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COMPETENCE IS MY WATCHWORD.
The trust and confidence your leaders and soldiers have in you is based not only on who you are, but on what you know and what you are able to do. In the course of its more than 200 years of distinguished service, the Army has identified a framework for leadership development and assessment. The framework consists of nine leadership competencies which establish broad categories of skills, knowledge and attitudes that define leader behavior.
Communication
Issue clear, concise orders
Receive/interpret information
Supervision
Lead soldiers/units
Maintain control/accountability
Teaching/Counseling
Teach individual/collective training
Evaluate performance oriented training
Coach and provide feedback
Soldier-Team Development
Develop unit cohesion
Foster loyalty and commitment
Build esprit and confidence
Lead physical fitness training
Technical/Tactical Proficiency
Perform skill level tasks
Qualify with weapon/equipment
Navigate
Perform and direct maintenance
Decision Making
Use problem solving process
Planning
Plan individual/collective training
Use of Available Systems
Use automated data processing or other computerized systems
Professional Ethics
Lead by example
Practice professional Army ethics
Display high personal/professional standards.
MY TWO BASIC RESPONSIBILITIES WILL ALWAYS BE UPPERMOST IN MY MIND - ACCOMPLISHMENT OF MY MISSION AND THE WELFARE OF MY SOLDIERS.
Your unit is your piece of the Army's action, your day-to-day part of the Army, and where you exercise the competencies you've developed. By training your soldiers, you contribute to your unit's mission and combat readiness, and thus to the defense of the nation.

The unit is your family, your team. You have certain responsibilities to your team by virtue of the position you hold. A primary responsibility is to take care of your soldiers. You do this by developing a genuine concern for their well-being. In the Army, this means that you must know and understand your soldiers well enough to train them to a high level of proficiency as individuals and teams, and employ them within their capabilities.
Individual training is your primary job. You must develop trained soldiers who have discipline, are physically strong, mentally tough, and highly motivated. You must train your soldiers on every task critical to wartime mission accomplishment, because they must be confident in their ability to perform well under the difficult and demanding conditions of battle. Effective training is the key to sustaining the mobility, deployability, and lethality of today's combat-ready Army.
I WILL STRIVE TO REMAIN TACTICALLY AND TECHNICALLY PROFICIENT.
Before training your soldiers, you must know your job. Usually, this means obtaining a combination of both technical and tactical knowledge. You need to become technically proficient in order to successfully perform all tasks and functions related to your position. Including the ability to operate and maintain all assigned equipment. Tactical proficiency comes when you are able to skillfully employ your soldiers and their equipment, and when you understand your commander's intent and the Army's current warfighting doctrine.
There are three pillars of leader development: institutional training, operational assignments and self-development. Commanders and senior NCOs all share responsibility to provide opportunities and guidance to you by training, promoting, and utilizing you in positions of increasing responsibility. They will ensure that you have the time and preparation necessary to attend and excel at each of the schools in the Noncommissioned Officer Education System.
However, you must seek and take responsibility for your own actions, and maximize your own development as opportunities occur. Self-development, through college courses or other programs designed to improve your leadership abilities, is your responsibility.
The nine leadership competencies and the skills, knowledge, and attitudes you must possess at each skill level are powerful developmental tools for you and your soldiers. They provide a universal standard for you and all other leaders throughout the Army.
Leadership is linked to knowledge. The confidence your soldiers have in your tactical and technical proficiency will affect your ability to train and lead them. Your soldiers will know whether you are knowledgeable in a given area and will take pride in the fact that you have the experience or know-how to train and lead them. Your technical and tactical proficiency are, therefore, keys to their respect, trust, and confidence in you as a leader.

I AM AWARE OF MY ROLE AS A NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICER. I WILL FULFILL MY RESPONSIBILITIES INHERENT IN THAT ROLE.
Though training and leading soldiers are your main responsibilities, you have other responsibilities to your commander, the unit and the United States Army. Since the time of Baron Von Steuben's "Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States," NCOs have had the responsibility and authority for ensuring order and discipline.
As an NCO, you have two types of authority: command and general military. These authorities give you the legitimate power to direct your soldiers, to take action required by your leadership position, or to enforce good order and discipline.
You have command authority anytime you fill a position requiring the direction and control of soldiers. However, you use that authority only with the soldiers and facilities in your own unit. Tank commanders, squad leaders, platoon sergeants, and dining facility managers all use command authority when they issue orders to direct and control.

Another source of your command authority stems from the combination of the chain of command and the NCO support channel, of which you are a part. The chain of command passes orders and policies through the NCO support channel to provide you with the authority to do your job.
General military authority originates in oaths of office, law, rank structure, traditions, and regulations. For example, the UCMJ gives authority to commissioned officers, warrant officers, petty officers, and noncommissioned officers to maintain order and discipline.
This broad-based authority allows you to take appropriate corrective actions whenever any service member, anywhere, commits an act involving a breach of good order or discipline. When you stop soldiers from another battalion who are outside without proper headgear, you have a duty and obligation to enforce established standards and regulations.
ALL SOLDIERS ARE ENTITLED TO OUTSTANDING LEADERSHIP; I WILL PROVIDE THAT LEADERSHIP.
Not long ago you were "one of the troops." Now, you are an NCO, and there is a vast difference between your soldiers and you - a difference far beyond new stripes, more pay, and a different title. Those official promotion orders changed the whole fabric of what the Army and its soldiers expect of you.
You are still responsible for your own skills, but now you are also responsible for the skills of those you lead. This means that you must train your soldiers in whatever skills they may lack.
You are still responsible for following orders, but now you give orders as a leader of a squad, a crew, a team, or section. This means that you are no longer a "doer," but that you get things done through the efforts of others.
You must make sound and timely decisions to ensure the task is understood, supervised and accomplished. That is what outstanding leadership is all about; establishing and enforcing standards and providing purpose, direction, and motivation for you soldiers.

