July Newsletter: Military Leadership

Hello again everyone! I am excited to be sharing this month's theme of Military Leadership with you and want to thank Georgie Eckersley, Jeff Tibbett and Tamiris Santos for their 'leadership' of this theme! Thank you to all of the wonderful contributors to the theme, we are really grateful to hear about their research and experience in this field.

I always find it fascinating the common misconceptions about military leadership, dominated by the expectation of the 'drill sergeant' approach of leadership by direct orders. Away from basic training and emergency situations, such as firefighting, my experience has been of a far more collaborative form of leadership. Certainly, as a military engineer I observed far more effective leadership from those who sought specialist expertise from their team to make their decision, fostering an open dialogue and safe space for raising concerns and thinking through risks. I would encourage reflection on the tension between the expectations of military leadership and the realities and how these apply in the very different settings the military operates in, as you consider our monthly theme.
Finally, I am delighted to introduce Rupak Pathak as the newest member of our committee. Check out the 'News from our Committee' section below to hear more from Rupak.

Hannah West
Chair of the Defence Research Network

See the full newsletter here: Military Leadership

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