*FM 6-22
Change No. 2
Field Manual
No. 6-22
Headquarters

Department of the Army

Washington, DC, 01 November 2022

Developing Leaders

Army leaders are the competitive advantage the Army possesses that neither technology nor advanced weaponry and platforms can replace. Developing leaders is a complex and complicated undertaking because it is primarily a human endeavor—requiring constant involvement, assessment, and refinement. Today’s Army demands trained and ready units with agile, proficient leaders. Developing our leaders and ourselves is integral to our institutional success today and tomorrow. It is an important investment for the Army’s future because it builds trust in relationships and units, prepares leaders for future uncertainty, and is critical to readiness and our Army’s success. Leader development programs must recognize, produce, and reward leaders who are inquisitive, creative, adaptable, and able to exercise mission command. Leaders exhibit commitment to developing subordinates through executing their professional responsibility to teach, counsel, coach, and mentor subordinates. Successful programs that develop leaders incorporate accountability, engagement, and commitment; create agile and competent leaders; produce stronger teams and organizations; and increase expertise. Developing leaders involves many practices to ensure people have opportunities to fulfill their goals and the Army has capable leaders in position and ready for the future. Practices include recruiting, accessions, training (including coaching, teaching, mentoring, fostering and advocating self-development), education, assigning, promoting, broadening, and retaining the best leaders, while challenging them over time with greater responsibility, authority, and accountability. Army leaders assume progressively broader responsibilities across direct, organizational, and strategic leadership levels. FM 6-22 integrates doctrine, experience, and best practices by drawing upon applicable Army doctrine and regulations; input of effective Army officers, warrant officers, noncommissioned officers, and Department of the Army (DA) Civilians; recent Army leadership studies; and research on effective practices from the private and public sectors. This manual is about how to develop leaders to become skilled leaders. The Army’s broader family of field manuals develops leaders’ technical and tactical expertise. Branches identify the technical and tactical knowledge and skills for specific grades and positions. Talent management and leader development are linked but separate processes. The Army develops individuals to be effective leaders. Talent management is an administrative process that puts the right person in the right job. Army leaders develop themselves and others by: ⚫ Planning, prioritizing, and engaging in development even when resources are limited. ⚫ Gaining self-awareness thru feedback gained from performance counseling and assessments. ⚫ Integrating development into day-to-day activities. ⚫ Taking advantage of opportunities to provide constructive feedback. ⚫ Strengthening leader attributes and competencies during developmental activities. This manual is not intended to be read in a single sitting, although it is laid out in a fashion where that is possible. The information in this manual is best read and absorbed one chapter at a time, with time for reflection and digestion in between readings. FM 6-22 contains five chapters that describe the Army’s doctrine covering how to develop leaders: Chapter 1 discusses the Army’s tenets for developing leaders, leader development challenges, leadership requirements, building teams, and development transitions across organizational levels. Chapter 2 addresses the fundamentals for developing leaders in units by setting conditions, providing feedback, and enhancing learning while creating opportunities. Chapter 3 provides information on the individual’s self-development process starting with identification of strengths and developmental needs, setting goals, and creating individual development plans. Chapter 4 provides recommended learning and developmental activities for the attributes and competencies. Chapter 5 discusses creating unit programs to develop teams of leaders and assessing unit programs. The References section includes pertinent links to recommended websites and developmental readings.

1-1. There is no more important task for the U.S. Army than developing its people to lead others to defeat any enemy, anywhere. Developing leaders is inherently part of every garrison activity, training event, and real-world operation Army forces conduct around the world. Each leader–subordinate interaction is a development opportunity. They are inseparable from training, enforcing standards, providing feedback, and setting a personal example. 1-2. Effective leaders represent the U.S. Army’s strategic advantage over its adversaries, and developing leaders ensures the Army maintains that advantage. The Army develops adaptable leaders capable of accomplishing missions in dynamic, unstable, and complex environments. A robust, holistic, and purposeful leader development program at strategic, organizational, and direct levels is essential to readiness and future success. The Army develops leaders who are agile, adaptive, and innovative through a mix of education, training, and experience. This encourages a leader who acts with boldness and initiative to execute missions according to doctrine and orders. The goal is to develop Army leaders who clearly provide purpose, direction, motivation, and vision to their teams and subordinates while executing missions to support their commander’s intent. 1-3. Developing leaders is fundamental to our Army. Leader development is the deliberate, continuous, and progressive process—founded in the Army Values—that develops Soldiers and Army Civilians into competent, committed professional leaders of character. Leaders develop through career-long synthesis of the training, education, and experiences acquired through opportunities in the institutional, operational, and self-development domains. Developing leaders includes all cohorts and components, beginning at recruitment and continuing until the leader leaves service (AR 350-1). A key component of leader development is remaining focused on the professionalism of our leaders and those they lead. By developing and promoting a professional force, the Army develops trust on several levels: between Soldiers; between Soldiers and leaders; between Soldiers and Department of the Army (DA) Civilians; between Soldier families and the Army; between the Army and Government; and between the Army and the American people. This is why the Army commits to providing quality education institutions and training along with challenging experiences and opportunities throughout a career to develop effective leaders and ready units. 