Need to Bridge the Widening Gulf between Senior and Junior Officers

Need to Bridge the Widening Gulf between Senior and Junior Officers

(Published in PINNACLE: The ARTRAC Journal 2013)

         

Major General Mrinal Suman

If the Indian army finds itself in the news for all the wrong reasons these days, the blame lies squarely with the leadership. Quality of military leadership is dependent on the professional competence of the officers and the intensity of their sense of shared commitment – both are equally important and intrinsically linked. Shared commitment is a function of group cohesion, camaraderie and esprit de corps. Group cohesion of the officer cadre is considered to be an irrefutable prerequisite for the good health of the army and is sculpted through intense inter-personal bonding based on credibility enjoyed by the seniors and the unflinching loyalty of the juniors. 

As the army is a highly structured hierarchical organisation, the officer cadre is not a homogeneous assemblage and rank fixes one’s place in the positional stratum. Whereas the chain of command or the order of seniority is essential for the orderly conduct of operations and the maintenance of discipline in the army, it creates a highly visible stratification of the officer cadre. As stratification results in professional and social inequities, it has an ominous potential to generate dissentions and breed divisive tendencies. Unless handled with due care and sensitivity, a sense of alienation can set in among the junior officers. 

Unfortunately, of late there has been a discernible decline in the level of camaraderie amongst the officers. The seniors (brigadiers and above) feel that the current crop of the junior officers (colonels and below) is over-sensitive, hypercritical, excessively ambitious and easily incensed. They complain that the juniors do not appreciate the limitations and compulsions under which the seniors have to function. On the other hand and more worrisomely, the juniors appear to be losing faith in the seniors and freely express their disdain for them. Even in a disciplined environment of the army, murmurs are frequently heard about the alleged deficiencies and misdemeanours of the senior leadership.

The above divergences translate into an acute trust deficit amongst the officers of various ranks and it is straining the fabric of Indian army’s much vaunted disciplined configuration. The seniors are facing a crisis of credibility. The junior officers obey them but have little regard for their personal qualities. The crisis is of serious concern and needs urgent attention. Needless to say, the onus to arrest the widening chasm between the seniors and the juniors is that of the top brass. They are the persons in authority and have the power to initiate corrective measures.  

It is an old wise saying that in order to understand why something is, it is essential to understand how it came to be. To start with, the seniors must carry out an honest introspection to identify the reasons that have led to the deep decline in their credibility. What has made the juniors lose faith and confidence in their leadership? It is only after that they can attempt to redeem their standing and bridge the current gulf of distrust. Some of the critical aspects have been discussed in this article.

Trust Thrives on Inter-personal Communication

In a highly disciplined and hierarchical organisation like the army, effective communication is essential for fostering trust. Trust is an incredibly potent force and virtually non-substitutable. Whereas establishment of rapport precedes trust, rapport is a function of inter-personal communication between the officers of different ranks. Regular two-way communication can keep the environment acquainted with the true facts of all supposedly contentious issues and thereby help put the misplaced doubts at rest. It has been often seen that a large number of grievances are due to lack of information. Unconfirmed reports, conjectures and even rumours can give rise to antagonism against the seniors.

 

Interpersonal skills are an essential attribute of a senior leader. He should know how to bond with his juniors and build relationships based on trust and empathy. While driving juniors hard professionally, a compassionate senior officer should remain concerned about their well-being and career prospects. Any senior who lacks empathy for his juniors and uses them purely for his personal advancement loses their trust. No senior leader can win the hearts and minds of his junior officers by ignoring their emotions and sensitivities. 

Social functions are excellent occasions to build cohesion in an informal manner. They provide an ideal opportunity to the senior officers to interact and establish rapport with their junior officers and their wives. On one hand, the seniors get an opportunity to ‘feel the pulse’ of their commands and pass on military norms, ethics and values to the junior officers and their wives. On the other hand, the junior officers and their wives learn a great deal by watching the way the senior officers and their wives conduct themselves. 

