Psychologist In The Sky

Originally posted in the American Psychological Association Monitor Magazine

Psychologist in the sky
Print version: page 88

Tom Kolditz, PhD, an APA Fellow in Div. 19 (Society for Military Psychology) and head of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point behavioral sciences and leadership department, has spent plenty of time free-falling as the senior officer representative to the school’s competitive parachute team. But he recently made a jump unlike any other. Kolditz was approached by the parents of Matt, a high-functioning young man with autism who wanted to make a parachute jump for his 18th birthday. Kolditz spent time researching autism so that he could develop special accommodations for Matt, including ear plugs, a fitted leather helmet and non-vented goggles to reduce outside stimulation.
Thanks to Kolditz’s preparation and care, the 50-second free fall and five-minute canopy ride was a success. Matt landed brimming with self-efficacy and energy, Kolditz says.
“As both an extreme sport coach and a social psychologist, it was a growth experience to dig into the psychology of autism and figure out how to train and lead this young man through a very exciting and potentially dangerous experience,” he says.

Establishing Your Leadership in Crisis

As the executive officer of an infantry battalion in Iraq, I was assigned a new lieutenant several months into our deployment.  Our mission presented little need for his Chemical Corps skill set, so he was put to work in the command and control center to learn about our organization, mission, and current situation.  Adam proved to be extremely motivated, intelligent, and interested in joining the fight, and after two weeks was offered (and eagerly accepted) the opportunity to serve as an infantry platoon leader.  I had confidence in Adam, but he faced enormous challenges in establishing credibility in this new role; he was new to the unit, inexperienced, had limited combat training, was joining an established team, and held a specialty that is viewed with condescension by many combat Soldiers.

Adam spent his first night as a combat infantry platoon leader watching cement dry.  He was responsible for the lives of the 35 Soldiers securing a section of road in a previous ambush location and the mission was to ensure that an improvised explosive device (IED) could not be placed in the wet cement.  Adam shared with me that he finished his first night as platoon leader with increased confidence, thinking “I can do this; I can lead an infantry platoon in combat.”  Two days later Adam recalls watching a Bradley Fighting Vehicle burn to the ground as he maneuvered his platoon into Sadr City, Baghdad.  A few minutes later, Adam remembers seeing a rush of smoke before being thrown violently to the floor of his armored vehicle, only to regain his feet and have machinegun fire impact the ballistic glass next to his face.  Adam’s vehicle and his platoon’s trail vehicle had both been struck by large IEDs and his entire platoon was caught in a well prepared ambush in Baghdad’s most complex urban terrain.  On only his third day as platoon leader, Adam was awarded the Bronze Star for leading his platoon’s counterattack and its aggressive, disciplined combat actions against a determined enemy.  Adam’s effectiveness, in light of his obvious challenges, provides an interesting opportunity to explore assuming leadership of organizations in crisis contexts, and how one might overcome issues of limited experience and preparation that impact trust in the leader.

Learning Orientation:  Adam credits his five days of “on the job training” with the outgoing leader for much of his success.  In this brief time, he was able to demonstrate his capacity to rapidly understand the environment, the mission, and his role in the unit, and simultaneously demonstrated his own commitment to learning, a willingness to learn from his experienced subordinate leaders, and the value he placed on their knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Shared Risk and Common Lifestyle:  Adam recounted the visible looks of disappointment he received when his soldiers learned he was a Chemical Officer with no combat experience and very little infantry training.  He knew he had an uphill battle, but gained respect by modestly sharing, when asked, that he had requested assignment to the infantry and voluntarily traded his position in the unit headquarters for the opportunity to live forward in Spartan conditions and lead Soldiers in combat. He left no doubt that sharing risks and hardships with his new team was exactly where he wanted to be.  Leaders in crisis can’t afford to extravagantly advantage themselves in terms of compensation or lifestyle.

Competence and Trust: It was critical for Adam to demonstrate he was capable of leading the platoon and to gain his Soldiers’ trust.  Five days with the outgoing leader was insufficient to overcome the extent of his technical, tactical and experiential deficiencies, so Adam instead established his leadership competence by demonstrating self awareness of his limitations and highlighting his maturity, caring, and sound judgment by engaging his most respected and competent subordinate leaders.  He developed plans and made decisions in preparation for life or death missions.  This reinforced a learning orientation, accelerated his development, demonstrated his trust of subordinate leaders’ judgment and abilities, convinced the subordinate leaders that his leadership would contribute to their safety, and gained buy-in from the entire unit without undermining his right to make the final executive decision.

Crisis leaders are not always in position at the start of the crisis—some arrive, as Adam did, in the midst of in extremis challenges.  All of us who need techniques to rapidly build trust can reflect on the principles that drove Adam’s success as an in extremis leader.

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Todd Woodruff R MAJ 1-14 IN BN XO