1-4. Setting the proper development expectations of subordinates is critical, so they understand their development is a continuous process encompassing almost everything they do regardless of context. Significant leader development occurs during professional education, unit leader development programs, and counseling sessions. However, Army research shows the most effective developmental experiences occur in the operational domain, during daily interactions with subordinates as they prepare for and execute missions. These interactions create enduring positive results and prepare subordinates for greater levels of responsibility when they integrate with daily operations and allow for shared understanding about standards, desired outcomes, and lessons learned. 1-5. Developing leaders and being developed by others requires mutual understanding between leaders and subordinates—both about the work involved in developing others and work needed to become a good leader. The developmental experience can be challenging and requires openness and a willingness to take risks and learn from experiences (both successes and failures). Those who lead and develop other leaders must treat experiences as lessons learned sources. Leader Development and Training Overlap Unit or organizational culture that emphasizes developing leaders through training priorities, sets expectations by grade and duty position, and develops leaders to achieve those expectations, is a proven tactic for developing tactically-and technically-sound subordinate leaders. Giving subordinate leaders opportunities to observe others operating a rifle or gunnery range to standard then coaching them as they do likewise, is an example of how training and leader development overlap in a practical sense. Those subordinates are prepared to execute similar missions in their next unit while developing their subordinates for greater responsibility. TENETS OF DEVELOPING LEADERS 1-6. Tenets of developing leaders are the essential principles that make the Army successful at developing its leaders. The tenets provide a backdrop for the Army’s unit training principles (see ADP 7 0). The overarching tenets are— ⚫ Strong commitment by the Army, superiors, and individuals to developing leaders. ⚫ Clear purpose and intention for what, when, and how to develop leadership. ⚫ Supportive relationships and culture of learning. ⚫ Three mutually supportive domains (institutional, operational, and self-development) that enable education, training, and experiences. ⚫ Providing, accepting, and acting on candid assessment and feedback for self-awareness. 1-7. The Army prioritizes developing its people beyond a directed responsibility to develop subordinates. AR 600-100 directs Army leaders to develop their subordinates. Leaders must commit to developing others and themselves; Members want to serve in an organization that values camaraderie and teamwork while improving others’ capabilities. accountability for implementation follows responsibility. 1-8. Development occurs through both formal systems and informal practices. Reception and integration, newcomer training, developmental tasks and assignments, individual and collective training, educational events, transition or succession planning, and broadening are all activities where development occurs and should be encouraged. Development in the three mutually supportive domains (institutional, operational, and self-development) involves experiential learning that is consistent with the principle of train as you fight. Any experience that shapes and improves performance enhances development. Emphasizing any developmental domain at another’s expense hinders learning. 1-9. Feedback is necessary to guide and gauge development. Formal and informal feedback based on observation and assessment provide information to confirm or increase self-awareness about developmental progress. The Army established performance monitoring, evaluation reports, coaching, growth counseling processes, and self-awareness assessments to engage leaders and individuals. Feedback that goes from leader to led is essential for learning along with other feedback sources to develop leaders. Forming a mentoring or coaching relationship outside unit lines is a means to obtain informal feedback. Another is the feedback leaders obtain though self-assessments, study to improve, and application of knowledge or skills. 1-10. Development depends on having clear purpose for why, what, when and how to develop. Good leader development is purposeful and goal oriented. A clearly established purpose enables leaders to guide, assess, and accomplish development. The principles for developing leaders describe goals for what leaders need to be developed to do: lead by example, develop subordinates, create a positive environment for learning, exercise mission command, adaptive performance, critical and creative thinking, and know subordinates and their families. The core leader competencies and attributes identified in ADP 6-22 provide additional detail on what leaders need to be, know, and do. 1-11. Developing leaders includes holding subordinates accountable for maintaining Army standards, demonstrating the leadership requirements model competencies and attributes, adhering to Army Values, and accomplishing missions. Leaders must consider each situation and select the best approach to hold subordinates accountable. Sometimes, a private verbal correction is adequate, in others, where time or safety are paramount, a public correction commensurate with the seriousness of the situation is warranted. In others, written counseling provides a reference for future professional development. Setting expectations in a unit about how and why leaders hold subordinates accountable is itself a means of developing leaders. It ensures shared understanding on effective leader requirements and unit standards, ultimately growing better leaders and maintaining positive command climates. LEADERSHIP REQUIREMENTS 1-12. The Nation and the Army articulate their expectations of Army leaders through the Army leadership requirements model (see figure 1-1) that illustrates expectations of every leader, whether military or civilian, officer or enlisted, active or reserve. It covers the core leader requirements and expectations of all leadership levels. Attributes are the desired internal leader characteristics—what the Army wants leaders to be and know. Competencies are skills and behaviors the Army expects leaders to acquire, demonstrate, and continue to enhance—what the Army wants leaders to do. 1-13. A clear leadership requirements framework provides leaders the basis to assess their strengths and developmental needs and to determine goals for improvement. The Army’s leadership requirements model specifically provides leaders with enduring attributes and competencies. The model provides a consistent reference point throughout professional and personal development progression. Leaders must improve in all the leader competencies, become more knowledgeable about the way the military operates, and understand how to operate in complex geopolitical situations. 1-14. As Army leaders develop themselves and others, they must guard against counterproductive leadership behaviors. The leadership requirements model identifies what leaders need to develop; counterproductive leadership identifies where leaders may need correction as they develop. As future operational environments will be increasingly complex, it is imperative to identify and counteract anything that prevents mission success. Counterproductive leadership is the demonstration of leader behaviors that violate one or more of the Army's core leader competencies or Army Values, preventing a climate conducive to mission accomplishment (ADP 6-22). Counterproductive leadership has long-term negative effects on individuals and units, impeding mission accomplishment and negating combat advantages. 