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    Willpower: A Historical Study Of An Influential Leadership Attribute
    Willpower: A Historical Study Of An Influential Leadership Attribute
    Willpower: A Historical Study Of An Influential Leadership Attribute
    Ebook129 pages1 hour

    Willpower: A Historical Study Of An Influential Leadership Attribute

    By LCDR David Schappert

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    About this ebook

    This thesis investigates a single leadership attribute: willpower. Willpower is defined as the amalgamation of continuing in the face of adversity; the refusal to accept failure; and the power to affect a desired outcome in others. The central research question investigates how a leader generates willpower and transmits it to produce a desired effect. The methodology employed investigates three historical military leaders at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels of war over a sixty year period. The leaders analyzed are General Colin Powell, Admiral Chester Nimitz, and Lieutenant General Harold Moore. This analysis method was chosen to answer the three secondary research questions: Is there a common thread? Is willpower different at different levels of war? Has willpower transmission changed over time? To provide objectivity, a leader who possessed willpower and still failed, General Douglas MacArthur, is also studied. The historical leaders studied are found to have similarities in how they generate and transmit willpower. The willpower transmission techniques employed by the research subjects have not changed significantly over the period studied. However, willpower transmission techniques do reveal differences over the three levels of war.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTannenberg Publishing
    Release dateNov 6, 2015
    ISBN9781782899907
    Willpower: A Historical Study Of An Influential Leadership Attribute

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      Book preview

      Willpower - LCDR David Schappert

      This edition is published by PICKLE PARTNERS PUBLISHING—www.picklepartnerspublishing.com

      To join our mailing list for new titles or for issues with our books – picklepublishing@gmail.com

      Or on Facebook

      Text originally published in 2003 under the same title.

      © Pickle Partners Publishing 2014, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

      Publisher’s Note

      Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

      We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

      WILLPOWER: A HISTORICAL STUDY OF AN INFLUENTIAL LEADERSHIP ATTRIBUTE

      By

      LCDR David Schappert

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Contents

      TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

      ABSTRACT 5

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 5

      LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 6

      CHAPTER 1 — INTRODUCTION TO WILLPOWER 7

      CHAPTER 2 — WILLPOWER AT THE TACTICAL LEVEL OF WAR 15

      A Study of the Methods of Lieutenant General Hal Moore 15

      Historical Vignette and Background 15

      Source of Willpower 18

      Methods of Willpower Transmission 19

      CHAPTER 3 — WILLPOWER AT THE OPERATIONAL LEVEL OF WAR 25

      A Study of the Methods of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz 25

      Historical Setting 26

      Nimitz’s Willpower Genesis 27

      Cultivating and Communicating Vision 28

      Selection or Removal of Subordinates 32

      Willpower and Innovation 33

      CHAPTER 4 — WILLPOWER AT THE STRATEGIC LEVEL OF WAR 35

      A Study of the Methods of General Colin L. Powell 35

      Of all the manifestations of power, restraint impresses men most. — Thucydides, (c. 470-400 BC) 35

      Background and Biographical Sketch 36

      Willpower Transmission while at the NSC 38

      Willpower Transmission while CJCS 40

      Willpower Transmission as Secretary of State 42

      CHAPTER 5 — DOES WILLPOWER GUARANTEE SUCCESS? 46

      A Study of the Methods of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur 46

      Background & Biographical Sketch 46

      Operation Chromite—the invasion of Inchon 48

      The Relief of General MacArthur 52

      Conclusion 54

      CHAPTER 6 — CONCLUSIONS AND OBSERVATIONS OF WILLPOWER 56

      Commonalities in Willpower Generation and Transmission 56

      Differences in Willpower Transmission 57

      Changes in Willpower Transmission Over Time 59

      Willpower Generation And Transmission 59

      REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 61

      BIBLIOGRAPHY 62

      Books and Articles 62

      Government Documents 63

      Internet Sources 64

      Video Sources 64

      ABSTRACT

      This thesis investigates a single leadership attribute: willpower. Willpower is defined as the amalgamation of continuing in the face of adversity; the refusal to accept failure; and the power to affect a desired outcome in others. The central research question investigates how a leader generates willpower and transmits it to produce a desired effect. The methodology employed investigates three historical military leaders at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels of war over a sixty year period. The leaders analyzed are General Colin Powell, Admiral Chester Nimitz, and Lieutenant General Harold Moore. This analysis method was chosen to answer the three secondary research questions: Is there a common thread? Is willpower different at different levels of war? Has willpower transmission changed over time? To provide objectivity, a leader who possessed willpower and still failed, General Douglas MacArthur, is also studied. The historical leaders studied are found to have similarities in how they generate and transmit willpower. The willpower transmission techniques employed by the research subjects have not changed significantly over the period studied. However, willpower transmission techniques do reveal differences over the three levels of war.

