Your Questions Answered

D ear Readers,

I would like to introduce this column to you as the newest feature of your ever-evolving Menorah Magazine - the Ask Me Anything column (I refuse to be called your Agony Aunt)! During my fairly varied military career I haven't ever really known what I was meant to be doing at the start of each assignment so I generally had to find someone to answer my questions. Well, that is where this column comes in.

There is no such thing as a stupid question - you will have heard that many times before and the old adage is true. So what I am after are your questions about any thing related to the military, which I shall try to answer or at least find a specialist to help you. Subjects can be on almost any topic including doctrine, procurement, leadership, history, safety, decision making, getting promoted, career decisions etc. Some answers will be factual and include policy references whilst others might be an opinion. I will leave specialist welfare and Jewish practice subjects to the appropriate authorities but questions are welcomed from all quarters - it doesn't matter what Service you are, whether you are serving, retired or simply an interested citizen. At least one question will be selected for publication in each issue for the column. All questions will be discussed in an anonymous fashion. you will come across these sorts of people in the military. The second thing I would add, though trite, is "we are here to defend democracy, not practice it", so we do need to be prepared to be exposed to tough talk. The Services are in an interesting position where a robust management approach can be appropriate but bullying and harassment of any kind is rightly stamped on.

To prime this article I privately asked for contributions from our community so here is our first one:

(now and for the future) is to learn from everyone around you. See what works and what doesn't and be clear about how you would approach a similar situation the next time it occurs to you or a colleague.

But what can we do about the immediate problem of this individual?

First of all in life I apply the 10% idiot rule; that is to say that generally 10% of any group (excepting the Armed Forces Jewish Community!) are idiots. Despite our best efforts the rule implies that

However as a leader, I recognise that regular robust management often doesn't get the best out of people on a routine basis, even in the military. My first broader point for you as a soldier and leader

I would always refer to the principles identified in Equality and Diversity Advisor training and the source material (JSP 763: The MOD Bullying and Harassments Complaints Procedures). There is a clear and simple path for raising such complaints however I would recommend that issues should be resolved at the lowest level, and as informally as possible, but with appropriate intervention and oversight by the chain of command. To be honest that is easier said than done in a hierarchical organisation such as ours and so it is often useful to have someone help you address the problem. That person should be your unit's Equality and Diversity Advisor (hopefully not this individual). My first port of call would be to this nominated individual who could chat this through with you. But I won't stop there - what strategies can you employ when faced with someone like this? Let's break down your question.

Emails with requestsemail etiquette with respect to tasking someone else in the military has become an art form. It is always challenging to get someone to do something for you, especially if they are senior to you. You don't know what pressures they are under, what other work they have on or what their own chain of command has asked them to do. So in terms of submitting email requests which you deem reasonable I suggest the following strategy:

- Continue to use email as your request for action; it is an excellent audit trail.

- Write your email in a positive tone reflecting how you recognise the effort that the individual has to make (even if it isn't much) but make sure your request is SMART. What is that I hear you ask?

SMART stands for:

- SPECIFIC: be absolutely clear what end state you are asking for (e.g. I want all of my land rovers ready to be used).

- MEASURABLE: be clear what success looks like either in terms of figures (e.g. 100% of land rovers serviceable) or in terms of outcome (e.g. financial approval to spend money with form signed).

- ACHIEVABLE: be clear that your request is actually deliverable (e.g. if all the land rovers are broken today they probably can't all be fixed by tomorrow).

- REALISTIC: is this even the individual's job (e.g. you wouldn't ask the unit's chef to fix all the vehicles)?

- TIME BOUND : are you exactly clear when you want it done by? For me, this is the most important one. Even if you have interim reviews be clear what you what to have achieved by each milestone (e.g. 5 fixed tomorrow and the remainder repaired by the end of next week).

- Consider the use of CC where appropriate. If you are having persistent problems with any colleague’s reliability or responsiveness by email this step will ensure the wider chain of command is aware of the level of tasking. On a more basic level the recipient will likely feel obliged to deliver in order to meet his own objectives in front of his line management.

- And then follow up. Confirm face to face or by telephone that the recipient understands the request and reinforce how grateful you are for his time (buttering people up does work). If and when he fails to deliver, forward the original email back to him with a request for an update. If this then fails to result in action go see his line manager who you have been CC'ing. However you do first need to ask yourself if your earlier emails have already followed the format above, or whether you need to revisit any of your unanswered requests with this fresh perspective?

Verbal Abuselet's be clear, abuse of any kind is never acceptable. However, what constitutes abuse is subjective and may not be aligned between the 'abuser' and the 'abused' - any unacceptable or illreceived actions need to be highlighted to ensure all parties understand the impacts and can be afforded the opportunity to avoid any recurrence. I can imagine periods of extreme high stress on the battlefield where aggressive and violent language might be appropriate however if you are swearing and using poor language in barracks you are demonstrating that you have already lost the leadership game. As a leader you should be able to express yourself without having to use abusive language and it is always disappointing to see how sometimes we (and I include myself at times) fail to articulate ourselves effectively. Anyway, back to your question. I would definitely recommend not calling him out on his language in front of a group. You will undermine his position of authority, which will only create greater conflict. If you feel sufficiently comfortable I would recommend speaking to him quietly, making it clear that you do not think his language appropriate. I recognise that this is easy for me to say and hard for you to do. If you do not feel comfortable then that is when you should speak to your Equality and Diversity Advisor who can assist with that conversation or even have it informally from their neutral position. This should also be recorded in your unit's Equality and Diversity log which maintains a record and acts as a barometer of the culture on your unit for your chain of command. This can be recorded anonymously so no one's name is mentioned with potential enduring career implications or awkward social ramifications.

And finally, if all else fails, ask to see your Commanding Officer or 2IC for a quiet chat. Let me be absolutely clear, what I see described in your question is a failure of leadership by an individual, in this case your senior. It is the chain of command's responsibility to ensure appropriate leadership (and followship) at every rank and to make Defence a "hoofing" (Royal Marine term for epic) and safe place to work. Your CO or 2IC will have come across this (sadly) before and should deal with it in a professional manner. Have faith in the 90%!