1-15. Counterproductive leadership tends to fall into several categories: abusive, self-serving, erratic, leadership incompetence, and corrupt (see ADP 6-22 for complete descriptions). All leaders are susceptible to counterproductive leadership, especially during stress, high operating tempo, or other chaotic conditions. Left uncorrected, the negative effects can quickly cascade, lowering morale, commitment, cohesion, performance, readiness, and mission accomplishment. 1-16. Counterproductive leadership is complex and must be handled in an effective and constructive way that does not lead to further problems. Table 1-1 provides questions to identify, assess, and address counterproductive leadership. Training modules are available on the CAPL website. 1-18. Three qualities characterize good teamwork: climate, identity, and cohesion. Climate refers to how members think and feel about their organization, based on shared perceptions and attitudes. It depends on the personalities within a unit, which change as people come and go. Team identity develops through a shared understanding of what the team exists to do and what the team values. Cohesion is the unity or togetherness across team members and forms from mutual trust, cooperation, and confidence. Teamwork increases when teams operate in a positive, engaging, and emotionally safe environment. An engaging environment occurs where team members desire to work together on missions; they feel a sense of self-worth and accomplishment of something more important than they are. A safe environment occurs when team members feel they can be open and not threatened by unwarranted criticism. 1-19. Teamwork fosters open communication, improves professional relations, contributes to unit motivation, and builds trust. Teamwork pulls together a diverse groups’ knowledge and experience to accomplish the mission. Knowing the elements of effective teams and developing teamwork assists leaders to assemble the team, orient them, create an identity, cultivate trust, engage in solving problems, manage processes, regulate team dynamics, and deliver results to other organizations and stakeholders. High performing teams enforce high standards and hold each other accountable for their actions including their performance or output level. Table 1-2 compares effective and ineffective teams’ characteristics. See ATPATPArmy Techniques Publications 6-22.6 for specific techniques.

2-1. The development fundamentals simplify and span the formal leader development activities, such as assessing, counseling, coaching, mentoring, broadening, and team building. The fundamentals are common across formal and informal development activities that may overlap with training goals and serve to reinforce a developmental culture and mindset. Other sources provide guidance on techniques associated with the formal activities, such as AR 623-3 on the evaluation process, AR 621-7 and DA PAM 600-3 on broadening assignments, ATPATPArmy Techniques Publications 6-22.1 on the counseling process, and ATPATPArmy Techniques Publications 6-22.6 on team building. 2-2. Leadership requires establishing interpersonal relationships based on trust and setting the example for everyone––subordinates, peers, and superiors. In leader development surveys, leaders ranked leading a unit, personal examples, and mentoring as the three most effective ways to develop their leadership skills. Experience is a powerful learning tool; however, learning from experience is not guaranteed. As the tenets for developing leaders convey, learning requires commitment and purpose. Learning occurs after reflecting on experiences. This chapter covers setting the conditions for development, gathering and providing feedback, reflection and study, and creating opportunities for continued experiential learning. 2-3. The following sections focus on the fundamentals of developing leaders (see figure 2-1): ⚫ Setting conditions for development. ⚫ Providing feedback on a leader’s actions. ⚫ Enhancing learning through mentoring, training, reflection, and study. ⚫ Creating opportunities and evaluating effectiveness.

3-1. The gravity of the Army mission and the world’s dynamic nature make continual learning and self-development crucial to personal success and national security. Rapid changes in geopolitical affairs, technology, and general knowledge require individuals to stay current. Army and civilian schools provide basic knowledge and techniques individuals need to review and update after they leave school. To thrive professionally and personally, individuals must engage in life-long learning and self-development. 3-2. Self-development bridges gaps between the operational and institutional domains and sets conditions for continual learning and growth. Soldiers and DA Civilians engage in self-development to improve their capabilities for current and future positions. Self-knowledge is an important part of a leader’s development. The Army provides tools to facilitate leaders’ understanding of strengths and developmental needs throughout a military career (see Websites within References). Institutional and operational training assignments cannot meet all learning needs. Self-development is essential to attain and sustain the competencies needed to perform successfully. Self-development activities reinforce and expand the depth and breadth of what leaders learn in classrooms and on duty. Self-development activities enable achieving personal and professional development goals. 3-3. Self-development obtains the best results when it is planned, competency-based, and goal-oriented. However, an important aspect of self-development is distinct from the other training domains: you are responsible for directing personal self-development activities—not your supervisor or the Army. 3-4. Although engaging in self-development is a personal responsibility, leaders are responsible for creating an environment in which self-development is a priority. Leaders need to be actively involved in developing themselves and each other. Self-development begins with feedback. Development happens through study and practice. Leaders can support others’ self-development through the exchange of professional development information, discoveries, and opinions. As owners of their career and self-development, leaders are ultimately responsible for managing it. For example, you are the only one who can: ⚫ Assess your current career status, knowledge and skills, personal interests, and accomplishments. ⚫ Do you have the technical and tactical expertise you need? ⚫ Do you have the leadership skills you need? ⚫ Honestly determine your willingness to invest the time, effort, and mobility needed to advance. ⚫ Seek information about duty options, development paths, and training opportunities. ⚫ Set your career goals, develop a plan, establish a timetable, and monitor your progress. 