The ability to handle Soldiers-the art of leadership involves understanding, predicting, and controlling the Soldiers behavior. The commander can do a far better job if they makes a constant effort to better understand themselves and the Soldiers with whom they serves. The Soldier does not need the training of a psychologist, but they must have an understanding of the basic human behavior patterns in order to obtain maximum effectiveness its Soldiers.
Individual Differences Among Soldiers
a. All Soldiers are different. Each Soldier personality is the sum total of his physical, mental, emotional characteristics and environment and background. These characteristics vary from man to man.
(1) Physical and mental characteristics help to determine types of work for which a Soldier is best suited. They also indicate the types and intensity of physical work he can be expected to perform. Some Soldiers are better at jobs requiring mechanical ability or dexterity; others are capable of performing complex mental tasks requiring application, reasoning and intellect. If a "bright" individual is given a dull job, they may become bored and resentful. If a Soldier is given a job which calls for more of a particular mental aptitude than he possesses, he may become discouraged and resentful. At any rate, a Soldier in one of these situations will certainly add little to the team effort.
(2) Emotional characteristics are particularly important parts of a soldier's personality. The way he reacts to a difficult problem, to danger, to hardship-all must be understood by the commander. Under pressure, one man may become angered and another may quit or run away; still another may react very calmly.
b. Not only is each individual's personality unique, but it is also constantly changing. A Soldier changes physically, mentally, and emotionally as they matures and gains more experience. Broadly speaking, three factors tend to shape personality.
(1) Heredity. Each person inherits many characteristics from his parents. A Soldier may, for example, inherit the mental capacity to become a top scientist. Or, he may inherit the potential to grow to be 6 feet tall. Whether or not he will ultimately attain the upper limits of his inherited potential depends upon his environment and life experiences.
(2) Environment. Those relatively unchanging aspects of the world as the Soldier knows it-the family they belongs to, the church and schools they attends, the types of food they eats-constitute his environment. It has a pronounced effect on his personality. Taking the example of the soldier who inherits the potential to be a 6 footer, the type of food, the amount of exercise, the health conditions which are a part of that soldier's environment may either permit or prevent him from attaining a height of 6 feet. The individual's environment may accelerate or retard the development of inherited mental capacity.
(3) Experiences. Identical twins may be reared in the same environment, but they will still develop different personalities. One will encounter different experiences than the other. One may reach a height of 6 feet while another contracts poliomyelitis and grows no taller than 5 feet 9 inches. The unique experiences which each person encounters will affect him mentally and physically. In addition, these varied experiences will play a definite role in his emotional growth and in shaping his attitudes.
The Roots of Behavior
Certain conditions must be met if the individual's pattern of behavior is to be socially acceptable and satisfying to himself. These conditions, or roots of behavior, may be described as "basic human needs." Some are physical, others we acquire through the learning process as we go through life.
a. Physical Needs. The satisfaction of a physical need may become a goal which motivates the individual to behave in a specific manner. The physical needs are those pertaining to food, drink, clothing, shelter, and the normal body functions.
b. Learned Needs. These results as a Soldiers relates the value of certain conditions to his continued well being. These conditions are security, social approval, and recognition. Learned needs also motivate men to react in a certain manner.
(1) Security. We are able to predict the consequences of the course of events to the point where we can see that certain actions on our part may result in material or physical harm. We tend to alter our behavior accordingly. Many Soldiers will run grave risks to gain greater security for the future. No one wants to be injured, but physical security is the motive behind statements such as "kill or be killed" and "it's either them or us."
(2) Social approval. The opinions of the group to which we belong strongly influence our behavior. Few Soldiers will take a course of action designed to incur the disfavor of the group. We learn quite early in life that we will go much further if we cooperate with the other members of our society. We run the risk of incurring both material and physical harm if we act counter to the ideals and expectations of the group.
(3) Recognition. Every Soldier feels the need for frequent tangible proof that he is getting ahead. We work hard to gain some measure of success, and if recognition is not forthcoming, we will eventually quit or try some other pattern of behavior. Even a single pat on the back is often enough to reassure a subordinate that their performance is appreciated.
Goals and Frustration
a. The struggle to satisfy the physical and learned needs and our past experience in satisfying these needs, lead us to place certain values on objects in life. Highly valued objects become "goals." A steak may be a goal when we are hungry. Promotion may be a goal if we are seeking recognition.
b. When we are blocked in our attempts: to reach a certain goal, we may become frustrated. Our energy is blocked and backs up like water behind a dam. To some degree we all experience frustrations, varying from minor irritations to major disturbances. The degree of frustration depends on the value we placed on the goal in question.
c. The outward evidence of frustration may take many forms-anger, cursing, weeping, and nervousness. Serious frustrations that deny the satisfaction of a need for a long period of time can cause adverse changes in a man's behavior. Absence without leave may result from a belief by the soldier that he has not been accepted by his unit. The soldier whose hard work does not earn him a promotion or even a word of thanks from his leaders may develop bitterness that will affect not only him but other soldiers.
d. None of us can completely avoid frustration. Instead, the normal person plans ahead so as to avoid many frustrations and at the same time takes steps to adjust to existing frustrations. Soldier may alter their methods for attaining particular goals if the ways they have tried are blocked. The Soldier may even pick different goals which they feels are more attainable.
Adjustment
a. When a Soldier enters the Army, they leaves an environment in which they had made a reasonably satisfactory adjustment and enters another filled with frustrating circumstances. The Soldier must make many physical, mental, and emotional adjustments, involving altered methods of attaining his goals and the choosing of new goals. If the Soldier can do this successfully, we say that the soldier has "adjusted." If the frustrations are too many and too great, the soldier becomes maladjusted.
b. The problem of adjustment is a real problem for the Army as well as the soldier. Some 545,000 Soldiers were discharged from the service for mental defectiveness and mental diseases during World War II. Of these, 50 percent became apparent within 30 days after induction; 85 percent became apparent within six months after induction. Less than 15 percent of all maladjustments became apparent in the battle zone, and of these, the majority were returned to combat.
c. An analysis of the causes for this loss of manpower and the resultant loss of effectiveness in all units revealed, in many instances, that leaders were not cognizant of the needs of their men, and therefore not providing assistance in the satisfaction of these needs; in fact, in many cases poor leaders were actually adding to the men's adjustment problems.
Helping the Soldier to Adjust to Army Life
If the Soldier comes to feel consciously or subconsciously that they can satisfy his physical and learned needs within the Army, adjustment comes rapidly. A good commander employs many techniques to bring about this adjustment. Some of the techniques help the Soldiers find new ways to reach some of their old goals. Many more of the commander's techniques serve to demonstrate to the young Soldiers how the attainment of other new goals also results in the satisfaction of their needs. When the soldier accepts these goals as their own and realizes that they are also the Army's goals, and struggles to achieve them, the Soldier is well on his way to becoming the world's finest Soldier.
Source: FM 22-100, pg.12-18
Photo by Matthew Hintz: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-in-camouflage-uniform-standing-near-an-automatic-weapon-9845030/
Photo by Art Guzman: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-in-brown-and-beige-camouflage-button-up-shirt-10853854/
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