Social influence in military leadership training

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a renewed understanding of social influence in the military by exploring officers' decision‐making processes in a stressful situation. The intention is to develop self‐awareness as a central leadership capability in authentic leadership.Design/methodology/approachDuring wintertime in Norway, standing half‐naked and blindfolded on a wharf, officer cadets were offered the choice of jumping or not jumping into the icy ocean. From that starting point, a qualitative dialogue evolved in which the cadets reflected on their decision‐making processes and explored their reasons for making their decision. Finally, the decision was executed by the cadets on whether to jump into the icy water or not.FindingsThe results from “the water jump” showed that most of the cadets jumped, indicating that they preferred physical inconvenience over social inconvenience, and that officers are highly influenced by their group and the military organization.Research limitations/implicationsThe research was conducted with a relatively small group and the findings may not generalize readily to other populations.Practical implicationsThe “water jump” has been adopted by the Royal Norwegian Navy, and is under consideration by the Army and Police in Norway. Using the physical environment as a background to tap into the cadets' thinking in action provides knowledge about the individual self and social influence relevant to growth as leaders.Originality/valueThe paper is one of few to explore the role of social influence in the context of a military real‐world leadership training activity. Moreover, addressing social influence as a potential drawback in decision making is done to enhance self‐awareness as a central leadership capability of authentic leaders in operations.

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“…It was suggested that leaders in the Navy make independent decisions faster in environments where there is a lack of information within the mission command philosophy [19]. Additionally, military leaders were found to be influenced by their group or there was social influence in the military leader decision making process [29].…”

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