3-5. Self-development supports planned, goal-oriented learning to reinforce and expand the depth and breadth of what a person knows to include themselves and situations they experience and how they perform their duties. The Army acknowledges three self-development types: ⚫ Structured self-development includes mandatory learning modules required to meet specific learning objectives and requirements. ⚫ Guided self-development is optional recommended learning to enhance professional competence. ⚫ Personal self-development is self-initiated learning to meet personal objectives such as pursuing a college education or an advanced degree. 3-6. The self-development process has four major phases— ⚫ Strengths and developmental needs determination. ⚫ Goal setting. ⚫ Self-enhanced learning. ⚫ Learning in action. STRENGTHS AND DEVELOPMENTAL NEEDS DETERMINATION 3-7. The first step in determining strengths and developmental needs is to think about what you do and how well you do it. At a minimum, this information comes from self-examination. Examining personal strengths and developmental needs is a skill improved over time. Feedback can come from formal or informal assessments and from other leaders, peers, or subordinates. Outside opinions and information on strengths and developmental needs are useful, however, admitting and accepting discovered developmental needs requires a leader to be open to accepting feedback and self-aware, which streamlines the self-development process. Keep this in mind during a self-examination. 3-8. Understanding current strengths and developmental needs is necessary before setting self-development goals. This requires leaders to be self-aware about their leadership behaviors. These methods help identify strengths and developmental needs: ⚫ Formal assessments. ⚫ Feedback gathering. ⚫ Situation and self-analysis. ⚫ Strengths and developmental needs identification. F ORMAL A SSESSMENTS 3-9. Formal assessments, such as evaluations and tests, are a good place to start gaining insight into strengths and developmental needs, since they measure individual performance and compare it to a standard. Individuals use the information and results from relevant assessments to develop their full potential by understanding personal strengths and developmental needs. Formal assessments also allow the Army to understand the effectiveness of its leader development programs and improve processes through refinement. 3-10. Assessments can take many forms and provide insight on a diverse range of factors, including academic grades from Army courses, practical exercise results, self-reflection on duty performance, developmental counseling, official performance appraisals, multisource assessments, tests, or dispositional inventories. Some of the more common assessments used by the Army are— ⚫ Multisource assessments allow subordinates, peers, and superiors to anonymously assess the leader using a standard set of items. ⚫ Army developmental assessments, such as the Leader 180, Leader 360, or Commander 360, provide 360-degree assessments of leaders measuring the Army leadership competencies. The Army uses the Unit 360 to compile individual-level multisource assessments to give unit leaders a holistic understanding of their unit’s leadership capabilities. ⚫ Army administrative or talent management assessments, such as the Army Commander Evaluation Tool, Army Leader Assessment Tool, or the Enlisted Leader Assessment Tool. ⚫ Intelligence and aptitude tests, such as the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery or Defense Language Aptitude Battery. ⚫ Personality or dispositional inventories, such as the Social Skills Inventory, Social Awareness and Influence Assessment, Self-Awareness Individual Differences Inventory, or Individual Adaptability Measure. ⚫ Interviews. ⚫ Simulations or exercises assessed by trained observers or behavioral scientists. ⚫ Performance evaluations. ⚫ Counseling sessions (formal and informal). ⚫ Skills tests (such as the Expert Field Medical Badge, Expert Soldier Badge, or Expert Infantryman Badge tests). ⚫ Tests administered in resident and non-resident schools. ⚫ Standardized assessments proctored during resident schools. ⚫ Field performance evaluations such as those at the combat training centers. ⚫ Occupational interest inventories. 3-11. Individuals differ in their abilities and assessing their knowledge, skills, attitudes, traits, or potential can be useful for development and talent management. Depending on the purpose, assessments have different conditions for administration, use, validation requirements, and access to results (see AR 600-100). Developmental leader assessments provide individual feedback to enhance performance for current positions or to develop personnel to assume future positions of greater authority and responsibility. Results from developmental assessments are confidential and owned by the individual leader. Talent management assessments support decisions about selection, promotion, placement, or assignment. When used appropriately, valid assessments can increase the accuracy of personnel decisions. The Army owns the results of these assessments, and the individual may or may not have access to the results. Assessments used for talent management purposes must satisfy higher legal and professional standards with respect to validity (construct, content, and criterion), fairness, and reliability than developmental assessments. 3-12. Assessments are not a solution, but rather the first step in the long process of development. Assessments provide individuals and units insight to help drive growth, better leverage strengths, and address gaps or weaknesses. Assessments are useless without developmental action. 3-13. Reviewing formal assessments without experience can be problematic. Understanding how to combine multiple formal perspectives on performance to get a complete picture may challenge junior leaders. Reading and interpreting evaluations and testing results is a learned skill. Performance evaluations provide a narrow view of a person’s overall leadership performance and potential, focusing on specific events pertinent to the rating period. The language can also be misleading, avoiding subtle developmental needs in favor of condensed feedback for an external audience (such as promotion, selection, and retention boards). Performance evaluations, aptitude tests, and counseling sessions can provide skewed inputs if not taken in context of a larger set of feedback results. Piecing together a performance pattern requires aligning evaluations and tests from multiple sources, accounting for situational context to see patterns, and making assumptions about strengths and developmental needs. Accepting and acting on feedback from assessments also requires a growth mindset to continually develop and reinforces the Army’s readiness. F EEDBACK G ATHERING 3-14. Hearing what peers, subordinates, superiors, mentors, family, and friends think can help identify unnoticed or reluctantly acknowledged strengths and developmental needs. Leaders get feedback by observing how they interact with others or asking directly. Supervisors have an explicit role in subordinate development. Subordinates should consult supervisors for guidance about development goals or any other self-development aspect. Observe Others Observing how others act toward you and the decisions they make affecting you give an idea of what they think about your skills and expertise. Observing the same person on different occasions helps you see trends that may signal a firmly held opinion. One observation is not reliable, as that behavior may have been a result of other issues. Consider the circumstances. What outside factors influenced their decisions and actions? For example, if your supervisor selected someone else to perform an important task, was it because you were too busy or unavailable? 