More on Junior Leadership Vs Senior Leadership

The topic of Junior leadership vs senior leadership is an interesting one and also cause of much debate in the service circles that I ferquent. I some how am a sounding board for many youngesters to express their views about the quality of senior leadership. The view most often expressed is that the cadre officers are much worse than 'Your Lordships the IPS officers". I disagree with this view, without disagreeing with the views of juniors on the quality of leadership provided by some of our own officers. Why do thy forget the famous case of an IPS officer in a CPo who made everyone buy the framed photographs made by him for the regimental institutions and also for display in personal homes? And has every one forgotten the manner in which he used to treat the officers under his command, the uncouth language used , mental harrasment etc ? Have people forgotten about another IPS officer who is on deputation to the same organisation for the 2nd time and how many ACrs he is supposed to have spoiled? The list can be endless. The IPS officers are equally bad or good as the cadre officers. The only thing is that they do not have knowledge of the profession and the ethos of the organisation so they catch hold of one or two officers who very eagerly lap up the opportunity and become their blue eyed boys. More so these IPS officers are not in direct command so they only come into picture to intervene when things go beyond control and they spread this canard that the cadre officers are bad and they are good.

Another question that troubles my mind is that these very senior officers to use the words of sierra were some times junior officers saying the same things about their seniors that the juniors tell about them. Then why do the forget their own days and do not try to rectify things. Some officers whom I found very vocal when they were ACs or DCs are now Commandants and they are doing the same things to their juniors that they supposedly sufferred. Why? I am also sure that many of the juniors of today who are vocal or are sufferring today will do the same things tomorrow when they are those senior positions. I hope we could think and act with empathy when we become seniors and do not perpuate the same tortures on our juniors that we sufferred.

Another thing that both seniors and juniors need to do is to think things through from each other's perspective.

Last but not the least. I have asked many of the juniors to take a survey and discuss the quality of leadership in the units of any one formation . To their own surprise, when they took the names and described their qualities, they rated atleast 80% of them in very good or above category. Let us not go by rumours. The facts are sometimes differrent and spread with ulterior motives. The bad stories spread faster. The good ones have to be spread with effort.

This to my mind is mainly a canard being propagated by the IPS people to continue their hegemony. Have I opened a pandoras box?

Seeking Utopia in Uniform

Kudos to Sierra69 for the blog “Senior Leadership is culpable too”. This is certainly a discussion material in the seminar “How to strengthen the junior leadership” provided we are able to dust off the cobwebs from our conditioned thinking. A paradigm shift in our approach to command is required, more so at the CO level. A similar blog written by Maj Navdeep, articulating similar sentiments has appeared in indianmilitarybenifits.blogspot.com. Excerpts are as under: -

"How we behave with our own people becomes a benchmark for others to emulate in life outside the cantonment. While we tend to compare our status, stature and salaries with other services, isn’t there an underlying negativity in behavioural patterns being displayed with impunity by us ? Are we setting the right example for others to follow or sending the right signals ? Are we projecting our service as a hallmark of pride of the nation ?. The answer is definitely in the negative. Our internal organisational behaviour ultimately extends to how we are treated by the outside world and we definitely need to improve on how we interact with our own. 

There is no dearth of examples as to how we dig our own graves. How often do we see more than one Commissioned Officers being bunched into below-status single rooms in Messes on the ground of non-availability. I, for myself have seen situations where ample accommodation is available but still officers being asked to stay in small living spaces on the pretext that the (abundant) vacant accommodation is a contingency back-up for (imaginary) ‘VIPs’. Do we see the same on the civil side ? Do we see SDMs who are equivalent to Lieutenants of the Army being asked to live and stay in rooms like we do ? Never. Often we see junior officers being asked to travel in heavy trucks despite the availability of respectable light transport, why do we do this? Do we expect people outside to be impressed by a strapping young Captain in Combats sitting in a Three Tonner ? Do we, by this action, attract youngsters to join the services ? No amount of ‘Do you have it in you ?’ campaign would work unless we bring the pride, the glamour and the respectability back into our uniform and the so called ‘baboos’ are not responsible for this, the problem lies closer to us than we think – each of us is to blame. 

Honour has no rank. A Subaltern is much more capable than merely looking for an apt place to put the shamiyana in the Mess lawn. That Subaltern’s civilian counterpart - an SDM or an Addl DC/DM with the same education and from the same recruitment pool, looks after the revenue, executive, administrative, law & order and quasi-judicial functions of an entire sub-division and sometimes even a district and we are not even able to trust our own guy with a Light Motor Vehicle !How we behave and conduct ourselves outside ultimately has an indirect effect on how people in uniform are perceived and it percolates down to the last rank in the file."