I KNOW MY SOLDIERS, AND I WILL ALWAYS PLACE THEIR NEEDS ABOVE MY OWN.
Part of providing the purpose, direction and motivation for your soldiers is deciding which of the three leadership styles will best meet their needs. You have to be yourself, yet flexible enough to adjust to the soldiers you lead and to the missions assigned to you.
Some soldiers say they admire a certain sergeant because that NCO always seems to know exactly what to do in a particular situation. Others admire a leader who knows just the right words to say at the right tome to ensure mission accomplishment and soldier care.
Experience has taught you that you should not deal with all people the same. For example, you know it is not effective to deal with a new soldier the same way you would deal with an experienced tank commander or section chief, and vice versa.
Directing
When time is short and only you know what needs doing and how to do it, the directing style is the best way to accomplish the mission. When leading soldiers who lack experience or competence at a time-critical task, you need to tell them what, how, where, and when you want it done.
Participating
If your soldiers have some competence in a given task and support your goals, allowing them to participate in decisions can create a powerful team-building process. In this case, the participating style of leadership may be most effective. Asking your soldiers for information and recommendations before you make your decision will help build their confidence and increase their support for the final plan.
Delegating
When your soldiers are mature, competent and motivated to perform a particular task, you may feel comfortable enough to try the delegating style of leadership. Handing over your problem-solving and decision-making authority to a soldier or group of soldiers does not release you from being accountable for the task, but it does help them build confidence in their own abilities. When you allow them to make final decisions or solve a problem on their own, it shows that you have confidence in them, and it reinforces the principles of cohesion and teamwork.
There is no one best style. What works for you in one situation may not work in another. You must develop the flexibility to use all three styles and the judgment to choose the style that best meets the situation and the needs of your soldiers.
I WILL COMMUNICATE CONSISTENTLY WITH MY SOLDIERS AND NEVER LEAVE THEM UNIFORMED.
Your ability to effectively communicate with your soldiers is just as important as your style of leadership.
Communication, the fourth major leadership factor, occurs when others understand exactly what you are trying to tell them, and when you understand precisely what they are trying to tell you. You must recognize that you communicate standards by your example and by what behaviors you ignore, reward, and punish.
Leadership is more than setting the example and bravely leading a charge. Your ability to say the correct thing, at the appropriate moment and in the right way, is a very important part of leading and caring for your soldiers.
In peacetime, you must create a bond with your soldiers that will cause them to follow you and conduct themselves properly in combat. You must win their trust and confidence before, rather than after, combat has commenced. What and how you communicate either builds or harms the strength of the relationship between you and your soldiers. In wartime, you must clearly communicate the mission to your soldiers. If they are to think creatively on the battlefield, they must have a clear concept of the "Objective." They must have all the accurate information that headquarters (platoon and above) can supply about the enemy and other factors that affect the mission.
American soldiers do best when they know why they are doing something. Individual soldiers have changed the outcome of battle using initiative in the absence of orders. Keeping your soldiers informed helps them make decisions and execute plans within your intent, encourages initiative, improves teamwork, and enhances morale.

I WILL BE FAIR AND IMPARTIAL WHEN RECOMMENDING BOTH REWARDS AND PUNISHMENT.
A good leader always faces the difficult balancing act between consistent, fair and impartial use of rewards and punishments. You must be consistent in the enforcement of standards and discipline, but you must also judge each action on its own merits.
As I stated earlier, you do not lead all soldiers in the same way. You must correctly assess your soldiers' competence, motivation, and commitment so that you can take the proper leadership actions at the correct time. For example, a soldier with a new job or task normally needs closer supervision than an experienced soldier at that same job or task. A soldier with low confidence needs your support and encouragement.
Rewards and punishments have different purposes. Rewards promote desired behavior; punishments reduce undesired behavior. Soldiers who work hard and do their jobs efficiently deserve your praise; soldiers who intentionally fail to follow your guidance or meet clear standards may need reprimanding.
Rewards are visible evidence to soldiers that their leaders, their unit, and their country appreciate their courage or hard work. Well-chosen rewards normally increase soldiers' motivation to keep working for more recognition.
Punishments for those soldiers who intentionally fail to meet your standards or follow your guidance have just as great an impact on the behavior you wish to modify as rewards do. However, you must be careful with punishments. Don't punish soldiers who are unable to perform a task; punish only those who are unwilling or unmotivated to succeed.
You must also ensure that the soldiers you punish understand exactly what behavior led to the punishment and that their behavior is your primary concern. The punishment should neither be excessive nor unreasonable since it is not the severity of the punishment that necessarily deters soldiers, but the certainty of it.
The hope of reward and the fear of punishment greatly affect soldiers' behavior. If you have received a pat on the back for doing something well, or punishment for unsatisfactory performance, you know how it felt and how it changed your future behavior.
As a leader, you must create a climate that encourages your subordinates to actively participate and want to help you accomplish the mission.
Key ingredients for developing this relationship are mutual trust, respect, confidence, and the consistency with which you dispense rewards and punishments. These have almost as much impact upon the behavior of your soldiers as the rewards and punishments themselves.
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