3-15. After considering these questions, analyze the answers to determine the opinions that each person considered may have of your strengths and developmental needs: ⚫ Supervisors, raters, and superiors. ⚫ Who gets the most challenging assignments? ⚫ Whom does the supervisor rely upon during emergencies or tough problems? ⚫ Whom does the supervisor praise the most? ⚫ What tasks does your supervisor assign to you versus others? ⚫ How does your supervisor react to your suggestions compared to others’ suggestions? ⚫ Does your supervisor listen to your opinions on certain subjects much more or much less than others’ opinions? If so, what are those subjects? ⚫ Peers and subordinates. ⚫ Do peers and subordinates come to you for help or advice? On what topics? ⚫ Do they understand you or seem confused or overwhelmed by what you say? ⚫ Do they repeatedly ask for help or are they one-time interactions? ⚫ Does their interest and enthusiasm increase or diminish when they interact with you? ⚫ What does their body language communicate? Is it relaxed, apprehensive, or reserved? Asking for Feedback 3-16. One learns a lot about others’ perceptions through observation, but conclusions are only educated guesses unless you ask others directly. To gain perspective, talk to others who know you in different ways, such as rater, enlisted or officer counterpart, mentor, instructor, or family member. The goal is to find out— ⚫ What they saw and their impressions of your action(s). ⚫ That person’s impression of how well you performed during the interaction(s). ⚫ How you react in certain situations. For example, “When a subordinate challenges your authority in front of others, you seem to get flustered and be at a loss for words.” Who to Ask 3-17. These are items to consider when determining who to ask for feedback— ⚫ Who has been able to observe you enough to offer useful information? ⚫ Who has observed you from different perspectives? ⚫ Who has experience in an interest area (former or current supervisor, mentor, or teacher)? Things to Remember When Asking for Feedback 3-18. When asking for feedback, keep the following in mind— ⚫ Respect others’ time—prepare questions in advance. ⚫ Approach with an open mind to accept uncomfortable or critical feedback without offense. ⚫ Listen carefully and respectfully. ⚫ Ask for clarification and examples when points are unclear. ⚫ Summarize the points to ensure you understand them correctly. Request permission to read points back to the feedback providers for confirmation. ⚫ Thank the feedback providers for their time and assistance. 3-19. These ideas may help you focus on what to ask: ⚫ Get descriptions and opinions of your behaviors. ⚫ For feedback about a recurring issue, ask about the situation, your actions, and the usual outcomes. ⚫ Ask for suggestions for other ways to handle situations. 3-20. Look for common themes by comparing the received feedback to identify strengths and developmental needs. Army leaders must avoid the natural inclination to reject or minimize responses that do not confirm self-perceptions or attribute them to a situation instead. S ITUATION AND S ELF -A NALYSIS 3-21. After gathering information from assessments, observations, and feedback, reflect on personal behavior and performance. Examining personal situations and experiences can reveal areas to change or improve. The situation analysis exercise helps analyze experiences to identify personal strengths and developmental needs. Determining what feedback is crucial to self-development can be challenging for junior leaders who may receive more feedback than they can realistically process for analysis and development. A trusted mentor or leader can assist learning how to assess and develop. Situation Analysis for Self-development Use these questions to reflect and analyze experiences for insight into personal strengths and developmental needs. - What was the situation? What happened? Who was there? - What were you trying to accomplish? - What needed resources or skills did you have or not have? - What did you say or think? Were you able to express your point? - What made you feel good (confident, excited) or bad (confused, worried)? - What did you do? How did you act (including body language)? Why did you make those choices? Did you help or hurt the situation? - How did others react? Did you adjust your actions based on others’ reactions? - Why did you act that way? What knowledge and skills led you to act that way? - What could have helped you handle the situation better? Could you have used your strengths for a better outcome? - Do you need to prioritize any developmental needs? 3-22. After recording the information, look for key factors that influenced the situation and overall outcome. If the same factor occurs in multiple situations, it may suggest a significant strength or developmental need to develop. By knowing how personal actions, and the associated thoughts and feelings, affected the situation, leaders can become more self-aware and choose the most productive actions. Additionally, a self-analysis may suggest broader interests to pursue or issues to avoid. Complete a Self-Analysis Consider these prompts while being as specific as possible to identify unique personal strengths and developmental needs. Strengths The skill or ability at which I am best is— The personal quality that I rely on most for my success is— I am most knowledgeable about— The activities I look forward to include— I would love to learn more about— I am most proud of this accomplishment— Developmental needs The skill or ability that is always difficult for me is— The knowledge or skill I require to be a better leader is— I do not know as much as I should about— I usually go to others for help on— The situation that causes me the most frustration is— I am most hesitant when I try to— I am most concerned about my— Competencies required for my current or future role are— S TRENGTHS AND D EVELOPMENTAL N EEDS I DENTIFICATION 3-23. The final step is to analyze the information gathered from formal assessments, information gathered from observing others, asking others, and situation and self-analysis results to determine strengths and developmental needs. 3-24. Weight feedback based on its frequency, look for recurring feedback themes or patterns heard from more than one person. Look at what others identified as strengths and developmental needs and compare that to personal knowledge (from the self-exam) and formal assessment results. 