The Importance of Sergeants

by Tom Davenport, Towers Perrin

I was fortunate enough to spend part of my summer in France observing 65th anniversary commemorations of the 1944 Allied liberation. Story after story of the D-Day invasion recounted the bravery, resourcefulness and leadership exhibited by Army leaders – not generals, colonels or majors, but corporals and sergeants.

They performed well in part because they adhered to Army values (including loyalty, honor and personal courage). But their success also came following the requirements of what the Army leadership manual calls “direct” leadership. As the manual expresses it, “Direct leaders develop their subordinates one-on-one…They are close enough to the action to determine or address problems. Examples of direct leadership tasks are monitoring and coordinating team efforts, providing clear and concise mission intent, and setting expectations for performance.”

It sounds prosaic until you remember that failure to do any of these well means battles are lost and soldiers are wounded or killed. 

Like sergeants, a company’s first-line managers are the pivot point for strategic success. They too lead one person at a time, developing each subordinate and making sure everyone is capable of executing the organization’s mission.

My nephew (who is a First Sergeant with the Army National Guard) puts it this way: “My boss is a captain. He tells me generally what he needs to get done and I get it done.” He adds, with no small amount of pride, ”Sergeants make everything happen.”

So, I would argue, do first-line managers in successful companies.

- Tom