Leadership and the Comprehensive Approach

Abstract

In line with most modern leadership theories, Western militaries want their leaders to be strong and visionary. But at the same time nearly all militaries stress the need for decentralization of leadership, especially in light of today’s complex and unpredictable missions that take place under the label of the comprehensive approach. The question is which of these seemingly opposing tendencies wins through. Research into the functioning of Dutch commanders showed that decentralized leadership was put into practice to a greater extent during the recent mission in Uruzgan than had been the case in Bosnia in the 1990s. The results of this research also suggest that to succeed a comprehensive approach to military missions requires a less obtrusive style of leadership than is commonly espoused in military doctrine and leadership theory alike. The second part of this article makes some suggestions about how such an unobtrusive leadership style could take shape, particularly in the context of comprehensive organizing.

Keywords: leadership, military, comprehensive approach

JEL Classification: D73