3-25. Usually, repeated success or expertise in a particular activity indicates a strength. These abilities may come easily even though others find them difficult: ⚫ What are favorite things to do or learn about? ⚫ What do others turn to you for help with? ⚫ What do recent assignments show as strengths? 3-26. Developmental needs are often tasks that are a struggle to learn or difficult to perform: ⚫ What was hard or not fun to do? ⚫ What knowledge, skills, and behaviors are required from a position description? ⚫ Did formal assessments indicate any deficiencies? 3-27. Identify where these descriptions apply and develop strengths and developmental needs lists. These lists enable setting clear goals for self-development efforts and can be documented on an IDP. GOAL SETTING 3-28. To maximize self-development efforts and avoid wasting time and energy, it is crucial to set self-development goals—identify personal and professional capabilities to improve and decide what to do. Creating an IDP documents and allows tracking of these goals. This section outlines procedures to— ⚫ Create and maintain an IDP. ⚫ Identify self-development opportunities. ⚫ Plan milestones to keep on track. I NDIVIDUAL D EVELOPMENT P LANS 3-29. IDPs span across the institutional, operational, and self-development leader development domains and apply throughout a career. They provide a framework to identify and document a person’s holistic strengths and developmental needs to guide self-development. In addition to strengths and needs, leaders are encouraged to consider their physical fitness goals; their cognitive abilities to include critical thinking skills, communication skills, and technical and tactical knowledge; and their leadership skills with a focus on their self-awareness and ability to employ the competencies. 3-30. Once a leader has gathered feedback, completed a self-analysis, and identified personal strengths and developmental weaknesses, they are ready to document goals and a plan to address those goals using an IDP. IDPs take leaders from where they are to where they want to be by incorporating short-and long-term goals along with action plans to address those goals. All individuals are responsible for developing and maintaining their IDP as goals will change over time. 3-31. Figures 3-1 through 3-4 (see pages 3-7 through 3-10) provide completed example IDPs. These IDPs for military and civilian members address short-and long-term goals, strengths, needs, and career planning. S ELF -D EVELOPMENT O PPORTUNITY I DENTIFICATION 3-32. Understanding strengths and developmental needs determines where to focus self-development efforts. In addition to leadership assessments feedback, roles and responsibilities (personal and work-related), and Army needs can provide self-development opportunities. Roles and Responsibilities 3-33. Work and nonwork roles have different responsibilities, skill and knowledge requirements, and expectations. Reserve Component leaders have a unique opportunity to improve both civilian and military skills by linking self-development goals to skills shared by both professions. 3-34. Chosen roles usually reflect personal interests and values, but even assigned roles affect the value of different self-development paths. When roles and responsibilities align with talents and interests, leaders are likely to succeed and be satisfied. Analyze Roles and Responsibilities List three to four important work and nonwork roles. Next to each role, list the two most important responsibilities in that role. Identify knowledge, skills, or behaviors that enable better performance of these roles and responsibilities. Army Needs 3-35. Another way to identify satisfying goals for self-development efforts is to align personal interests with Army needs. Soldiers and Army units must be ready to deploy and accomplish diverse missions. Some requirements may be unforeseen and untrained, requiring Soldiers to use their knowledge, skills, and creativity to accomplish missions. As members develop expertise, the unit and the Army become stronger. The expertise range and depth provide unit resiliency and an increased ability to adapt to specific challenges. General Stilwell’s Commitment to Self-Development Early in his career, General Joseph Stilwell found he had a gift for languages and sought opportunities to develop this ability. Before World War I, he traveled extensively on leave through Latin America and Asia, perfecting his Spanish and learning Japanese and Chinese. His unique proficiency earned him an assignment as the U.S. Army’s first language officer in China in 1919. In 1921, he volunteered to oversee an International Red Cross rural road-building project to interact directly with Chinese officials and laborers to hone his language skills. After a year, Stilwell was conversant in a notoriously difficult language and familiar with a culture alien to most Westerners. Stilwell spent most of the next 20 years becoming one of the U.S. Government’s most trusted China experts. In 1926, he commanded a U.S. Army battalion near Beijing; in 1935, he became the American military attaché in China. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, U.S. Army Chief of Staff Marshall appointed Stilwell commander of the China-Burma-India Theater and chief of staff to Chiang Kai-Shek, the leader of Chinese forces fighting the Japanese. Between 1942 and 1944, Stillwell deftly used his knowledge of Chinese language and culture to build rapport with Chiang Kai-Shek, ensuring Chinese Nationalist forces remained a partner against the Japanese. M ILESTONE P LANNING 3-36. After establishing self-development goals, create milestones to get started and gauge progress. Use an IDP to document goals and milestones. Milestones can mix short-term and long-term—whatever personally works and encourages progress. Milestones should— ⚫ Be specific and measurable: They state what to accomplish so you know if the milestone is met. ⚫ Be meaningful and relevant: They should help achieve self-development goals. ⚫ Provide a challenge: Milestones should stretch personal abilities and be challenging to accomplish. Challenging milestones increase motivation; being too easy or hard can hurt motivation. ⚫ Have a time limit: Time limits provide motivation and gauge success. ⚫ Be flexible: Build in some flexibility to overcome obstacles or revise milestones if necessary. ⚫ Be realistic: Ensure milestones are reachable with available resources. For example, if a deployment occurs in the next 12 months, do not set a milestone requiring college attendance during that time. Keep in mind that unforeseen obstacles may occur along the way. ⚫ Be cost effective: The benefits gained must be worth the effort, resources, risk, and other costs to reach the milestone. 