Monitoring Behaviour: A Leadership Trait

The United States of America sometimes struggles with their history. In my many travels across that country, denizens speaking about the country's history take a step back when I say I'm from India, considering the depth of India's past. On an occasion, I was in Boston and visited the site of the Boston Tea Party to be told that this was where the great Boston Massacre had occurred. I politely enquired as to how many had been 'massacred'. A group of red coats had fired into a restive crowd of Americans and killed six! The Americans are superb at presenting their recent history with verve and flair. It's impressive as to the drama they bring around episodes.

There are spots, however, that are sombre and grand all in one breath. Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System and one of two maintained by the United States Army. It is located in Arlington County, Virginia, and over 400,000 dead are buried there in its 639 acres. I was very impressed when I visited the site. A few days ago, Donald Trump, the past president of the US visited the place on his campaign trail, and caused quite a stir. His staff allegedly got into an altercation with cemetery officials, and he was apparently seen 'grinning' and giving the 'thumbs-up' to random folk. The episode drew a sharp adverse reaction from American veterans, people who have fought in different areas of the world and seen their friends die. Being seen to be frivolous at a cemetery for dead soldiers and military heroes is not acceptable and is percieved to be in abysmal taste. The Americans have great pride in their military, and disrespecting soldiers is seen to be extremely poor form.

Generally, politicians are adept at monitoring their behaviour in public. How often have you seen a politician carrying a kid and showering great love and affection or sympathising with absolute strangers? Monitoring one's behaviour is a self-regulatory process where individuals consciously observe and evaluate their actions, thoughts, and feelings in alignment with stated norms and expectations. This practice is essential for personal growth, self-discipline, and achieving goals. Considering that Donald Trump is a politician, it is strange that he chose to act in the way he did, if he did. Monitoring one's behaviour in public is critical to how we are perceived, and a leader risks censure if he or she acts otherwise. Strangely, soldiers are poor monitors. Self-monitoring is a?personality trait?that involves monitoring and regulating self-presentations, emotions, and behaviours in response to social environments and situations.

It involves being aware of one's behaviour and its impact on one's environment. It also refers to one's ability to modify one's behaviour in response to environmental, situational, or social variables. Highly self-monitoring people are more likely to change their behaviour to adapt or conform to the situation. Those who are low self-monitoring tend to behave in accordance with their own internal needs and feelings.

Savour this, General George Patton, the great WW II commander, on entering Berlin and accepting the surrender of Nazi Germany, was seen playing golf with senior captured Nazi officers and politicians! Nobody was amused with him patronising the enemy. Patton bluntly stated that the actual enemy was the Russians and that the Americans and Germans would soon be friends and allies. While he was right in hindsight, his behaviour in 1945 after a bloody war was strange, and the great soldier was nudged into retirement soon after. Pattons role as a soldier was done, and he represented the US in Germany. Patton had successfully led grand armies across continents and was a celebrated hero. Finally, his behaviour got him like it does, many talented people.