LGen (ret'd) Mike Rouleau (1/2) - What should mid-level leaders do?

I had the opportunity to sit down with LGen (ret'd) Mike Rouleau last week. Mike retired as the Vice Chief of Defence Staff (VCDS). In his last seven years he Commanded the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM), the Canadian Joint Operations Command (CJOC) and drove change in DND as the VCDS. He is currently a Consultant for Accenture.

I was excited to sit down with Mike, as he is highly regarded in the military community as an innovator, a disruptor and a leader that can drive results. To be honest, when junior leaders in the Canadian Armed Forces saw him in the helm, they had comfort that, "he could change things." He would be the perfect person to learn from for the junior and mid-level leaders that are trying to drive their own #digitalinsurgency.

Caleb: When I talk to junior and mid-level leaders, they are frustrated. They are trying to drive change and find roadblocks. What recommendations would you have for them?

LGen (ret'd) Rouleau: This is an important topic. 'People vote with their feet,' and if these leaders do not feel they can drive change - there is a risk to the organization.?

These leaders need to read the situation. It is exceptionally rare that 100% of the organization would be closed to change. You need to read and understand the environment and find the opportunities. "In some ways mid-level leaders have more ability to make change - they actually understand the user experience - and they can drive the right change for their organization." Use that key insight to deliver what matters.?

Every organization has a balance of 'bottom-up' and 'top-down' innovation. In highly agile organizations there could be more bottom-up thinking - but it can't be an 'all you can eat buffet.' An example is C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) - that is a complex system that needs top-down prioritization and direction. In CANSOFCOM there was one third of top-down direction on innovation and the other two thirds were driven from the bottom. What should your organization be?

What should junior and mid-level leaders do? It really depends on the change you are trying to drive and what you can control. For a unit or Brigade, they can't create a new network for C4ISR or UAVs. Those systems are part of larger structures. You can and should own the tactical space - you need to produce the right training and empower the lowest levels. Take chances and accept failure. An example in CANSOFCOM was that we couldn't fail on operations, but we could fail on the force generation and force development space. I created an innovation fund and would say, "we are not failing enough." As a mid-level leader, you need to try new concepts and incentivize your junior leaders with new ideas. All they need is the Commander's Intent - that is why "I always wrote my own intent in my own words." You have the intent - innovate. "The best decision (on the most part) are always those made closer to the problem - I encouraged that - "Push Power to the Edge" - because that is what the next war will look like." As Commander of CJOC, we did a change exercise to understand the decisions that were kept at the three-star level - there were 220 - I kept 20 and pushed the rest to the edge. How many decisions can you push lower? Driving those discussions and empowerment drives culture.

Caleb: How important is culture to this discussion and how can the mid-level leaders drive that in the Digital Insurgency?

LGen (ret'd) Rouleau: A lot of the impediments are cultural. Some organizations are not culturally aligned to change and developing a force for the future. To change, that you need to promote disruptive thinkers. These types of leaders are often 'squeezed out'.

You need to invest in the intellectual discussion on how to drive digital and conduct force development. A lot of the senior leaders in any organization might not have experience in force development - they might have spent their careers in force generation and employment pipelines. You need to adjust the culture for change - shape the organization’s future. If you don't like what the organization is supposed to look like in the next five years, "create your own future." "Plenty of people decry the alignment of their organizations in the present moment. But the real question is, what has this organization’s past leaders done to best position it? The trick is to vision forward and continuously adapt the outfit – and its culture – to best contend with future threats, risks, opportunities, tradeoffs etc. In that sense, we need to (help) “create” our future based on a mix of data, experience, lessons learned, available resources, realistic assumptions and all the rest of it.”?

When I was a mid-level leader, I knew I needed to broaden myself in business, management, and leadership theory. I read Peter Drucker and Jim Collins 'Good to Great' - you need to build out that base so that you can drive discussion and debate.?

If I was to do it again - I would seek out a coach. Someone that has 'been there and done that.' There is a fine line about debating a point and being overly antagonistic. Later in my career - I never went into a decision brief without knowing the answer to the decision brief. Everyone must be briefed beforehand, and the facts have to be sound. That way if there are disagreements - you are attacked on emotions and not facts.

The key lessons:

? Understand your environment.

? Leverage your knowledge of the user.

? Balance top-down direction and bottom-up innovation.

? Drive failure (to iterate) for Force Employment and Force Generation.?

? "Push Power to the Edge"

? Promote disruptive thinkers - protect them or they will be squeezed out.

? Invest in the intellectual discussion.

? Seek out a coach.