3-37. Every milestone requires at least minimal planning. After setting the first milestone, create a plan to achieve it. A plan increases success by— ⚫ Identifying all required actions. ⚫ Identifying the resources needed to meet the milestones. ⚫ Establishing time estimates and deadlines that help track progress. ⚫ Dividing large tasks into smaller parts to reduce being overwhelmed. ⚫ Identifying possible obstacles and the actions and resources needed to overcome them. ⚫ Maximizing personal time and other resources. Plan to Meet Milestones Develop a plan by listing the first milestone. Identify the main steps needed to reach it along with associated timelines. Consider all the developmental resources the Army has to offer as well as other sources to reach each milestone. Identify potential enablers and obstacles before beginning to better prepare for difficulties along the way. Collaborating through online forums and interest groups may help personal development and provide encouragement. SELF-ENHANCED LEARNING 3-38. Self-development requires learning. Knowing how to learn is the most important skill required for self-development. Self-understanding, setting self-development goals, and planning milestones all influence a personal ability to learn. Effective learning requires— ⚫ Motivation and persistence. ⚫ Learning opportunities. ⚫ Effective learning methods. ⚫ Deep processing. ⚫ Learning through focused reading and analysis. M OTIVATION AND P ERSISTENCE 3-39. Self-development may require hard work over a long period, especially if the goal is to become an expert in an area or undergo significant personal growth. It takes motivation and effort to keep self-development efforts alive. Genuine motivation provides lasting energy because it internalizes the goals and the desire to achieve them. Table 3-1 (on page 3-13) provides tips to stay motivated to make significant change.

4-1. This chapter provides a deliberate and logical framework to support Army leaders developing themselves and others. These activities follow the same organization as the leader attributes and competencies found in the Army leadership requirements model (see ADP 6-22), to help individuals identify and prioritize which leader requirements to target for growth. The developmental activity tables follow a standard format: strength and need indicators, underlying causes, and recommended options to initiate action. The indicators provide ways to understand leader actions and confirm aspects of each leader behavior as a strength or a developmental need. The underlying causes provide more information on what the root cause may be for a developmental need. The tables provide three options for developmental action: feedback, study, and practice 4-2. To best use this chapter’s information, one identifies the competency and attribute behaviors for developmental focus. An individual may already have an IDP that documents goals and a plan for development or have an idea of what leadership competency or skill to develop. A coach, rater, counselor, or mentor can use this material to help focus leaders or subordinates on specific developmental goals and prepare for growth counseling. Different sources and events inform the process to identify developmental goals for competencies and behaviors as illustrated in table 4-1.

5-1. Efforts to develop leaders yield better results if the focus is on proven methods. Army leadership requires establishing interpersonal relationships based on trust and setting the example for subordinates, peers, and superiors. In leader development surveys, leaders ranked leading a unit, personal examples, and mentoring as the three most effective ways to develop their leadership qualities. Integrating leader development fundamentals into an organization creates a positive, learning climate and builds a mindset that prioritizes development. Experience is a powerful learning tool, although it does not guarantee learning. As the leader development tenets convey, learning requires commitment and purpose. 5-2. Leader development benefits both individuals and the organization. The Army is known for its success in developing leaders rapidly. Many development opportunities occur in organizations, though not always used for their learning value. Without intent or a program for leader development, organizational emphasis on learning follows commander interest and unit climate. Leader development programs leverage opportunities to address individual and organizational goals for development. 5-3. Commanders are responsible for training and leader development in their units and for providing a culture in which learning takes place. They must deliberately plan, prepare, execute, and assess training and development as part of their overall operations. Commanders and leaders must integrate leader development into their organizational training plans. 5-4. Developing Army leaders at all levels, military and civilian, is the best means to ensure the Army adapts to future uncertainties. In this sense, leader development directly relates to Army readiness. Individuals who feel the Army and their leaders are interested in them are motivated to demonstrate greater initiative and to engage fully in leader development. Development programs that integrate professional and personal goals are the most effective. Program content needs to account for the individual’s competence, character, and commitment to develop the attributes and competencies desired of Army leaders. 5-5. Organizational leader development programs must nest in purpose and guidance with the higher organization’s program. Programs should be consistent with Army enterprise concepts, strategy, and guidance on leader development. Programs should provide guidance to subordinate units yet allow freedom to determine practices and schedules most conducive to their missions. Programs up and down an organizational structure need to align to create synergy and unity of effort. A battalion or equivalent-sized leader development program should identify specific processes supporting development. Generating force organizations headed by a colonel or similar ranking DA Civilian are a good target for programs that detail specific processes. A battalion program should anticipate the needs of and execution by its subordinate units. 5-6. Variations in programs occur across echelons depending on the organization type and size. For example, a division has greater latitude in selecting leaders for special assignments than does a battalion due to the wider scope of opportunities and larger number of leaders. A Reserve Component unit has fewer training days to plan and schedule team building events, so there may be a greater role for self-development and mentoring. Detached and dispersed units have fewer organic assets to prepare and conduct special events but may have access to external opportunities, such as a training detachment on a university campus. 