Understandably, in a rank-conscious organisation like the army, social events cannot be totally free from rank considerations but blatant social discrimination or what is euphemistically called ‘social apartheid’ is highly appalling and hurtful. Unfortunately, increasing stratification of social events is doing irreparable damage to the fabric of unity of the officer cadre. Now a days, it is one’s rank that determines one’s seat and even the type of drink offered – scotch in crystal for seniors and cheaper whisky in borosil for others. 

As separate areas are earmarked for different ranks, even with different décor and menus, there is no interaction between the seniors and the juniors. It has become a common practice for the senior brass to huddle together, surrounded by their staff officers and cronies. Resultantly, instead of promoting camaraderie amongst officers, such occasions become a highly humiliating experience for the juniors, thereby breeding dissatisfaction and dissentions. Social inequities and discriminatory treatment defeat the very purpose of having social events.  

Impartiality and Fair Deportment 

The junior officers willingly repose faith in a senior in the belief that he would safeguard their interests. Humans identify themselves with an organisation only when visible merit-performance-reward ethical linkages are in place. Fair and unprejudiced deportment is an essential component of an officer’s morality. Impartiality means treating everyone as equal and rewarding them on their merit without any extraneous considerations.

Partisanship is impropriety of the worst kind, erodes credibility of leaders, encourages parochialism and affects cohesion adversely. Any commander who acts in a discriminatory manner to grant favours to his regimental mates, community members or protégé is guilty of breach of trust and faith. Every time an undeserving officer is promoted on the basis of parochial considerations, the environment gets vitiated. 

Search for recognition is one of the pursuits which all human beings indulge in and continuously strive for. Promotions and advancement in career are important aspects of their aspirations. Whereas impartiality is an ethical requirement, there cannot be a more disgraceful travesty of the much trumpeted merit system when parochialism promotes the undeserving at the cost of the more deserving claimants.

An officer on the reserve list for the Staff College Course when congratulated responded unexcitedly – “It is of no use. I am unlikely to get a vacancy as there is an officer from the Chief’s regiment in the reserve list and he will go.”  At the face of it, it appears to be a very common and innocuous statement, but when viewed seriously reflects very poorly on the organisation. Here was a junior officer, who had no faith in his Chief’s sense of fair-play and was convinced that he would not get justice from him. Such loss of credibility is quite disquieting and symptomatic of the lack of fair play.

An exponential increase in the number of court cases filed by the junior officers testifies to the fact that they have no confidence in the army’s sense of justice and fair-play. Officers knock at courts’ doors only when they feel aggrieved and deprived of their rightful dues. It is symptomatic of the malaise of trust-deficit that afflicts the relationship between the senior and the junior officers.

Strength of Character and Moral Courage 

  

Personal example is the most potent tool in the hands of the seniors to establish their credibility. The junior officers are quick to recognise when a senior leader’s words are not consistent with his actions. No commander can fool his command. He is deceiving himself if he believes that the qualities of his character remain unknown to his command. The juniors know the true worth of every senior as his reputation precedes his posting. 

Moral courage is a trait of character. A senior who has the courage to be honest and frank is always respected. For example, the annual performance report consists of two parts. The first part contains assessment of personal qualities and demonstrated performance. It is shown to the officer reported upon. The second part contains comments on his potential for promotion and is not shown to the assessed officer. 

Lacking moral courage and with a view to keep their officers in good humour, many senior officers grade their subordinates at 8 points and above (on a scale of 1 to 9) in the first part. Secure in the knowledge that the officers reported upon would never learn about the contents of the second part, unscrupulous assessing officers mark them as unfit for promotion. Such seniors get exposed sooner than later and lose their credibility. 

Many senior commanders possess two-faced personality. They pretend to be no-nonsense, incorruptible, hard task masters in public but demand undue favours from the services in private. Some smart commanders choose to feign ignorance as regards authorisation and receipt of rations, intelligently preferring to leave the whole matter to their personal staff, thereby freeing themselves of any guilt complex. However, the juniors are not fooled and the seniors’ culpability as abettors of the corrupt practices does not get reduced.

