Military Leadership

1. Explain the importance of leadership for an organization
2. Discuss and illustrate the difference between management and leadership in the military organization
3. Discuss and illustrate the Mission command concept
4. Discuss and illustrate the application of the Situational model of leadership in leading subordinates
5. Apply the methods of conflict management in the military organization
6. Recognize the sources of power and be able to apply the methods of influencing and leadership styles
7. Discuss and illustrate the levels of leadership and its uniqness in a military organisation
8. Recognize and understand the role of leadership in command, as a key element of combat power, as well as the hierarchy of the chain of command and control in military organization
9. Apply the principles of group and team work
10. Assess and develop traits, skills and military values in a military officer

Lectures will be conducted through presentations and active interaction between lecturers and students.

Exercises will be geared toward practical application of knowledge and skills on concrete, real scenarios and examples. The exercises will be conducted in groups of 20-25 participants.

1. 1. Lectures (2 hours): Introduction – Military leadership class introduction, introduction to professors and teachers; introduction to class dynamics and content, conditions, and student requirements along with grading system and evaluations.
2. 2 Lectures (2 hours): Introduction to leadership - general understanding of leadership, leadership traits, what leaders do, mistakes and crucibles of leadership, developing personal leadership skills Exercise (1 hour) - Case study - the analysis of leadership experiences of a commander (platoon/company)
3. 3. Lectures (2 hours): Basic approaches to leadership, the military and leadership; the principles of leadership; leadership vs. management in the military Exercise (1 hour) Case study - compare the principles of leadership with their application in real-world situations
4. 4. Lectures (3 hours): Leadership as a command component - command components; levels of leadership in a military organization; organisational structure; delegating; leadership function; leadership vs. command Exercise (1 hour) Case study - platoon structure and the process of delegation
5. 5. Lectures (3 hours): Mission command and leadership - from Auftragstaktik to Mission Command; understanding the principles of Mission Command; leadership as the key element of combat power Exercise (1 hour) - Case study - Mission Command in a platoon/company level unit
6. 6. Lectures (3 hours): Power and influencing - sources and types of power; influencing; techniques of influencing; power vs. leadership; emotional intelligence; general leadership styles Exercise (1 hour) - Case study - identify types of power and influencing techniques in real life situations from the CAF and international missions
7. 7. Lectures (3 hours): Ethical leadership: ethical thinking and virtues, ethical decision making criteria; negative leadership - toxic leadership; examples of negative leadership; consequences of negative leadership. Exercise (1 hour): Situations in which a commander must be able to define good and bad behavior; counseling and evaluation report; discplinary and damages accountability - disciplinary sanctions and procedures.
8. 8 Lectures (3 hours): Organisational culture and leadership - notion and definition of organisational culture, levels fo organisational culture, symbols of organisational culture; org. culture and leadership Exercise (1 hour) - analysis of the examples of good and bad practice
9. 9. Lectures (3 hours): Groups – introduction to groups inside an organization and dynamics of processes within the group, terminology and types of groups, reasons for group development, group development phases and roles inside the group. Exercise (1 hour): Working in groups - conduct counseling
10. 10. Lectures (3 hours): Teams and team approach in organization leadership; team definition, team development phases, leader activities, characteristics of a good military team, team dysfunctions. Exercise (1 hour): Military team development - team development process assessment and creating conditions for effective team development.
11. 11. Lectures (3 hours): Subordinate’s motivation: defining, motivation theories, importance of subordinate’s motivation in organization. Exercise (1 hour): Motivation techniques and providing purpose, direction and motivation.
12. 12. Lectures (3 hours): Conflict management – introduction to reasons, dynamics and conflict management in organization (conflict reasons and consequences in organization, types of conflicts, conflict process and conflict management). Exercise (1 hour): Situation assessment, problem solving techniques in an organization, demonstration of conflict prevention and control; prevention and reporting of extraordinary events.
13. 13. Lectures (3 hours): Situational leadership – situational models; application of situational models in military organization; contemporary trends. Exercise (1 hour): Situation analysis and application of situational models in troop leading.
14. 14. Lectures (3 hours): Core military values and commander/leader characteristics: what commander/leader must “be – know – do”; core military values; commander characteristics (mental, physical and emotional); basic commanding skills (interpersonal, technical, tactical and conceptual). Exercise (1 hour): Identify values and characteristics of military leader's during the Domestic war.
15. Lectures: Final exam (3) Seminar: Preliminary exam Visit to a military unit in Zagreb and guest speaker