5-7. The Army holds commanders accountable for unit leader development by regulation (see AR 350-1). Accountability can be included as part of the organizational inspection program (see AR 1-201). Responsibility for leader development cuts across all leader and staff roles. Some developing leader role and responsibility examples are— ⚫ Each leader develops subordinates. ⚫ The senior officer, warrant officer, noncommissioned officer, and DA Civilian leaders take ownership for their cohorts’ development in the organization. ⚫ Each leader (and those who aspire to leadership positions) takes responsibility for their own development. Collective Training with a Targeted Developmental Focus While conducting battlefield circulation during one battalion’s platoon EXEVAL events, CSMCSMCommand security manager Sash notices that the battalion incorporated developmental and training objectives into the event as the brigade commander directed. In the TOC, several screens depict how the platoons have been assessed. He notices CSMCSMCommand security manager Undeu reviewing some training reports. CSMCSMCommand security manager Sash: “CSMCSMCommand security manager Undeu how are things progressing here?” CSMCSMCommand security manager Undeu: “Pretty well sergeant major. The platoons are executing at a level higher than we anticipated. The NCOs have told me in conversation that targeting development during training has really helped them improve not only themselves, but their teams as well. We’ll confirm that in the AARs.” CSMCSMCommand security manager Sash: “Including that info in the AARs is critical. How are the 1SGs doing?” CSMCSMCommand security manager Undeu: “They’re running a little ragged from the training timeline but are holding up.” CSMCSMCommand security manager Sash: “How are you incorporating developmental opportunities for your 1SGs during this event? Remember, even though they are not the target for this event, we can still challenge and develop them. The systems they use to track their platoons shouldn’t be different from what they will use in combat. The brigade needs your help in identifying developmental strengths and needs at the 1SG/commander level to ensure that we are seeing ourselves accurately. Find a way to assess your command teams during events like this, otherwise you’ll miss things that are critical to the brigade’s success.” CSMCSMCommand security manager Undeu: “I take your point. I got too focused on the platoons since this event centers on them. I completely missed how observations, assessments, and feedback on the next level up reinforces brigade training and leader development objectives.” CSMCSMCommand security manager Sash: “The focus should be at the platoon-level, and you are doing that well. It is also important to take this opportunity to help the brigade see itself since gaps you might find may extend across the rest of the brigade. It helps the brigade commander and me confirm or deny what we think are individual and collective developmental needs at the company level.” 5-8. The next-higher echelon commander, human resources and operations staff, and senior cohort leaders must clarify development roles and responsibilities. These individuals directly and indirectly affect the efficiency and effectiveness of leader development. Delineating Responsibilities Efficiently implementing leader development programs depends on clearly defining and allocating responsibilities across leaders and staff both in and outside the organization. Develop a matrix to document notes on the roles and responsibilities for developing leaders in the organization. UNIT LEADER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS 5-9. Leader development is a mindset and process, not merely an event, reflected by everything leaders do. An opportunity for development exists in every event, class, assignment, duty position, discussion, physical training formation, briefing, and engagement. Leader development is a continual and purposeful process. It is an ongoing process intended to achieve incremental and progressive results over time. P ROGRAM C REATION 5-10. Various types and echelons of commands and organizations label their leader development guidance with different descriptions such as strategy, philosophy, policy, memorandum, plan, or standing procedure. The title and format are less important than having a good plan—one that aligns with the leader development tenets: committed organization; clear purpose; supportive learning culture; enabler of education, training, and experience; and feedback. The plan helps to inspire and guide the organization to engage in development. Programs that incorporate leader development into daily operations without creating extra events are well received and have the greatest chance for effective implementation. Having a plan brings attention to leader development, provides focus and purpose, encourages the mindset, sets conditions, shows how development should occur, and coordinates efforts across the organization. 5-11. Developing a leader development program follows the same steps used in the operations process (see ADP 5-0). Planning involves understanding a situation, envisioning a desired future, and planning effective ways to achieve that future. The program should allow for disciplined initiative by subordinate units and individual leaders. A leader development program is specific because the outcomes need to address both organizational and individual goals as well as short-term and long-term goals. The long-term focus extends beyond a commander’s tour and beyond the member’s time in the unit. Most DA Civilian leaders are not reassigned based on time, though leader development programs like those in operational units often serve their needs. Once the commander’s visualization is described and the program plan is developed, they direct preparing and executing the unit’s leader development program. The commander and unit leaders execute the program and assess its progress. The leader development program creates change in the organization and in individuals—it is a living document. As leaders develop, update the program plan. Understand 5-12. To aid understanding, leader teams can use formal assessments such as command climate surveys, aggregated trends from leader assessments, unit-level assessments (such as Unit 360 or Army Readiness Assessment Program), training center AAR take-home packages, and command inspection program results to focus on conditions indicating unit strengths and developmental needs. Even an analysis of all unit members’ IDPs can provide detail on where to focus or where developmental gaps may exist. The leader team takes these various information sources along with their own observations and discussions with subordinates and colleagues to determine an appropriate focus. Table 5-1 lists external and internal information sources leaders can use to shape and inform an assessment of their organization. EVALUATING LEADER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS 5-36. Developing a set of formal and informal indicators that accurately assess the health of unit leader development in the organization is essential. Leaders use locally developed indicators to develop a leader development scorecard (see figure 5-6). Indicators may be different for different unit types, such as operational vice institutional. Employing a red/amber/green status suggests indicators requiring further investigation, which may or may not relate directly to unit leader development efforts. The purpose is to identify trends over time and not react adversely to an indicator’s single occurrence. Add locally developed leader development indicators to the unit training brief for subordinate units to track and report on like other key unit systems (such as training, maintenance, or budget). Refine the measures to those that accurately indicate leader development health.

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