Berating the troops

There's a practice in modern day business that has been borrowed from the military, a very ineffective practice often used by inexperienced leaders and supervisors. Berating the troops.

Explaining to your most senior troops all the ills they are performing, and rather than offering to help them achieve higher standards, telling them you don't believe their level of surprise or concern over their current level of achievement, is a telltale sign of someone trying to achieve a leadership role with absolutely no idea of how to go about it. This is especially common with Sergeants given a new command; those that have not had much interaction with their troops.

Rather than trying to get to know their troops, they decide that barrier needs to come up. That's fine. A level of division is not necessarily an unhealthy thing. Still, many senior troops watch as sergeant after sergeant flies by, making the same mistakes. Many a Private-First-Class goes through a slew of sergeants before themselves being made a corporal under a new command.

Any Lieutenant will tell you in these situations, the sergeant, oblivious to the situation, is under as much scrutiny and under as watchful an eye as the privates... more so, in fact. What most fail to realize is they will not accomplish the goals to improve themselves if they are adverse to the differences in personality of their troops.

Some of us in this world outlast many sergeants. And if we are content in our position, we will be joyous in times of plenty, and patient in times of tests. Hopefully, both Private-first-class and Sergeant come out improved. If not... well, Fortunately, the military isn't the only path to self-improvement.