Navy SEAL Adam Smith knew that military leadership isn't quite as black and white today as it was in Gen. George S. Patton's day. Yet, he wasn't quite sure what leadership was all about.
"I'd always been involved in sports during my life and sort of naturally gravitated to leadership roles," he says. "I considered myself a leader."
But when he found himself a Navy lieutenant in charge of a special operations team, he realized his leadership was mostly based on intuition. He wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing for the right reason.
He was 26 at the time and in charge of people who had three and four times as much military experience as he did.
"I wanted to learn about leadership, to make sure I was doing what I should to get the best out of teammates," Smith says.
Smith just concluded a 22-month Master of Science in the Executive Leadership program at the University of San Diego. The program, developed by USD's School of Business Administration and the Ken Blanchard Cos., aims to show executives how the personal relationships they have with their employees can be used to make their own leadership more effective, as well as bolster organizational efficiency and success.
In the first six years of the program, 150 professionals, mainly high-ranking executives, have participated. Nearly 10 percent have been from the military.
"We knew San Diego was a military town, but we really didn't expect there would be such interest coming from military officers," says Kurt Gering, director of the USD program.
At first glance, the idea of developing a leadership style shaped by the talents and needs of the people down the line seems counterintuitive to the command-and-control military culture.
"You know that some people think like that, and maybe that's the way it used to be, but nothing could be further from the truth today," says Smith, 32.
"Maybe it doesn't apply in combat or the heat of battle, but the majority of the time, I'm living, traveling and training together with a SEAL platoon that needs to function as a team. If it doesn't, the whole unit suffers."
Gering says that many managers and executives make the mistake of thinking their leadership style fits all situations.
"Leadership isn't the same in every organization, and it isn't even the same in every department in one organization," he says. "Our program puts 25 people from different walks of life together to share experiences. They find out very quickly that one organization can be dramatically different than another one."
Leadership is shaped by the individuals involved, their relationships, the culture of the organization, its values and its vision.
Smith says he quickly understood that to get the most out of his SEAL team, he had to be flexible.
"You've got 16 people on a team," he says. "They have different dispositions and different personalities. If you just bark orders, you have success with some and are not successful with others.
"I learned that if you look at each of the members of the team as individuals and show them that you understand, that you care about them, you'll stand a much better chance of bringing out the best in each one."
To depend on a command-and-control leadership style is to doom yourself to running an dysfunctional team, Smith says.
"I want guys I can count on, and I want them to know they can count on me," he says. "You demonstrate that every day in what you say to them or how you ask them to do things. If people think you care about them and want to help them do well, they will do well."
It is a lesson, he says, that is being learned by military commands. Smith, who left his Navy assignment in May, says that he learned about the USD leadership program from senior officers.
"They know that the military has to change to remain effective and they want that most of all," he says. "So it makes sense to them that we learn new leadership techniques."
Though he's no longer in the military, the Pacific Beach resident says he has gained skills that will help him in whatever career path he chooses.
"I know that it's about the people and getting the best from them," Smith says. "I think that's a valuable leadership lesson."
Michael Kinsman: (619) 293-1370; michael.kinsman@uniontrib.com