PB-4 for 2iC's :Representations from Officers

I am reproducing a letter sent by one CPMF officer to his DG regarding the non inclusion of CPMF 2iCs in PB-4. I hope other officers in the CPMF are also voicing their concern to their respective chiefs. A quick search on google however gives a blank. Posted below is the edited version of that letter

Dear Sir, 

Wish you a very happy new year. It is heartening to see PM intervening favorably to Army generals who have actively and successfully represented the case of Lt Col’s in Army for up gradation to Pay Band-4. The up gradation vindicates the stand of Army for a distinct place and role attached to the rank of Lt Col as ‘Second-in-Command’ in a Battalion. I see in it the acceptance of a justified place for a Second-in-Command’ of a battalion matched by a commensurate pay package. 

Denial of the same status to ‘Second-in-Command’   is however a severe blow to my self esteem as a Second-in-Command of a  Battalion. The decision smells of the double standards discriminating CPMF officer vis-à-vis Army Lt Col who has been recognized as the favored one. Sir, forced to accept a lower status  and compelled to believe to be  ‘last among equals’ ,I still have a right to dignity and equality.In the wake of government’s decision I wish to communicate my apprehensions. I fear- 

Ÿ         Loss of status 

Ÿ         Disparity in protocol and humiliation at gatherings where even if representing as Officiating Commandant I would be treated as junior to all Lt Cols of Army.

Ÿ         Loss of Self esteem due to non recognition. Issue of Lt Cols vs. 2ICs has come up in open in terms of parity.

Ÿ         Financial Loss that accumulates to  lacs when calculated in comparison to Lt Cols in Army.

  My pride in the uniform has suffered a serious erosion in the present rank  twice. First, when Pay Commission placed the rank of 2IC in Pay Band -3 forgetting that the rank has command obligations and secondly when Honorable Prime minister restored status to Lt Cols and neglected 2ICs in CPMF.  I still preserve my hopes with you as DG   to correct the anomaly.

 Sir, today with 20 years of service, officers of the rank of Second-in-Command are feeling humiliated and de-motivated. The extent of injustice and the  apathy towards CPMF officers in the government hierarchy is appalling.  I am pinning my hopes on you being our Director General, in whom I repose my confidence and faith to take up the matter with Shri P Chidambaram,  the Honorable Home Minister and with Honorable Prime Minister of India who I am sure would do justice if informed properly. A favorable action would go a long way in improving the feeling of pride in uniform .         

Devbrat Negi   

Second-in-Command

More BN for BSF

BSF to raise 29 battalions to check terrorists' influx

Tue-Jan 20, 2009

Guwahati / Indo-Asian News Service

India has decided to raise 29 battalions comprising 29,000 personnel of frontier guards to man the country's border with Pakistan and Bangladesh to check cross-border terrorism and infiltration of illegal migrants, officials on Tuesday said. "The central government has sanctioned 29 more Border Security Force (BSF) battalions and we hope to raise them soon and deploy them in the border areas. About 12 battalions would be deployed in the northeastern region, while the others would be kept for internal security duties," BSF Director General M L Kumawat said in Guwahati. He said India was prepared to meet any challenges on the western frontiers with border guards on a state of high alert. "We are ready for any eventualities with our troopers on maximum vigil," Kumawat said. He said terror operators from Pakistan were now using the unfenced border that India shares with Nepal and Myanmar to enter India. "With the India-Bangladesh border now almost fenced and patrolling intensified, Pakistan's ISI (Inter Services Intelligence) was unable to penetrate it and hence the border with Nepal and Myanmar has become more vulnerable," the BSF chief pointed out. Kumawat said there were 110 camps of northeastern Indian separatist groups in Bangladesh.  "We are aware of camps in Bangladesh and we hope Dhaka would support us in evicting those rebels from their soil," the BSF chief said. Quoting intelligence reports, Kumawat said nearly 1.3 million Bangladeshi nationals have not returned to their country from India from 1972 to 2008.  "Infiltration has come down considerably due to stepped up vigil and border fencing," the BSF official said.

SENIOR LEADERSHIP IS CULPABLE TOO

In the last week of March this year, there will be a seminar held in the Academy on the topic: “How to strengthen the junior leadership”. Officers of the rank of DIG’ of BSF cadre will be participating. As far as I know, most of them are officers with good reputation. Not that I have any authority to pass judgment on such senior officers. I am only stating my personal feelings based on my personal interactions and association with them and on the basis of how we juniors usually perceive our seniors.

The choice of the topic for the discussion however surprises me. What makes the senior BSF officers feel that there is a weakness only in the junior leadership? The topic in itself is symptomatic of a rift between officer cadres of BSF. On one side are the AC’s and DC’s and on the other side are CO’s, DIG’s and IG’s. I understand that command has its own challenges, responsibilities and compulsions and most of the actions of seniors stem from these responsibilities and compulsions which the juniors at times misread as their arrogance and high-headedness. But the other aspect is that in case of some people the power that comes with command soon goes to their head and is blatantly misused.