Similarly, if a formation commander wants to curtail his electricity bill by loading all air conditioners in the appointment house on the circuit for security lights or demands repainting of the house every year to match new curtains, he loses both respect and confidence of the juniors. Although, most corrupt demands are justified as ‘command privileges’, the environment is not deceived. It sees the truth.

Soldiering stands for honorable but simple living. Undoubtedly, an officer must live comfortably and should be financially secure to fulfill his obligations to his family and save enough for his old age. However, pompous lifestyle is most unbecoming of a soldier. Strength of an army officer’s character lies in moderation exercised by him. When junior officers observe extravagantly ostentatious life style of the seniors, they suspect misappropriation of government and regimental funds. Resultantly, they wonder whether such seniors deserve their deference.

Attitudinal Arrogance

In a steep pyramid-like organisation, promotions do not come easily. Senior officers have every reason to be proud of the heavy brass they carry on their shoulders. However, it is equally important that they carry their rank with due dignity and composure. Unfortunately, many senior officers tend to suffer from attitudinal arrogance. Some suffer from megalomania – a psychopathological disorder characterised by an inflated sense of self-importance and overestimation of own competence. Their behaviour towards the junior officers borders disdainfulness. Two incidents need to be recalled here to illustrate the point being made.

A brigade commander was invited to dinner by his GSO3 (Intelligence). Whereas most of the brigade staff officers were casually dressed, the brigade commander came in a three piece suit while his wife wore an elegant silk saree. Seeing the look of surprise on the faces of the other invitees, he explained, “For a captain to have the brigade commander at his house is a big occasion. The couple would have put in considerable effort. By dressing deliberately, we want to reciprocate their feelings. We want to tell them that it is a special occasion for us as well and that we are also looking forward to be with them.” What a wonderful consideration for a junior officer’s feelings!

Compare the above with the conduct of a divisional commander who invariably landed at the host’s house late and in casual dress and sandals. His opening sentence used to be – ‘We are feeling tired and sleepy. I will have one drink and request that dinner be laid’. He made it sound as if it was a great favour that he was doing to the hosts. It invariably dampened the spirits of the hosts who would have worked hard to make the evening a success. Worse, he often remarked that his subordinates were inviting him to get a better report – an extremely ungracious way of thinking. Needless to say, hardly any officer thought high of him. 

It is a shameful spectacle to see the top brass enjoying a sit down dinner while a large number of ladies are provided no chairs and have to eat standing. Earlier, no officer, howsoever senior he might be, ever sat down for dinner unless every lady had a chair. A strange culture has set in now. The rank has ‘gone to the head’ to such an extent that the seniors have forgotten all manners and courtesies. How can such seniors ever earn the confidence of the slighted juniors?

When a chief insists on flying his flag on a golf cart or a general wears a golf cap with stars prominently emblazoned, they reveal a contemptible streak of attitudinal arrogance. Although display of star plates and flags on private cars is forbidden, many senior officers feel insecure without their use and openly flout the orders.

There are many commanders who insist that the mules that they ride in mountainous terrain be duly embellished with stars and flags – a ridiculous sight indeed. Recently, a photograph was circulated on the internet that showed golf caddies wearing jackets with stars prominently displayed on their backs to indicate ranks of the players they were assisting. Can there be a more ludicrous demonstration of disgraceful obsession with seniority?

Crave for Exclusivity

Another practice that is detrimental to building cohesion amongst the officer cadre is the increasing demand of the senior officers for exclusivity. They prefer interaction within their exclusive group. At times one gets an impression that the senior brass considers it below its dignity to mix with subordinate officers and dine with them. One fails to understand how such petty-mindedness has crept in the services’ culture. 

At a post-tournament dinner at an officers’ institute, the army commander, after showing his face for a few minutes, withdrew to an exclusive chamber along with his ‘Nav Ratnas’ (major generals) to enjoy the evening and exclusive hospitality. Others were left outside to interact with each other – a reminder of the grand old Mughal tradition of ‘Diwane Khaas’ and ‘Diwane Aam’. 