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      The completion of this thesis would not have been possible without the assistance of many gracious people. Unfortunately, it is not possible to specifically recognize all who assisted with the project. However, the author would be remiss without recognizing certain key individuals. First, the author would like to recognize his spouse, Mrs. Meghan C. Schappert, who provided encouragement, support, and proofreading assistance whenever needed. Collectively, thanks are owed to the faculty of the Army’s Command and General Staff College. Specifically, the following instructors gave freely of their time, experience, and expertise: LTC K. Graham Fuschak, of the Combat Studies Institute; LTC Tom Roe, of the Tactics Department; and Major Jay Thornton, of the Logistics and Resource Operations Department. Finally, the three faculty members who formed the thesis committee: Major John Sauer, the Second Reader from the Leadership Department; Commander David Christie, US Navy (Ret), the First Reader from the Department of Joint and Multinational Operations; and Professor Stephen Coats, also of the Department of Joint and Multinational Operations, the Thesis Committee Chairman. These three military professionals gave generously of their time and provided the guidance and direction necessary for success.

      LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

      CCNY—City College Of New York

      CENTCOM—Central Command

      CGSC—Command And General Staff College

      CINCFE—Commander In Chief Far East

      CINCPAC—Commander In Chief Pacific

      CINCPOA—Commander In Chief Pacific Ocean Areas

      CJCS—Chairman Of The Joint Chiefs Of Staff

      CNO—Chief Of Naval Operations

      COMSOPAC—Commander South Pacific Area

      EIB—Expert Infantryman’s Badge

      FORCOM—Forces Command

      INF—Intermediate Nuclear Forces

      LZ—Landing Zone

      MMAS—Master Of Military Arts And Science

      NATO—North Atlantic Treaty Organization

      NSA—National Security Advisor

      NSC—National Security Council

      PAVN—People’s Army Of Vietnam

      POW/MIA—Prisoner Of War/Missing In Action

      PRC—People’s Republic Of China

      PRG—Policy Review Group

      ROC—Republic Of China

      ROK—Republic Of Korea

      ROTC—Reserve Officer Training Corps

      SCAP—Supreme Commander Allied Powers

      CHAPTER 1 — INTRODUCTION TO WILLPOWER

      ——The will of leaders can make the difference between victory and defeat.{1} FM 22-100

      The United States of America is currently at war against terrorism. During this conflict, the citizens of this country will rely on the success of their military to protect the nation and its interests. A large percentage of our nation’s military budget has been focused on obtaining better, more precise, or stealthy weapons systems in order to more easily defeat our enemies. However, it is always the soldier, sailor, marine, or airman that will ultimately utilize the latest high-technology weapon system. A military leader’s duty is to motivate his subordinates and make them as effective as possible. It then follows that a military leader must understand and be effective at training his subordinates and conditioning them to obey his will under stressful conditions. As a professional naval officer, the author has assumed responsibility for helping to protect the nation and is therefore keenly interested in developing skills that will aid him in that endeavor.

      Since leadership is the key element of combat power that often makes the difference between success and failure, it is clearly worthy of further study.{2} This focus on leadership begs the question, what attributes must a good leader possess? LTC Edward Bowie, the Chief Instructor of the Combat Studies Institute at the Army’s Command and General Staff College (CGSC), has written that, The key to leadership is resolve. Bowie defines resolve, as fixity of purpose, firm determination, or will.{3}

      With all due respect to LTC Bowie, the author does not believe his statement completely answers the question on leadership attributes. A leader must not only possess resolve, he also must strive to transfer his purpose to others in order to cause a desired outcome. The author contends this is more fully described as willpower, defined by Merriam-Webster as energetic determination.{4} Through willpower a leader translates his resolve into the desired action of others. The question then becomes, how does a great leader generate and transfer his will to others? This is the key question the writer proposes to investigate. How do great leaders generate their willpower and transmit their willpower to

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