices to build Army leaders. However, this model is not fully implemented in the education of junior Army officers possibly due to lack of understanding of the concept of self-development and associated techniques. As a result, junior officers are failing to develop and utilize the self-development skills required to be adaptive on the modern battlefield. A qualitative e-Delphi study was executed to define the concept of self-development as it applies to Army officer leader development and to develop provisional training protocols to facilitate rapid acquisition of self-development skills among junior Army officers. Thirteen senior officers were surveyed through the e-Delphi study method in an attempt to achieve the goals listed above. These officers were of the grade O-5 (Lieutenant Colonel) and had experience working with officer producing programs. This study demonstrated that participants could create a definition of self-development as it applied to Army officers. The expert panelists defined self-development as a self-driven (individual) process that is cyclical in nature with the requirement for continuous assessment and reassessment. With respect to self-development techniques, experts gained consensus on the 68 self-development practices. The top three of these were as follows: 1). "Physical fitness as a lifestyle, not as a service requirement." 2). "Keep your word. Trust builds loyalty. Leaders must understand that no matter how good you are, if Soldiers do not trust you, they will not follow you." 3). "[S]upplement [Physical Fitness Training] with your own program." Another 39 suggestions were removed from the study because they were more appropriately aligned to operational or institutional domains of the ALDM. These misaligned recommendations may suggest more research is needed to determine if the theories within the ALDM are congruent with the practical approaches to leader development utilized by Army officers. Concerning the development of provisional training protocols for self-development panelists, were able to recommend methods of integrating the discovered self-development practices into the first two years of the Army ROTC curriculum.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1521311617
• ISBN13: 9781521311615
• Release Date: October 2016
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 11.0" x 0.5" x 8.5"