"Rick Folkers" wrote in message
news:AKx_b.1212$Ri6.512@lakeread04...
Art, that is just BS. There are times and ways to complain. And
there
are times and ways to explain to subordinates. Anybody who thinks
they are above explanations was a sorry excuse for an officer. That
was
what I used to call an "Imperial Officer", one who was more aware of
the
privileges of being an officer than of the responsibilities.

There are several styles of leadership, and the style Art was taught was
identified at OCS as 'Autocratic'.

We were also taught that a good officer should be able to adapt his
leadership style
to the circumstances he was in. There are times when it *is* very
necessary to be autocratic
and there are times when its better to be rather less so. A good
officer should be able to alter
his style according to need without comprising his integrity, authority
or effectiveness.

Times change and so do the philosphies of leadership. It's worth noting
that the autocratic type of
officer historically came about when the OR's were uneducated and mostly
illiterate, ie dumb grunts.
(I'm not talking recent history here).

Consequently leaderships styles have had to become both more flexible
and less autocratic, as we
are dealing with rankers that are far better educated than many officers
were a hundred years ago.
It hard to drive such people, but they can be *led*.

The CO