There are instances galore that may come to each one of our minds about such senior officers. I would like to take this opportunity to speak of a few that I noticed in the recent past. I would not indulge in the debate of whether such information should be brought out in the public domain or not. I have debated enough with my own conscious and reached to the conclusion that a time has to come when such people have to be exposed. I am also inspired by what Albert Einstein once said and that is, “Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with the important matters.” However, today I will refrain myself from dropping any names.

Officers travelling with Gallantry Award winners as their attendants on personal trips are quite common and surprisingly not scoffed at as it is considered an OK thing to do. I don’t really understand how such officers can exercise fair command. In another case a HC has been sent on two months leave by the CO to supervise the construction of his house in another city.

In yet another instance a Commandant rank officer who was no. 2 in the hierarchy used three official light vehicles for his personal use. He was unashamedly meeting with different suppliers and placing his personal demands on them. Junior officers had a tough time preventing him from taking many official inventories home which were desired by him not only for personal consumption during his tenure but for permanent retention. The joke doing the rounds for him was that he even peeped into the trash bins to see if there was anything he could take home. And to top it he often used to coerce officers and lower staff threatening an adverse ACR.

The boldness and brazenness with which he was doing all this made one feel that no one in the world could do any harm to him. And perhaps the feeling was right. He was in fact rewarded with a… ok forget it. But before he left he took away some expensive electronic items with half the mess bill unpaid. After a few years he would be participating in a similar seminar talking tall things and preaching youngsters about BSF ethos and what not.

Let me also narrate an incident in which the lady wife of a Commandant used the choicest of invectives in the officers’ mess for the constables serving as mess staff, of course not in their hearing distance but in the presence of many other ladies which included the lady wife of a senior IPS officer. Now many righteous people will advise me not to bring the ladies into this but I was aghast when I learnt this and ladies play such a vital role in our welfare activities especially in the units.
On many occasions one experience such a cold response from BSF CO’s and DIGS’s when one wishes them. It seems as if a subject was wishing his king and he was a nothing in the eyes of the king. I simply fail to understand the reason for such arrogance. As a result the environment of trust is nearly non-existent in the organization. During our basic training we were told to be familiar with the troops and not friendly with them. Perhaps the same philosophy is applied in r/o officers too.

And who can forget the unfortunate incident where a bright young officer was mentally harassed so much that he was driven to this state where he had to shoot at his senior. The common view shared amongst many officers is that they still feel safe in the hands of IPS officers. The BSF officers who have become DIG and IG are only hounding their subordinates. An officer pointed out a couple of days ago that in every FTR where a BSF officer is the IG, the units and even his own staff officers are unhappy. I met another officer of the rank of 2IC whose ACR was spoiled by the CO who belongs to a batch which I think is pretty well respected otherwise. It is the duty and responsibility of the seniors to see that their behaviors and conduct conforms to

In any case I am not letting out my frustration. I enjoy excellent relations with seniors with personal and professional ethics. So I intend not to be misunderstood. I am also not implying that there is nothing wrong with junior leadership. Some of us are pathetic. Even I could be a silly officer in the eyes of some. My contention here is that if there is any problem with the leadership, it is there in the higher echelons. Any cleansing must start from the top. The juniors would automatically improve.

I would like to end with quotes from two of greatest military leaders in International history on the issue of leadership.
“You do not lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership.”
- General D D Eisenhower
“Leadership is understanding people and involving them to help you do a job. That takes all of the good characteristics, like integrity, dedication of purpose, selflessness, knowledge, skill, implacability, as well as determination not to accept failure.” - Admiral Arleigh A. Burke

It is for all of us to introspect whether we qualify as true leaders? The focus therefore must be on how to improve the organizational culture and ethos as a whole and not find fault at one particular level.

Efforts on to make BSF allowances at par with Army

Tekanpur 11th Jan 2009

Border Security Force BSF) Director-General M L Kumawat has said efforts are underway to provide BSF personnel allowances at par with the Army.

''I have discussed the issue with the Home Minister. The salary structure of paramilitary forces is under review. Twenty-nine new BSF battalions have been ayed by the Centre. BSF officers and men have been directed to be even more alert along the western border,'' Mr Kumawat told mediapersons after a passing-out parade of assistant commandants at the BSF Academy here yesterday.

-- (UNI) -- 11DR2.xml

Source: news.webindia123.com

A tight slap on both the Cheeks

I am surprised at the decision of the three member GOM to ignore the demand of CPOs to place their 2iCs at par with Lt Cols. This clearly speaks of double standards and a step motherly treatment to the CPOs. what is more suprising is that that there is not even a murmur or something even remotely resembling a protest among the affected lot. We should not expect that someone will fight our battle. It is time the Officers start representing to their respective DGs instead of waiting for a divine intervention.