Protocol golf is another innovative measure that displays craze for privileged treatment. In case senior commanders want to play golf after a conference, the golf course is declared off limits for others. It is a disgraceful sight to see 4 to 5 senior officers playing golf on an 18-hole golf course with staff officers who are detailed to accompany them. Do the senior commanders find it demeaning if colonels and majors are also playing at the same time? Would their presence pollute the environment or affect their dignity? 

According to common perception, there are three reasons for this obsession for exclusivity. One, senior officers get special treatment in terms of quality of liquor and food. Two, they are wary of talking to subordinates lest they be asked uncomfortable questions, as many seniors have loads of skeletons in their cupboards. Finally, many seniors are so self-seeking that they have no concern for junior officers’ sensitivities and social niceties. 

Role of the Ladies

Immense respect is accorded to the ladies in the army and rightly so. They have a very crucial role to play. With their kind and compassionate demeanour, they soften the harsh army environment and lessen the rigours of service life. They establish rapport with all officers’ wives and fuse them into a well-knit group. Even small gestures by senior officers’ wives help build inter-personal bonds.

One has seen senior officers’ wives walking up to shy and hesitant young officers to ask them for a dance. That was their way of establishing informal equation with them. Realising that the young wife of a newly married captain would be too shy to attend the ladies meet, a divisional commander’s wife went to her house and drove her to the meet. It was a very thoughtful and warm way of welcoming a young lady to the army family.

When a brigade commander’s wife knitted and presented a sweater to the brigade major, his surprise was natural. “This is my small gift to thank you for assisting my husband in commanding the brigade,” she explained. It was a wonderful gesture. It was common for the bachelor officers to receive fruits grown in the command house, with the compliments of the commander’s wife.

Somehow, over the last few years, the attitude and role of the ladies has undergone a detrimental change. Some senior officers are known more for the rude and arrogant behavior of their wives rather than their own professional competence.

A parallel command hierarchy has proliferated under the garb of family welfare activities, whose sole purpose is to satisfy the ego of the senior officers’ wives. They move around in army vehicles with staff officers in tow. They contribute little to the genuine welfare of troops but get a façade to interfere in organisational affairs. It will not be incorrect to state that a large number of problems in peace areas are due to the undue interference by ladies in official functioning.

Most junior officers consider family welfare activities to be wasteful and irksome as they divert attention from the essential to the non-essential. In the process they create dissentions and cause fissures in officers’ cohesion.

The Way Forward

The present mess that the Indian army finds itself in is entirely due to the widening chasm between the senior and the junior officers. The chasm should not be allowed to develop into a rift. That shall be catastrophic. The onus for initiating corrective measures is totally on the seniors as they, and they alone, are to blame for the current state of affairs. Expeditious action is required, lest the situation drifts beyond redemption. 

Social inequities are an anathema to army culture as they breed a sense of alienation among the junior officers. Worse, it makes mutual relationship between the seniors and the juniors dysfunctional. Instead of reassuring the juniors, social discrimination adds to their discomfort and widens the gulf between the top brass and the others.

  

The primary cause of the ills afflicting the cohesion of the officer cadre is the gross pomposity, ineptness and self-centeredness of the senior leaders. Senior commanders would do well to remember that humility is the hall mark of a good leader and a meta-virtue. A self-effacing demeanour indicates maturity and not meekness or timidity. Humility is all about maintaining one’s pride about one’s worth and achievements, but without arrogance. It is an old saying that ‘those who achieve the most flaunt the least’. 

Whereas trust is a powerful confidence builder and fosters cohesion, distrust destroys relationship. Lack of trust makes functionality impossible because there is no basis for a sense of mutual confidence in the relationship. For building rapport, inter-personal communication is the most potent medium. It helps the seniors to remain vigilant about the embryonic issues of disconcert, clarify matters and take necessary steps to put the juniors at ease. 

Finally, although trust is the most basic of relational imperatives, building trust is a dynamic process. Trust has to be cultivated deliberately and with sincerity. It cannot be a one-time endeavour. It has to be regularly nurtured for continuous sustainment. To earn trust, the seniors must establish their credibility with the juniors by assuring them of their sincerity and empathy. Trust flourishes on credibility that a leader enjoys in his command. To be trusted is the greatest compliment that a senior can earn.*****